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Following your passion is bad career advice
By Xiao Wang |
May 25, 2013, Saturday
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I was puzzled the other day by what I saw in a farm field near my home: something like silk shreds scattered on top of plowed earth.
I asked auntie Zhang who owns the small farm: "What are those white, silky things?"
Auntie Zhang, a peasant in her late 60s, burst into laughter: "That's wet toilet paper!"
"How come?" I was even more curious.
"I don't use chemical fertilizer, I use human waste to grow my vegetables," auntie Zhang explained, grinning. "When I fetch human waste from open pits in our village, I can't separate it completely from toilet paper."
Aha. I'm passionate about rural life but how little I know about it!
Rosy image
Reading the book, "So Good They Can't Ignore You," I realize that I'm far from alone in being passionate for something beyond my capability.
"Many people harbor a rosy image of farm life. They imagine it would be nice to spend time outdoors in nice weather and be free from the distractions of the modern office," says the author Cal Newport, an assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown University and author of many best sellers.
To seek truth, he interviewed Ryan Voiland who runs Red Fire Farm along with his wife Sarah.
Hard reality
"Spend time with Ryan at Red Fire, however, and this myth is quickly dispelled," the author says in his book. "Farming, it turns out, is hard work. The weather is not something you enjoy, as if on vacation, but instead a force poised to play havoc with your crops. And far from being free from modern distractions, a farmer is a businessman, with all the e-mail, Excel spreadsheets, and QuickBooks software that come along with that role."
Auntie Zhang and her husband are "businesspeople" as well, although they don't use computer software - they have to rent a small stand in a local food fair to sell their home-grown organic vegetables. And they work really hard: going to the field around 4:30am every day. Despite hard work, they earn only 20,000 yuan (US$3,258) a year.
Some of my friends and colleagues often talk about retiring into a rustic life to escape urban frustrations, but they know even less than I about farming life.
Newport's book warns us not to pursue a career or life solely because of our passion. "Follow your passion" is a very bad career advice, he says.
Building skills
"The reason Ryan loves what he does ... is not that he gets to be outside or be free from e-mail, but instead he has control - over both what he does and how he does it," says Newport. "What's important about Ryan's story is that he didn't just decide one day that farming would provide nice control and then go buy some land. Instead ... he built up his farming skills for over a decade before setting out on his own."
Voiland's success relies on what Newport calls a "craftsman mind-set" rather than a "passion mind-set." The "craftsman mind-set" focuses on what you can offer the world through your solid efforts and hard-won skills. The "passion mind-set" focuses on what the world can offer you, that is, what you can take from the world without much effort.
The "passion mind-set" affects and afflicts not only individuals, but collective organizations as well. A local agriculture newspaper in Shanghai (Oriental City and Countryside News) reported on Tuesday that Chongming Island has yet to take off with its much-touted "forest economy" - for lack of efficient sales networks, economies of scale and relevant technologies. The "forest economy" refers to raising poultry and growing vegetables and herbs in the forest. As early as in 2008, the city pinned much hope on the "forest economy." Passion? Yes. Craftsmanship? Not yet.
Many of us passionately talk about building a beautiful countryside, but People's Daily reported on May 18 that the countryside is suffering a drought in farming talent, because professional farmers who toil on the land all their lives are rare today, as they migrate to cities for jobs.
I asked auntie Zhang who owns the small farm: "What are those white, silky things?"
Auntie Zhang, a peasant in her late 60s, burst into laughter: "That's wet toilet paper!"
"How come?" I was even more curious.
"I don't use chemical fertilizer, I use human waste to grow my vegetables," auntie Zhang explained, grinning. "When I fetch human waste from open pits in our village, I can't separate it completely from toilet paper."
Aha. I'm passionate about rural life but how little I know about it!
Rosy image
Reading the book, "So Good They Can't Ignore You," I realize that I'm far from alone in being passionate for something beyond my capability.
"Many people harbor a rosy image of farm life. They imagine it would be nice to spend time outdoors in nice weather and be free from the distractions of the modern office," says the author Cal Newport, an assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown University and author of many best sellers.
To seek truth, he interviewed Ryan Voiland who runs Red Fire Farm along with his wife Sarah.
Hard reality
"Spend time with Ryan at Red Fire, however, and this myth is quickly dispelled," the author says in his book. "Farming, it turns out, is hard work. The weather is not something you enjoy, as if on vacation, but instead a force poised to play havoc with your crops. And far from being free from modern distractions, a farmer is a businessman, with all the e-mail, Excel spreadsheets, and QuickBooks software that come along with that role."
Auntie Zhang and her husband are "businesspeople" as well, although they don't use computer software - they have to rent a small stand in a local food fair to sell their home-grown organic vegetables. And they work really hard: going to the field around 4:30am every day. Despite hard work, they earn only 20,000 yuan (US$3,258) a year.
Some of my friends and colleagues often talk about retiring into a rustic life to escape urban frustrations, but they know even less than I about farming life.
Newport's book warns us not to pursue a career or life solely because of our passion. "Follow your passion" is a very bad career advice, he says.
Building skills
"The reason Ryan loves what he does ... is not that he gets to be outside or be free from e-mail, but instead he has control - over both what he does and how he does it," says Newport. "What's important about Ryan's story is that he didn't just decide one day that farming would provide nice control and then go buy some land. Instead ... he built up his farming skills for over a decade before setting out on his own."
Voiland's success relies on what Newport calls a "craftsman mind-set" rather than a "passion mind-set." The "craftsman mind-set" focuses on what you can offer the world through your solid efforts and hard-won skills. The "passion mind-set" focuses on what the world can offer you, that is, what you can take from the world without much effort.
The "passion mind-set" affects and afflicts not only individuals, but collective organizations as well. A local agriculture newspaper in Shanghai (Oriental City and Countryside News) reported on Tuesday that Chongming Island has yet to take off with its much-touted "forest economy" - for lack of efficient sales networks, economies of scale and relevant technologies. The "forest economy" refers to raising poultry and growing vegetables and herbs in the forest. As early as in 2008, the city pinned much hope on the "forest economy." Passion? Yes. Craftsmanship? Not yet.
Many of us passionately talk about building a beautiful countryside, but People's Daily reported on May 18 that the countryside is suffering a drought in farming talent, because professional farmers who toil on the land all their lives are rare today, as they migrate to cities for jobs.
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