So Good They Can't Ignore You

This book makes an interesting argument: “Don't follow your passion!”. It's much better to master skills first and then that will lead you to a passionate career or life.
It explores this question thoroughly using case studies of real people's lives: a writer, a musician, a biologist, a venture capitalist, an archaeologist and entrepreneurs.

I liked the idea of differentiating between a “passion mindset” and a “craftsman mindset”. The author argues that you have to offer the world something (craftsman) and not wait for the revelation of perfect a predestined passion. It's essentially the difference between being active and passive.

The structure of the book is very academic because the author summarizes a lot: the concepts written earlier (within a chapter), the whole chapter after you finish reading it and the final chapter of the book summarizes pretty much everything.

It's not a long book but the summarizing structure tired me a little when I was reading it.

The book brings valuable advice, like: the importance of honing your skills and engaging in deep work in order to build what the calls your “career capital”. This will lead you to “being so good they can't ignore you”.