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Cal Newport became famous for his books "Deep Work" and "Digital Minimalism", but my favorite / most underrated book by him is actually "So Good They Can't Igno

Cal Newport became famous for his books "Deep Work" and "Digital Minimalism", but my favorite / most underrated book by him is actually "So Good They Can't Ignore You": https://www.calnewport.com/books/so-good/ https://www.calnewport.com/books/so-good/ In SGTCIU, he really goes deep on the idea that pre-existing passion is unlikely to lead you to a happy career and presents an alternate, more-compelling framework for job satisfaction. 1. Acquire rare & valuable skills (career capital) 2. Use said career capital in exchange for job / life properties you care about (remote work, working less hours, working for 'better' companies, higher pay, more autonomy, managing more people, w/e those are for you). There are happy & fulfilled people in every career and, of course, unhappy people in every career / walk of life. But pretty much everyone wants the same thing in their career: mission, autonomy, impact, and creativity. These traits ^ are mostly independent of a specific job / field

paulcole 6y ago
> But pretty much everyone wants the same thing in their career: mission, autonomy, impact, and creativity There’s another model I use that I’ve found to be pretty accurate for most people: SCARF. Status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/SCARF.htm https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/SCARF.htm
- bumby 6y ago
  The problem with status is that it’s completely relative and ultimately not in your control. You might be the team captain but there’s likely another athlete who’s better. Status is driven by comparison and, as Teddy Roosevelt said, comparison is the thief of joy. Beyond that, it means putting stock largely into what other people think which can be in a natural juxtaposition to autonomy
bsenftner 6y ago
I remember reading his "How to win at College" when finishing graduate school; his first book made me feel smug because I was already doing all his recommendations. I feel extremely blessed, as I have held a series of "dream jobs": 1) video game studio owner at age 17; 2) graphics researcher working for Mandelbrot on his research in '83; 3) Beta Tester for the original Macintosh; 4) 3D graphics researcher back when how to do 3D graphics was unsolved research; 5) video game console OS developer (3D0 & first PSX), 6) video game lead engineer (15 years), 7) I was one of the first people to get Live Interactive Video working on the Internet (Rotor Communications, '99), 8) VFX digital artist & developer for 9 major release feature films; 9) I pioneered and global patented Deep Fakes back in '08 (trying to commercialize that bankrupted me, I was trying to launch Personalized Advertising); and today 10) I'm lead developer of one of the leading facial recognition systems used by 3-lettered organizations world wide. I get these positions by being irritatingly enthusiastic, technologically deep when first meeting the interviewers, and I try to get right into what their immediate problems to be solved and try to engage in that solution during my interviews. If given make work for evaluation, I simply refuse and ask them what problems they are actually facing: let's solve one of those. This gets the actual problem solvers engaged and I can judge them and they can judge me in our compatibility when problem solving. I tend to cinch the deal trying to get tje job by including 360 degree financial, long term maintenance, and a schedule for planned enhancements achieving expense reduction when executing whatever solution. I tend to minimize having an MBA, because my development achievements speak for themselves; but when I close with financial managers assessment of the company and act like the prospect of working there will be good for them, they tend make an offer. I never act like I need the job. I act like they need me, and without me they would face me working for their competition. Basically, I act like a force, and they can have me on their team of they want. Yes, this is arrogant; it is intentionally so. In many ways, I find I need to treat management like an asshole peer, and be an asshole right to them, and suddenly I'm their favorite guy. People are strange.
- ta988 6y ago
  I would not call these last ones dream jobs. More like dream-crushing jobs...
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - mStreamTeam 6y ago
    That post sound sounds like it was written by someone who dreams of getting power and status. If power us your dream, working for a 3 letter is one way of getting it.
    - Mauricebranagh 6y ago
      But you don't normally blurt it out like that :-) I suspect that jobs in a TLA are closer to the Laundry files than James Bond.
      - bsenftner 6y ago
        They are 60-80 hour weeks, over and over and over again...
    - moneywoes 6y ago
      3 letter organization aka NSA?
    - bsenftner 6y ago
      I dream of being left alone with a pile of computers and unlimited time. Frankly, I'm a curmudgeon when it comes to others socially. I prefer literature and philosophy discussion.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - bumby 6y ago
    I think it’s a case of different strokes for different folks. Those “three letter agencies” may offer resources and projects that one would struggle to find elsewhere. To some people, being a Marine is a dream job. To others, that lifestyle would be soul-crushing.
Emma_Goldman 6y ago
>'There are happy & fulfilled people in every career and, of course, unhappy people in every career / walk of life. But pretty much everyone wants the same thing in their career: mission, autonomy, impact, and creativity. These traits ^ are mostly independent of a specific job / field' I think this is untrue. It depends on how one understands mission, autonomy, impact and creativity whether they can be achieved independent what specific job one works. If by creativity you mean self-expression, few jobs give you the space for true self-expression, rather than expression within the confines of instrumental problem-solving. If by autonomy you mean the ability to choose one's own tasks then, again, few jobs allow that. If by impact you mean the probable consequences one's work will have for the good of humankind, then clearly one can - and people do - try and rank more and less impactful work, among which there is wide variance. There are a small number of jobs which are extremely high-impact, e.g., working on nuclear proliferation, public health in the global south, climate change. Most jobs have a real but comparatively mundane impact. 'Mission' is entirely relative to the person, not the job.
- bumby 6y ago
  I’ve heard of similar frameworks that replace “creativity” with “a skill you can hone”. Both creativity and working at the edge of your ability can create flow states. Being lost in the moment might be what both of these are ultimately after
  - Emma_Goldman 6y ago
    The substitution might work better, you're right, but that's also effectively admitting that most jobs aren't creative. There is a qualitative difference between working close to the limit of one's abilities in a flow state, and having one's own ideas, following through the implications, and executing it using one's own wits. That's creative, and in my experience a lot more gratifying than just being engrossed in work. In any case I think it's a mistake to become too transfixed by what features of work are most conducive to happiness. Yes, happiness is important. Perhaps it's the single most important criteria for choosing a line of work. But there are other, larger objectives - e.g., helping humankind, producing great things, being authentic to oneself, and leading a good life.
dusted 6y ago
Those traits largely ignore the actual problem, which is not to have every individual optimize themselves out of "getting the crappy jobs", it actually hurts the issue by making it into a competition to avoid the crap, implying that those who do that must be forced to do it, by not being competent enough to escape. "It's their own fault they have to work there, because they weren't good enough to escape" should be worded "It's their own fault they have to work there, because they weren't so much better than everyone else that they could escape, they deserve it because they're not better than everyone else who is also trying hard". WTF is wrong with 'muricans for thinking like that? This is not a zero-sum game, or at least, it does not have to be. It's much more interesting to focus on not having a society where you can do important work and not be treated well for it. I'm helluva lot more grateful that someone comes around once a week in a big garbage-truck and takes away my garbage, than I am that some hipster with a macbook is making some new webgui framework that will "change the world". I can do without the webgui framework infinitely more than without the garbage-man. We should be focusing on building a society where no job means poverty, that's not even an ambitious goal, it's the absolutely least you can expect of a decent society with decent people living in it. Sure, there can be competition for highest-paying jobs and for whatever are considered more pleasurable jobs, but nobody in any job at all, should be in a bad situation because of their job, if they have a job, if that job exists, society have decided they need them, and it's every ones duty to treat them well and with respect. So, thanks garbage dude, your job is more important than mine, at least you live in a more civilized country where you can afford more or less the same things I can. Or as the article writes so much better: > “What’s the issue with giving people decent jobs that allow them to have decent lives?” This reality might sound deflating, especially for a kid thinking about what they want to be when they grow up, but looked at another way, it can also be quite enchanting. If a dream job is like any other job, then isn’t making all jobs better the dream?

