Cal Newports clearly-written manifesto flies in the face of conventional wisdom by suggesting that it should be a persons talent & skill
- & not necessarily their passion
- that determines their career path. Newport who graduated from Dartmouth College (Phi Beta Kappa) & recently earned a Ph D. from MIT contends that trying to find what drives us instead of focusing on areas in which we naturally excel is ultimately harmful & frustrating to job seekers. The title is a direct"e from comedian Steve Martin who when once asked why he was successful in his career immediately replied: Be so good they cant ignore you" & thats the main basis for Newports book. Skill & ability trump passion. Inspired by former Apple CEO Steve Jobs famous Stanford University commencement speech in which Jobs urges idealistic grads to chase their dreams Newport takes issue with that advice claiming that not only is this advice Pollyannish but that Jobs himself never followed his own advice. From there Newport presents compelling scientific & contemporary case study evidence that the key to ones career success is to find out what you do well where you have built up your "career capital " & then to put all of your efforts into that direction."