77 lines
5.3 KiB
Org Mode
Executable File
77 lines
5.3 KiB
Org Mode
Executable File
:PROPERTIES:
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:ID: 2d7f1ccc-99d7-4c45-8fe7-4b87080edb01
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:TYPE: Book
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:AUTHOR: Cal Newport
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:DATE_STARTED: <2025-05-25 Sun>
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:DATE_ENDED: <2025-06-15 Sun>
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:END:
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#+title: so_good_they_cant_ignore_you
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#+filetags: :books:
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* So good they cant ignore you
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Some of these points have been inspired from this
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[[https://jasonkwanhc.medium.com/book-summary-of-so-good-they-cant-ignore-you-58cb236fef0d][website]]
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* Summary
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The book focuses on the reality of how people end up loving what they do. It demystifies the concept: "follow your
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passion", and details alternative strategies.
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** Rule *1: **Don’t Follow Your Passion**
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1. The Passion Hypothesis is the biggest myth in occupational happiness. It says that “The key to occupational happiness
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is to first figure out what you are passionate about and then find a job that matches this passion”, the author1
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argues against this.
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2. He mentions some incidents of people like Steve Jobs, proving that successful people like him (who is famous for the
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concept "follow your passions") didn’t start off because he had a passion for the thing they do.
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** Rule *2: Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You (Or, the importance of skills)
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1. The traits that define great work are rare and valuable, if you want these traits, you need rare and valuable skills.
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These skills are called *[[id:f9838952-9753-471b-a2cc-d72e01a53ef6][career-capital]]*.
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2. Adopt the **Craftsman Mindset** where instead you focus on what you can offer the world. This is in stark contrast to
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the **Passion Mindset** where you focus on what the world can offer you. The craftsman mindset focuses on becoming
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better and improving the quality of what you produce. It focuses on becoming so good they can’t ignore you,
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regardless of what you do for a living.
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3. The concept of *[[id:d4f96bfb-b83d-449b-9f74-f602a1a3c2d3][deliberate-practice]]* is mentioned where you deliberately stretch your
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abilities beyond where you're comfortable and then receive ruthless feedback on your performance.
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4. 5 Steps on applying the deliberate practice in your work:
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1. **Step 1: Decide What Type of Capital Market You’re Competing In.** There are two kinds of markets, a
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*winner-take-all* market and an *auction* market. In a winner-take-all market, there's only one type of career
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capital available and only one that matters. In the auction market however, there are a variety of relevant
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skills that could *lead* you to getting the job, in other words, there are a variety of career capital available.
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2. **Step 2: Identify Your Capital Type**. This step makes you figure out what are the relevant skills that are
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needed in order to be great at your job. In the winner-take-all market, it's pretty straightforward that it's
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that one career capital, however in the auction market there's more flexibility. A useful heuristic mentioned is
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the *open-gates* opportunities present. In other words, those opportunities to build capital that are already
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open to you, then you work your way up.
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3. **Step 3: Define “Good”** . Having a clear view of what *good* means is important. This step forces you to think
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about where you want to be and how you can achieve it using deliberate practice. This definition will be
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different for different people.
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4. **Step 4: Stretch and Destroy**. Deliberate practice requires you to be uncomfortable, as it is something that is
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not enjoyable. The important thing is to push beyond your comfort zone and get immediate feedback to steer you in
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the right direction.
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5. **Step 5: Patience**. The acquisition of career capital will take time, therefore, it is necessary to be patient
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and ensure that you pour all your effort into the capital you seek. The final sentence given in the book before
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the summary is: **You stretch yourself, day after day, month after month, before finally looking up and
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realising, "Hey, I've become pretty good, and people are starting to notice".**
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** Rule *3: Turn Down a Promotion (Or, the importance of control)
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1. The author here explains that once you've acquired a certain amount of career capital, your next step is to invest
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in those traits that define great work. Discussion was made about control, and the common pitfalls that people fall
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into.
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2. The law of financial viability: when pursuing a project or career path, it's crucial to seek evidence that people
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are willing to pay for it. If that evidence exists, it's a good sign to proceed; if not, it's better to reconsider or pivot.
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** Rule *4: Think Small, Act Big (Or, the importance of Mission)
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1. This rule focuses on the importance of having a mission in your work. Having a unifying focus for your career, a
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sense of purpose, can make your work more meaningful and impactful.
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2. A good career mission is similar to a scientific breakthrough, discovered in the adjacent possible of your field.
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You will need to acquire enough career capital to be able to get into the *cutting edge* of your field. Once you
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get into this cutting edge, you can then start to see these missions.
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3. Think small, act big. Instead of focusing on a huge experiment with little feedback, focus on small experiments
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that yield concrete feedback, and use this to guide you into the direction surrounding your general mission.
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