paulcole 6y ago

> But pretty much everyone wants the same thing in their career: mission, autonomy, impact, and creativity There’s another model I use that I’ve found to be pretty accurate for most people: SCARF. Status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/SCARF.htm https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/SCARF.htm

bumby 6y ago
The problem with status is that it’s completely relative and ultimately not in your control. You might be the team captain but there’s likely another athlete who’s better. Status is driven by comparison and, as Teddy Roosevelt said, comparison is the thief of joy. Beyond that, it means putting stock largely into what other people think which can be in a natural juxtaposition to autonomy

bsenftner 6y ago

I remember reading his "How to win at College" when finishing graduate school; his first book made me feel smug because I was already doing all his recommendations. I feel extremely blessed, as I have held a series of "dream jobs": 1) video game studio owner at age 17; 2) graphics researcher working for Mandelbrot on his research in '83; 3) Beta Tester for the original Macintosh; 4) 3D graphics researcher back when how to do 3D graphics was unsolved research; 5) video game console OS developer (3D0 & first PSX), 6) video game lead engineer (15 years), 7) I was one of the first people to get Live Interactive Video working on the Internet (Rotor Communications, '99), 8) VFX digital artist & developer for 9 major release feature films; 9) I pioneered and global patented Deep Fakes back in '08 (trying to commercialize that bankrupted me, I was trying to launch Personalized Advertising); and today 10) I'm lead developer of one of the leading facial recognition systems used by 3-lettered organizations world wide. I get these positions by being irritatingly enthusiastic, technologically deep when first meeting the interviewers, and I try to get right into what their immediate problems to be solved and try to engage in that solution during my interviews. If given make work for evaluation, I simply refuse and ask them what problems they are actually facing: let's solve one of those. This gets the actual problem solvers engaged and I can judge them and they can judge me in our compatibility when problem solving. I tend to cinch the deal trying to get tje job by including 360 degree financial, long term maintenance, and a schedule for planned enhancements achieving expense reduction when executing whatever solution. I tend to minimize having an MBA, because my development achievements speak for themselves; but when I close with financial managers assessment of the company and act like the prospect of working there will be good for them, they tend make an offer. I never act like I need the job. I act like they need me, and without me they would face me working for their competition. Basically, I act like a force, and they can have me on their team of they want. Yes, this is arrogant; it is intentionally so. In many ways, I find I need to treat management like an asshole peer, and be an asshole right to them, and suddenly I'm their favorite guy. People are strange.

