Catatan Baca: So Good They Can't Ignore You (Cal Newport)
Judul: So Good They Can't Ignore You, Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
Penulis: Cal Newport
Penerbit: Piatkus
Rating: 9/10
Buku pendobrak nasehat "follow your passion" dengan rasionalisasi yang terstruktur. Buku yang mengajak pembacanya memikirkan ulang "kepercayaan" yang selama ini dipegang, sekaligus menantang keputusan tentang karir yang akan diambil.
Bagaimana saya menemukan buku ini?
Sebenarnya saya penasaran dengan Deep Work, buku Cal Newport lainnya. Namun, buku ini yang ternyata tersedia di BBW 2020 dan malah saya beli duluan 😄
Ulasan Buku
"Don't follow your passion; rather, let it follow you in your quest to become, in the words of my favorite Steve Martin quote, 'so good that they can't ignore you.'"
Buku pertama Cal Newport yang selesai saya baca dan dari bab pertamanya dia menantang "follow your passion" yang selama ini saya pegang. HAHAHA. Asli, seru banget!
Kalau diingat-ingat, dari masa sekolah saya dihadapkan dengan fase-fase yang mempertemukan hidup dengan pilihan krusial itu buat saya memang membingungkan. Saat bingung, ada dua jenis "suara" dari sekitar yang paling nyaring bunyinya.
"Kamu sukanya apa? Pilih yang kamu suka biar enjoy jalaninnya."
"Pilih yang bisa datengin duit. Kalo nggak ada duitnya ya buat apa. Realistis aja."
Cal Newport menawarkan argumennya. Jadi jago, punya keahlian yang langka, bisa menawarkan nilai lebih. Menarik untuk mengikuti penuturan rasionalisasinya di buku ini.
Saat orang memilih untuk mengejar pekerjaan sesuai "passion", yang disuka, tanpa melatih diri untuk punya valuable skills, atau terjebak dengan glorifikasi passion, memang jadinya malah bahaya kalau nggak diimbangi dengan niat untuk upgrade diri. I thought it is a common sense. Kalau suka, ya diseriusi, ditekuni, lihat apa aja kesempatan yang ada, upgrade dan terus asah skill. Tapi ya nyatanya, nggak semua berpikir kayak gitu. Suka? Gas aja. Lihat apa kata nanti. Memang nggak bisa pukul rata karena di beberapa situasi perlu jebur aja dulu, tapi proses utk ngumpulin "career capital" (rare and valuable skills) ini krusial juga. Mau investasi aja perlu modal, mosok mau kerja, cari/bangun karir nggak ada "modalnya"?
Dipikir-pikir lagi ya ada miripnya dengan ini: "Apakah modal cinta saja bisa kasih perut makan, bayar KPR, dan jaminan mutu nanti bisa pensiun tenang?" Suka/cinta aja cukupkah untuk jangka waktu panjang?
Kalau cukup, saya juga tinggal ongkang-ongkang kaki baca buku terus isi rekening gendut dengan sendirinya kali. Hahaha. Tapi kan di lapangan nggak seperti itu, sodara-sodara.
Kita lihat yang full time job-nya sebagai content creator, deh. Entah itu dalam bentuk foto atau video. Jangan dipikir mereka santai atau "Ih ya enak lah mereka". Yakin banget saya, mereka eksplor, belajar, trial and error gimana cara bikin skrip video yang bagus, nyusun outline content seperti apa, gimana cara deliver message dengan efektif ke audience-nya, cara bikin dan nulis caption, how to edit better videos and photos, how to look comfortable in front of camera, dan segudang hal lain yang perlu dipelajari, diperhatikan, dilatih, diasah, dan di-upgrade secara konstan.
Saya suka dengan penekanan deliberate practice yang dipaparkan Cal Newport. Focus on becoming better. Nggak cuma "how", tapi "what type" of practice you choose. Pilih tipe latihan yang memang ada efeknya untuk upgrade diri. No shortcut.
Pushing past what's comfortable
Embracing honest feedback—even if it destroys what you thought was good.
