WTF (What the Freak) is Johnny Bunko? Part 1

I just finished reading Johnny Bunko, the latest book by Dan Pink. If you want a great (and funny) overview of the book, you can watch this video trailer or check out 23 sample pages.

The book is the story of Johnny Bunko, a struggling cubicle dweller, written in manga, a type of Japanese comic book, and offers six lessons for career success. Below is a review of two lessons that fit with the Freak Factor. I'll be reviewing some others on my Four Factors of Effective Leadership blog.

Lesson #2: Think strengths, not weaknesses.

Johnny is working in the finance department, despite the fact that he loves art, learning about people and developing creative ideas. His job makes him miserable. However, instead of seeing that he is in the wrong spot, his solution is to get better at working with numbers and spreadsheets. He decides to take a series of training seminars to improve his skills.

His strategy is "to work harder . . . to get better at what I stink at . . . If I want to succeed, I need to focus where I'm weak and make sure that my weaknesses don't hold me back." This is a very common approach and it usually fails.

Johnny's career advisor, Diana, suggests a new perspective. "Steer around your weaknesses and focus on your strengths. Successful people don't try too hard to improve what they're bad at. They capitalize on what they're good at."

Lesson #4: Persistence trumps talent.

Because I believe strongly in the importance of finding and applying our unique talents, I was skeptical of this lesson, at first. Then I read this, "That's why intrinsic motivation is so important. Doing things not to get an external reward like money or promotion, but because you simply like doing it. The more intrinsic motivation you have, the more likely you are to persist. The more you persist, the more likely you are to succeed."

Great point. I like to say that passion produces perseverance. Without an emotional connection to an activity, we won't be able to stick with it long enough to succeed.

Dan does a great job of making this topic interesting and accessible, especially to a younger audience. This book would make a great graduation gift for high school and college students, as well as anyone else that wants to make a career change. If you've got an hour and you need some inspiration, and some entertainment, this book is a great choice.