ta988 6y ago
I would not call these last ones dream jobs. More like dream-crushing jobs...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- mStreamTeam 6y ago
  That post sound sounds like it was written by someone who dreams of getting power and status. If power us your dream, working for a 3 letter is one way of getting it.
  - Mauricebranagh 6y ago
    But you don't normally blurt it out like that :-) I suspect that jobs in a TLA are closer to the Laundry files than James Bond.
    - bsenftner 6y ago
      They are 60-80 hour weeks, over and over and over again...
  - moneywoes 6y ago
    3 letter organization aka NSA?
  - bsenftner 6y ago
    I dream of being left alone with a pile of computers and unlimited time. Frankly, I'm a curmudgeon when it comes to others socially. I prefer literature and philosophy discussion.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- bumby 6y ago
  I think it’s a case of different strokes for different folks. Those “three letter agencies” may offer resources and projects that one would struggle to find elsewhere. To some people, being a Marine is a dream job. To others, that lifestyle would be soul-crushing.

Emma_Goldman 6y ago

>'There are happy & fulfilled people in every career and, of course, unhappy people in every career / walk of life. But pretty much everyone wants the same thing in their career: mission, autonomy, impact, and creativity. These traits ^ are mostly independent of a specific job / field' I think this is untrue. It depends on how one understands mission, autonomy, impact and creativity whether they can be achieved independent what specific job one works. If by creativity you mean self-expression, few jobs give you the space for true self-expression, rather than expression within the confines of instrumental problem-solving. If by autonomy you mean the ability to choose one's own tasks then, again, few jobs allow that. If by impact you mean the probable consequences one's work will have for the good of humankind, then clearly one can - and people do - try and rank more and less impactful work, among which there is wide variance. There are a small number of jobs which are extremely high-impact, e.g., working on nuclear proliferation, public health in the global south, climate change. Most jobs have a real but comparatively mundane impact. 'Mission' is entirely relative to the person, not the job.

bumby 6y ago
I’ve heard of similar frameworks that replace “creativity” with “a skill you can hone”. Both creativity and working at the edge of your ability can create flow states. Being lost in the moment might be what both of these are ultimately after
- Emma_Goldman 6y ago
  The substitution might work better, you're right, but that's also effectively admitting that most jobs aren't creative. There is a qualitative difference between working close to the limit of one's abilities in a flow state, and having one's own ideas, following through the implications, and executing it using one's own wits. That's creative, and in my experience a lot more gratifying than just being engrossed in work. In any case I think it's a mistake to become too transfixed by what features of work are most conducive to happiness. Yes, happiness is important. Perhaps it's the single most important criteria for choosing a line of work. But there are other, larger objectives - e.g., helping humankind, producing great things, being authentic to oneself, and leading a good life.

dusted 6y ago

Those traits largely ignore the actual problem, which is not to have every individual optimize themselves out of "getting the crappy jobs", it actually hurts the issue by making it into a competition to avoid the crap, implying that those who do that must be forced to do it, by not being competent enough to escape. "It's their own fault they have to work there, because they weren't good enough to escape" should be worded "It's their own fault they have to work there, because they weren't so much better than everyone else that they could escape, they deserve it because they're not better than everyone else who is also trying hard". WTF is wrong with 'muricans for thinking like that? This is not a zero-sum game, or at least, it does not have to be. It's much more interesting to focus on not having a society where you can do important work and not be treated well for it. I'm helluva lot more grateful that someone comes around once a week in a big garbage-truck and takes away my garbage, than I am that some hipster with a macbook is making some new webgui framework that will "change the world". I can do without the webgui framework infinitely more than without the garbage-man. We should be focusing on building a society where no job means poverty, that's not even an ambitious goal, it's the absolutely least you can expect of a decent society with decent people living in it. Sure, there can be competition for highest-paying jobs and for whatever are considered more pleasurable jobs, but nobody in any job at all, should be in a bad situation because of their job, if they have a job, if that job exists, society have decided they need them, and it's every ones duty to treat them well and with respect. So, thanks garbage dude, your job is more important than mine, at least you live in a more civilized country where you can afford more or less the same things I can. Or as the article writes so much better: > “What’s the issue with giving people decent jobs that allow them to have decent lives?” This reality might sound deflating, especially for a kid thinking about what they want to be when they grow up, but looked at another way, it can also be quite enchanting. If a dream job is like any other job, then isn’t making all jobs better the dream?