Stretch and destroy. (These words stuck in my head, and I'm still thinking to add them as a new tattoo. Eh gimana deh.)
Overall, this is the kind of book that I wish my younger self could read. Topik yang mempreteli passion maupun karir seperti ini rasanya nggak ada yang memaparkannya sejelas Cal Newport saat saya masih duduk di bangku kuliah dulu.
Lalu, apakah nasehat follow your passion itu sudah basi? Menurut saya sangat subjektif dan akan kembali ke diri kita masing-masing. Passion yang berdampingan dengan deliberate practice saya percaya akan berbuah dan hasilnya tidak mengkhianati apa yang sudah dilakukan. Sedangkan passion tanpa persiapan dan pingin gampangnya aja, itu baru namanya cari gara-gara di dunia nyata.
Topik dalam buku ini yang menarik untuk dieksplor:
Deliberate practice → Choose 2-3 little bets/exploratory projects at one time.
Accountability tools → Create your deadline system, commonplace notebook/research bible.
Accountability friend(s)/mentor(s)/partner(s) → Cari dan minta immediate feedbacks dari orang-orang yang ada di dalam circle ini.
Buku ini mengingatkan saya akan:
Grit (Angela Duckworth) → Passion dan deliberate practice juga ditekankan di buku ini.
Drive (Daniel H. Pink) → Apa yang menggerakkan manusia? Survival instinct, reward or punishment system, atau yang dibilang Daniel H. Pink sebagai 3rd drive?
Can't Even (Anne Helen Petersen) → Menyoroti generasi milenial yang juga sering “kepeleset” karena follow your passion.
Siapa yang akan mendapatkan keuntungan dari membaca buku ini?
Terlepas dari status sedang mencari atau sudah bekerja, rasanya buku ini akan berguna dan membawa keuntungan bagi pembaca yang:
Masih belum menemukan cara kerja atau pekerjaan yang memuaskan hidup. (Wow, langsung terasa berat saat mengetiknya)
Ingin tahu lebih banyak tentang deliberate practice.
Masih galau perlu follow passion atau adakah alternatif lain?
Penganut follow your passion garis keras garda terdepan :))
Simply penasaran dengan isi bukunya.
Highlights
Rule #1: Don't Follow Your Passion
The Passion Hypothesis: The key to occupational happiness is to first figure out what you're passionate about and then find a job that matches this passion. ← ini yang mau dipatahkan Cal Newport.
"Do what you love, and money will follow" has become the de facto motto of career-advice field. → Betul. Sampai sekarang pun masih banyak yang menyarankan ini. Saya pun menjalani pekerjaan dengan passion sebagai bensinnya.
The Science of Passion:
Conclusion #1: Career Passion Are Rare
[...,] these passions don't have much to offer when it comes to choosing a job.
How can we follow our passions if we don't have any relevant passions to follow?
Conclusion #2: Passion Takes Time
In Wrzesniewski's research, the happiest, most passionate employees are not those who followed their passion into a position, but instead those who have been around long enough to become good at what they do.
Conclusion #3: Passion is a Side Effect of Mastery
Three basic psychological needs to feel intrinsically motivated for your work: Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness.
Working right trumps finding the right work. → Make sense. You have to learn the nittty gitty first to land a job and excel in it.
Rule #2: Be So Good They Can't Ignore You
"Nobody ever takes note of [my advice], because it's not the answer they wanted to hear," Martin said. "What they want to hear is 'Here's how you got an agent, here's how you write a script,' ... but I always say, 'Be so good they can't ignore you.'"
"Stop focusing on these little details," it told me. "Focus instead on becoming better." → from Martin's axiom.
The craftsman mindset vs the passion mindset.
The craftsman mindset focuses on what you can offer the world. → Kenyatannya memang seperti ini. Harus punya skill yang dianggap valuable supaya dapat pekerjaan yang bisa dikatakan “layak”. Definisi layak dan standarnya untuk tiap orang pasti berbeda.
The passion mindset focuses instead on what the world can offer you. → Kalau disandingkan dengan craftsman mindset, jelas jadi kelihatan kontrasnya.
