The Adventures of Johnny Bunko

"The Adventures of Johnny Bunko" is an off-beat manga comic written by Daniel H. Pink. Manga, as defined by dictionary.com, is "a Japanese graphic novel, typically intended for adults, characterized by highly stylized art." This one in particular takes the reader through the journey of a young professional as he learns six keys to career success. Although the illustrations themselves seem somewhat childish, the keys prove to be extremely valuable pieces of advice that everyone who is making career or educational decisions should hear. For the sake of space I will highlight three of them; the first of these being that there is no plan.

It is made clear that several people in Johnny Bunko's (the main character of the story) life told him that everything would work out okay if he just stuck to plan. His father told him that he should get a degree in accounting and that his passion for art could take off from there many years down the road. His academic adviser said he should apply to work at an accounting firm and that his marketing career would take off from there many years down the road. But Johnny Bunko's life is a testament to the fact that there is no plan, and if there is...that it never works out right. Instead, Bunko is encouraged make decisions based on fundamental reasons (reasons that have value but no definite direction) as opposed to instrumental reasons (reasons that just keep leading to something else). Accordingly, fundamental reasoning leads to success and instrumental reasoning leads to sadness.

A second key point referenced (the fourth referenced in the time line of the story) is that persistence trumps over talent when it comes to success. In the "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko" they go to a metaphorical casino where you bet on people instead of casino games. Johnny is asked whether he would bet on the success of an extremely talented individual who is relatively unmotivated or a relatively untalented individual who is extremely motivated. Turns out that betting on the individual who lacks talent but gushes with persistence is much more profitable. The reasoning behind this is that talent can only get you so far. True success is achieved with "doggedness" because those who are persistent are "often the ones who stick with it when others don't."

A third key point (the fifth one mentioned) in "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko" is that in order to succeed one must make "excellent mistakes." This is a little bit deceiving. It does not mean to make stupid mistakes or have ignorant mishaps; instead, it means to take bold chances and fall flat on your face doing it. Why? Because failure is a learning experience that makes an individual stronger. My film professor once told the class "I am not your professor because I'm intrinsically better at this stuff than you. I am your professor because I have made 25 years worth of mistakes more than you guys." It seems like such a quote is quite fitting in the context of this key point. In order to grow, develop, and ultimately triumph, one must first make mistakes and learn from them.

In all honesty, this manga evoked some pretty strong feelings in me. Maybe its this way for everyone who reads it, but the book explicitly stated the exact sort of struggles that I am going through right now (and it even included pretty illustrations for these struggles too). I recently switched my major from engineering to film. To me, engineering was a safe bet and it was lifestyle/career that had been drilled into my head from a very young age. Thus when I got to Notre Dame, I blindly declared my major as mechanical engineering. Big mistake. I had no passion for it. I had no desire to excel. I had no positive outlook on my future as an engineer. This lack of passion, desire, and foresight proved disastrous. I soon fell into a mild depression over the fact that I wanted nothing to do with engineering, all the while feeling that nothing else was practical. Since then I have come to my senses. I love film. I am in the zone when it comes to film. I could sit at a computer for hours, days, or weeks working with film and have no sense of time. On the contrary, I never found my engineering zone...and something tells me I never would have. Needless to say, "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko" gave me new found encouragement. I have abandoned the plan, I have found my persistence, and I plan to make/learn from many mistakes.

Quite ironically, there is an explicit relation between one of the key points from "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko" and something else in my life. The truth is that I agree with and plan to live by all of this manga's six points, but there is one point in particular that I have trouble coming to grips with: "persistence trumps talent." Let me explain why. I have always been an extremely resilient, persistent, and motivated person. On the contrary, I have repeatedly lacked the natural talent necessary to succeed in many aspects of my life. For example, my grades in school are above average not because I am bright (I am fairly certain I read at an 8th grade level) but because I put in night after sleepless night trying to get everything done. The feelings of envy that I have for those who cruise by on their natural ability are overwhelming. I would give anything to have half of their talent. So much so that I made a short film about this topic that I entered in the Mishawaka Film Festival "3". This film can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aszi2w9-ajw . Accordingly, out of all of the Johnny Bunko key points, "Persistence trumps talent" will be the toughest one for me to accept on my road to professional happiness.

Essentially, Johnny Bunko addresses a predicament that most individuals experience: should I go through the motions professionally and be miserable, or should I take risks and pursue what profession makes me happy. Having been lectured on maturity, fiscal responsibility, and job security all of our lives, it is quite challenging to rebel against the former. However, "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko" make it clear that true fulfillment is only possible with the latter. In terms of applying it to my life, the process of gearing my professional efforts towards these six key points should be pretty straight forward. Just for clarification though, I will state each point and give a brief description of my intentions for the future.

There is no plan - I intend to abandon any preconceived notions about what my future should look like and what it’s going to take to get there.

Think strengths, not weaknesses - I intend to focus on the things I excel at, and not get deterred by my shortcomings.

It's not about you - I intend to appeal to the costumer, but stay true to myself.

Persistence trumps talent - Despite my bitterness towards this topic, I will continue to be motivated, persistent, and triumphant.

Make Excellent Mistakes - There is no doubt I will make plenty of mistakes, but I intend to make them excellent ones and to learn from them.

Leave My Imprint - Trust me. I'll never let the world forget Will Thwaites.

Questions:

It doesn't seem like the 3rd point fits very well with the others: "It's not about you." The rest are very positive and encouraging, but this one seems negative and limiting?

What is the success rate for those who live this way?

And if success is less common than failure, will the happiness I get from shooting for the stars be worth it?