Daniel Pink's The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need conveys a number of principles about the world of work that everyone should take note of.

Why? Though Pink doesn't bog the story down with academic research, all of his core ideas are backed up by plenty of studies, many of which I've posted about in the past.


  1. There is no plan.
  2. Think strengths, not weaknesses.
  3. It's not about you.
  4. Persistence trumps talent.
  5. Make excellent mistakes.
  6. Leave an imprint.

So let's break these down and explore what they mean and why they're so effective.


1) There is no plan.

As Pink explains, you can't plan your career too far in advance because there are too many x-factors.

In the world of work we do things for two reasons: instrumental and fundamental. Instrumental reasons are things that get us from point A to point B -- whether we enjoy it or not. Fundamental reasons are ones we consider inherently valuable -- doing something we care about or believe in, even if we're unsure where it will take us.

Which one is the better choice? Pink explains:

"The dirty little secret is that instrumental reasons usually don't work. Things are too complicated, too unpredictable. You never know what's going to happen, so you end up stuck. The most successful people -- not all of the time, but most of the time -- make decisions for fundamental reasons."

What does the research say?

The most obvious type of person who would fit into the fundamental category would be artists. Despite despite low pay and high unemployment artists have higher job satisfaction than most people. And it's not due to personality. In fact, if anything, artists are more likely to suffer from depression and other mood problems. And yet they're happier wih their careers.

It is hard to predict where life will take you: 35% of college graduates end up in a job that was not their major.

What's the number one thing people regretted on their deathbed?


That's a strong argument for acting on fundamental reasons.


2) Think strengths, not weaknesses.

"Successful people don't try too hard to improve what they're bad at. They capitalize on what they're good at."

What does the research say?

This is one of the primary points that management expert Pete Drucker, author of The Effective Executive, hammered home in his writings:

First and foremost, concentrate on your strengths. Put yourself where your strengths can produce results. Second, work on improving your strengths... In identifying opportunities for improvement, don’t waste time cultivating skill areas where you have little competence. Instead, concentrate on—and build on—your strengths.

Pink also directly references the work of Martin Seligman. His research has shown that people who use their signature strengths, those things they are uniquely good at, experience more "flow" on the job and are happier at work:



3) It's not about you.

"...the most successful people improve their own lives by improving others' lives."

What does the research say?

Those who are other-focused are happier.

Via Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don't Have in Search of Happiness We Can't Buy:


Happier people are more successful -- and that's causal, not correlative:




4) Persistence trumps talent.

That one is pretty straightforward. :)

What does the research say?


In ~95% of cases, it doesn't.

Via Mindset: The New Psychology of Success:


What makes the best musicians? Nothing but hard work:



I've posted exhaustively on the 10,000 hour theory of deliberate practice, "grit" and what it takes to be an expert. The best resource for that is here and the best books on the subject are here.


5) Make excellent mistakes

"Too many people spend their time avoiding mistakes. They're so concerned about being wrong, about messing up, that they never try anything -- which means they never do anything. Their focus is avoiding failure. But that's actually a crummy way to achieve success. The most successful people make spectacular mistakes -- huge honking screwups! Why? They're trying to do something big. But each time they make a mistake, they get better and move a little closer to excellence."

What does the research say?

Making mistakes can be vital to improvement.



Being guided into mistakes during training led to greater confidence and overall better learning than being taught to prevent errors.


In one experiment where 90 people went through a software training program, half were taught to prevent errors from occurring, while the other half were guided into mistakes during training. And lo and behold, the group encouraged to make errors not only exhibited greater feelings of self-efficacy, but because they had learned to figure their own way out of mistakes, they were also far faster and more accurate in how they used the software later on.

One of the best ways to improve is to keep making little risky bets.


6) Leave an imprint

"...when you get older and look back on your life, you'll ask yourself a whole bunch of questions. Did I make a difference? Did I contribute something? Did my being here matter? Did I do something that left an imprint? The trouble is, many people get towards the end of their lives and don't like their answers. And by then it's almost too late."

What does the research say?

Visualize your funeral and consider what you would want friends to describe as your legacy is an excellent way to clarify what is really important to you and what you want to achieve.





Scientists now agree he was on to something:



Six lessons:

  1. There is no plan.
  2. Think strengths, not weaknesses.
  3. It's not about you.
  4. Persistence trumps talent.
  5. Make excellent mistakes.
  6. Leave an imprint.

Also, Dan Pink's other book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us is one of the best things I've read in the past few years. (You can check out my notes from it here.)



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