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Johnny Bunko

Johnny Bunko: a cartoon Joe who hates his dead-end accounting job. A set of

magic chopsticks. And Diana, a Greek-anime goddess of job satisfaction. Mix ’em

together and you have the latest business manga. That’s right, I said

business manga.


Lesson 1: There is no plan.The

average worker will have a gazillion jobs before she’s 42

. Don’t do things

you hate or are worthless just ’cause you think they’ll get you somewhere. Do

stuff ’cause you love it and it’s valuable to you. This is the path to success

and fulfilllment, grasshopper.

Lesson 2: Think strengths, not weaknesses. Diana

invokes the sacred bobbleheads of Seligman and

Buckingham. Capitalize on what

you’re good at. End sentences with prepositions. Who cares? Screw that ‘fill in

the gaps’ crap. Allow yourself to bring out your best. Follow

your heart with a vengeance. That’s what remarkable leaders do

. Be

f’n amazing

.

Lesson 3: It’s not about you.It’s

not about you. It’s not about you

. Really. It’s about them. Help your

students-customers-clients-stakeholders solve their problems. The

most valuable people in any job bring out the best in others

. Be helpful.

Add value. It’s not about you.

Lesson 4: Persistence trumps talent.The

fall of dropping water wears away the stone

. Keep

on sucking until you succeed

. What are you afraid of?

Lesson 5: Make excellent mistakes.

If your strategy is to lie low, do your job, follow instructions, and hope

that nobody notices you, (a) nobody will ever notice you, and (b)

you’re actually increasing the chances of something bad happening.

If, on the other hand, you develop a reputation as the person who is always

pushing the envelope, challenging the organization to go to the next level, and

using your influence to get good stuff done, you’ve got the world’s best job

security.

You

can’t shrink your way to greatness

.

Try again. Fail again.

Fail better

. Fail smarter. Being

safe is risky. Being risky is safe

.

Lesson 6: Leave an imprint. Make a difference. Do

something meaningful. Stand

for something big and important. Stop being ordinary

. Make the world a

better place. What are you waiting for?

A rehash of earlier works? Absolutely. A super fun way to spend an hour? You

betcha.

Watch the trailer.

Buy

the book

. But whatever you do, don’t let your local adolescents get hold of

it or they’ll really start asking questions about whatever it is you’re

‘teaching’ them.

Oh, did I mention it’s written by Daniel

Pink

? Rock on.

[I loved this book. I give it 5 highlighters.]


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