I just finished reading Daniel Pink’s new book, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need. I loved this little book, which is written in the Japanese manga style.  It’s similar to a comic book in that it uses illustrations to tell the story with very little text.  Manga is very popular in Japan and is used for all types of subject matter, including business.  Daniel Pink really used both sides of his brain in creating this book.  In case you aren’t familiar with Daniel Pink, he wrote the best seller, A Whole New Mind.

Our hero is Johnny Bunko, who works in a job he hates.  He chose his college major and his career based on what other people told him he should do.  And, now he feels miserably stuck.  Sound familiar?  One night, while working late, Johnny conjures up Diana by snapping apart some chopsticks. And in the spirit (pun intended) of Scrooged and It’s a Wonderful Life, Diana imparts wise career advice to Johnny each time she appears.  Through a series of adventures with a couple of his work buddies by his side and Diana acting as coach, Johnny learns six lessons. Two of these lessons are to “think strengths, not weaknesses” and “make excellent mistakes.”  I won’t tell you the rest of the lessons, because I don’t want to be a spoiler.

I agree with Diana when she says that “this isn’t just career advice, guys. In some ways, this is what it means to be alive.”