So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport - Book review

So Good They Can't Ignore You

Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

By: Cal Newport

Published: September 18, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1455509124
ISBN-13: 978-1455509126
Publisher Business Plus/Hachette















"My question was clear: How do people end up loving what they do? And I needed an answer", writes assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown University, Cal Newport, in his insight filled and thought provoking book So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love. The author describes his quest to discover why so many people end up loving what they do; why so many other people fail in that regard; and offers some deeply personal thoughts based on his journey.

Cal Newport recognizes that something crucial has long been missing from the standard advice of following your passion toward career satisfaction. The author presents a compelling case that this usually presented axiom is not only incorrect, but also dangerous. Instead of leading to the sought after love of the job, the constant follower of passion may suffer from anxiety, and change jobsso many times that no career is ever established. Cal Newport turns the old adage upside down and suggests that perhaps instead of following the passion, that the passion should instead follow the person. The author considers the alternative path of gaining skills and abilities that make the individual good at the job, and that the passion will emerge from that sense of achieving great things on the job.

Cal Newport (photo left) understands that clear empirical evidence and scientific studies contradicts the cliche of following your passion. Indeed, the author points out that simply trying to figure out where tat elusive passion lies can result in complete career derailment. Instead of creating job engagement and satisfaction, the misguided search for passion can result in complete job dissatisfaction. Cal Newport presents the contrarian position of developing skills, and becoming very effective at the job, and that the passion will flow naturally from that skill level.

Cal Newport presents four guiding principles as rules to achieving real and lasting job and career satisfaction. Those four rules are as follows:

* Don't follow your passion
* Be so good they can't ignore you: Importance of skill
* Turn down a promotion: Importance of control
* Think Small, act big: Importance of mission

For me, the power of the book is how Cal Newport combines his personal quest to answer the question of following one's passion, with scientific studies and case studies of how following passion is st best an incomplete thesis. The author presents a compelling case for establishing skill as the forerunner to passion. Cal Newport points out that passion follows skill and achievement, and not the other way around. This critical insight transforms the understanding of how the dynamics of career satisfaction really work.

The author provides his four rules based on research and observation that provide an alternative approach to finding an appropriate career. A combination of autonomy, skills, experience and a mission are more essential elements in job satisfaction. With these principles in place, Cal Newport describes how they lead to achievement, which in turn creates and establishes the personal passion.

I highly recommend the paradigm transformational and successful career building book So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport, to anyone beginning or at any stage of their career path who is seeking an alternative and research based case for competence over passion. Instead of spending time figuring out your passion, this book makes a strong case for using that time to develop your skills, as they will lead to the passion being sought.