Week 4: The Craftsman Minset

Cal Newport, 2012, ‘The Clarity of the Craftsman’ in So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work, NY Business Plus, ch.4.

I just read this weeks reading and I kind of like I’ve been part of a motivational speaker workshop. For so long I’ve seen the quote “be so good they can’t ignore you” in framed prints, Instagram photos and Twitter biographies but I’ve never really known where it came from or exactly what it meant. There’s the obvious side to the quote which says to be so outstanding at what you do that everyone notices it, but the more important idea which was raised in this weeks reading suggests that we should “stop focusing on the little details” and “focus instead on becoming better” just like Jordan did.

This links to the overall theme of this weeks reading which was The Craftsman Mindset that focuses on “what you can offer the world” versus The Passion Mindset which is “what the world can offer you”. It is suggested that focusing on what the world can offer you will lead to a lot of self-doubt, such as questioning who are you?, is what you’re doing you?, are you doing what you love?. The craftsman mindset offers a sense of clarity that the passion mindset cannot. Personally, I have always encountered a lot of self-doubt in what I do – because I’m so quick to look at the work of other people and professionals, and have enormously high standards set for myself. This at times can be the best thing, but I have always been told I need to trust my instincts more because that often is the idea that is most “me”. I’m all about going against the grain and not doing what everyone else is doing, but I’m not the best at actually doing that. I think this reading has encouraged me to trust myself more and use the craftsman mindset to work hard on what I am passionate about.