No one owes you a great career, it argues; you need to earn it—and the process won't be easy. → No shortcut, sorry. (Kecuali lo anak sultan ya itu lain cerita)
Regardless of what you do for a living, approach your work like a true performer.
You adopt the craftsman mindset first and then the passion follows.
If you want a great job, you need something of great value to offer in return. Think of these rare and valuable skills you can offer as your career capital. → Siapkan modalnya dulu.
This focus on stretching your ability and receiving immediate feedback provides the core of a more universal principle—one that I increasingly came to believe provides the key to successfully acquiring career capital in almost any field.
Tips:
Choose project where you'd be forced to show your work to others.
Stretch your abilities by taking on projects that were beyond your comfort zone; and not just one at a time.
Obsessively sought feedback, on everything. → Pentingnya punya orang-orang (rekan kerja, atasan/bos, teman, partner, anggota keluarga) yang bisa kasih feedback. Tanpa feedback, nggak bakal tahu apa yang perlu diperbaiki.
Restrict the hours you have, dedicated to required tasks that don't ultimately make you better at what you do. Look at the ratio. Spend time on what's important, instead of what's immediate. → This is why I believe you better slow at responding someone/some projects that actually distract you from what’s important.
Stretch & Destroy → mau deh nambah tato ini *eh
If you're not uncomfortable, then you're probable stuck at an "acceptable level"
Pushing past what's comfortable.
Embracing honest feedback—even if it destroys what you thought was good.
Rule #3: Turn Down a Promotion (Or, the Importance of Control)
The first control trap: Control that's acquired without career capital is not sustainable. (you can enjoy all the autonomy you can handle but unable to afford your next meal). → AMIT-AMIT.
The second control trap: The point at which you have acquired enough career capital to get meaningful control over your working life is exactly the point when you've become valuable enough to your current employer that they will try to prevent you from making the change. → The real test, I think. If your employer is really care for your development and know there’s nothing you can learn at the company, then she/he will let you go and wish you the best.
Know when the time is right to become courageous in your career decisions.
The law of financial viability: When deciding whether to follow an appealing pursuit that will introduce more control into your work life, seek evidence of whether people are willing to pay for it. If you find this evidence, continue. If not, move on. → Jangan buru-buru dan jangan ambil keputusan saat emosional, terlebih saat nggak punya bukti kalau rencana ini kemungkinan bisa berhasil. Nekat yang naif dengan berani untuk keluar dari zona nyaman kadang beda tipis. Pahami bedanya.
Rule #4: Think Small, Act Big (Or, the Importance of Mission)
To have a mission is to have a unifying focus for your career.
Missions are powerful because they focus your energy toward a useful goal, and this in turn maximizes your impact on your world—a crucial factor in loving what you do.
Mission requires that you first build career capital—a mission launched without this expertise is likely doomed to sputter and die.
A good career mission is similar to a scientific breakthrough—it's an innovation waiting to be discovered in the adjacent possible of your field. If you want to identify a mission for your working life, therefore, you must first get to the cutting edge—the only place where these missions become visible.
Missions is yet another example of career capital theory in action. If you want a mission, you need to first acquire capital. If you skip this step, you might end up [...] with lots of enthusiasm but very little to show for it.
Advancing to the cutting edge in a field is an act of "small" thinking, requiring you to focus on a narrow collection of subjects for a potentially long time. Once you get to the cutting edge, however, and discover a mission in the adjacent possible, you must go after it with zeal: a "big" action.
Once you have the capital required to identify a mission, you must still figure out how to put the mission into practice. If you don't have a trusted strategy for making this leap from idea to execution, then like me and so many others, you'll probably avoid the leap altogether.
"Rather than believing they have to start with a big idea or plan out a whole project in advance, they make a methodical series of little bets about what might be a good direction, learning critical information from lots of little failures and from small but significant wins." - Peter Sims, Little Bets (He studied a variety of successful innovators)
The Law of Remarkability: For a mission-driven project to succeed, it should be remarkable in two different ways. First, it must compel people who encounter it to remark about it to others. Second, it must be launched in a venue that supports such remarking.