Q&A with Daniel Pink

Boston.com Moderator: Welcome Dan!

Daniel Pink: thanks. great to be here.

Daniel Pink: eager to take questions about work, careers, manga, comics . . . or anything else.

Kate: Hi, I am curious to know what your thoughts are on getting your MBA. Is it worth the time and money?

Daniel Pink: hi, kate. i don't have anything against MBAs -- even though i have written that the "MFA is the new MBA"!

Daniel Pink: what really matters is WHY you want to pursue an MBA. if it's merely for the credential, i'm not totally convinced it's valuable.

Daniel Pink: if the reason is that you want to learn the material in an MBA program, it's great. in some sense, i think MBAs are most valuable for those who *don't* have a hard-core quantitative or business background.

Daniel Pink: let's see what else we have . . .

chins: hi Daniel! Johnny Bunko comics are a great idea! My question to you: yesterday my friend and I were having a friendly argument: I was looking at a potential job as a 'stepping stone' - maybe do 1-2 years, pick up a few skills; move on after that. She felt that on her 'moral compass' that might be wrong because the employer takes atleast 6-9 months to train you in their business and make you productive. If you leave after two years, all that training is wasted from their viewpoint. I argued that they are not offering me any guarantees either! For all you know, two days before christmas, they might hand me the pink slip if they face budget cuts. Therefore, my ethical/moral thing would be to do the best while I was working for them. But that I don't owe them a long term commitment, just as they are not guaranteeing me a long term commitment either. What do you think of this? Thx.

Daniel Pink: interesting question, chins. let me give folks a little time to read it.

Daniel Pink: this is actually a real concern on the part of employers. they resist sinking a huge investment into people who might leave after a couple of years.

Daniel Pink: but in some sense, i agree with you. the company isn't offering you any guarantees. what's more, you could surprise yourself by sticking around longer than you expect.

Daniel Pink: and, of course, if you bail early, you risk cutting off that part of your network, which might end up being valuable later on.

Daniel Pink: so in general, i think this thing sorta works itself out.

Daniel Pink: wow. lots of questions coming in. let me go to the next one. my eyes are faster than my fingers!

popperline: Hi Dan. I am a big fan of your previous books. Can you tell us about your new one?

Daniel Pink: thanks, popperline. this book is a bit different. it's a 160-page graphic novel career guide. (you can check out some of the pages on the boston.com site). it tells the story of a guy named johnny bunko, who works at a place called the bogss corporation.

Daniel Pink: one night he has a dark night of the soul. he snaps open some chopsticks that he'd picked up with his takeout dinner.

Daniel Pink: then -- KABOOM!! -- the chopsticks create an explosion that unleashes diana, a slightly unconventional career advisor.

Daniel Pink: diana then proceeds to teach johnny the six key lessons of any satisyfing productive career.

Daniel Pink: the idea behind it is that tactical career information (say, what keywords to put in a resume, etc.) is available for free online. so a book has to offer information and advice that can't be googled.

Daniel Pink: that means big picture, strategic information. so i've keyed the book around the six big lessons about work that i wish i'd known 25 years ago.

Daniel Pink: and since it's manga, you can read the book in an hour!

gunslinger: Hi -- do you read a lot of comics -- manga or otherwise? What are your favorites?

Daniel Pink: hi, gunslinger. i wasn't a rabid comic fan as a kid, but i did read them. as an adult, though, i've become quite fascinated with the form.

Daniel Pink: in fact, last year i spent a couple of months in japan studying the manga industry. as you might know, manga in japan is VERY different from comics in the US. manga is everywhere and for everyone -- including adults.

Daniel Pink: you can find manga on politics, time management, finance, cooking, anything. but here in the us, as popular as manga has become, it's still mostly for the under 17 crowd. i thought this form was so expressive that we ought to try it out for adults.

Daniel Pink: for those of you who are somewhat know to the realm of graphic novels, let me recommend three really good ones.

Daniel Pink: 1. persepolis. it's an amazing story of a girl whose parents send her out of post-revolution iran.

Daniel Pink: 2. fun home, another amazing memoir. don't want to say more. just read it.

Daniel Pink: 3. pyongyang. a graphic novel about -- no joke -- north korea.

Daniel Pink: let's go to some more career questions...

free_agent_fan: If I could ask a question about "Free Agent Nation,'' a book that painted a rosy picture of life without bosses. One thing I thought it lacked was taking into account the real -- and hi -- cost of health insurance. Our state has gone to great expense to get people on for $200 a month on basic health insurance. Do you think that will lead to a rise in "creative class'' jobs here, and we'll be seen as more of a haven for entrepreneurs and free agents, as you put it?

Daniel Pink: hi. thanks for remembering that long-forgotten book!

Daniel Pink: as i wrote back then, health insurance was one of the key obstacles to people going out on their own. the system is totally messed up. it's even bad for employers -- since they're saddled with an extra cost and since many people are locked in to jobs they don't want because leaving would mean losing their health insurance.

Daniel Pink: universal health insurance -- whether done in the massachusetts way or some other way -- would lead to great entrepreneurship. there's no doubt in my mind about that.

Daniel Pink: a system that attaches health insurance to employment has very little moral or economic logic. it's really just an historical accident.

wally123: After your book where would you direct someone who has been in that same rut like the Johnny to go to asses their true interest?

Daniel Pink: hi, wally. one of the lessons that johnny learns in the book is to "think strengths, not weaknesses."

Daniel Pink: there's been a big movement in management thinking in the last decade that says high performance depends much more on harnessing your strengths than on repairing your weaknesses.

Daniel Pink: i'd recommend you check out the web site for the strengthsfinder assessment. just stick that into a search engine. also, one of the intellectual fathers of this who approach is martin seligman of the university of pennsylvania. check out his web site, too: www.authentichappiness.org

Daniel Pink: i should add that professor seligman appears in THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY BUNKO . . . as a bobblehead doll.

Seeker: What advice can you give to those of us who are trying to change careers? Is it possible to land a job by applying online using job websites, or do you think you need to contact a headhunter, or use some other method?

Daniel Pink: hi, seeker. changing careers is a process that unfolds over what is often a considerable amount of time. i know it's tough, but try not to rush it.

Daniel Pink: throwing your resume up on some online job board isn't that effective. the better approach is to reach out to people you know, tell them what you're planning, and ask if they know anyone in your target field.

Daniel Pink: then approach those folks -- not for a job, but for advice. that's a much better way to get a sense of what's going on in your desired field. i agree with dick bolles of what color is your parachute fame that many times online job boards and mailing out resumes are just ways to avoid the tougher work of meeting with as many people as you can.

wally123: I have not approached my career with that view before thank you. But are each of us capable of assessing our own true strengths and weaknesses versus the perception of others?

Daniel Pink: hi again, wally. yes, i think it's possible. not easy necessarily. but possible.

switch: I'm a television producer that has 10 years experience in the field with at least 4 years at a management level. I want to leave the business for a field such as marekting or a communications specialist. Marketing and communicating are essential parts of television producing. But, in my job search I cannot get a response from employers in these fields. What can I do?

Daniel Pink: hi, switch. my response here is similar to the one to seeker. your best bet is to work your network. find people you know -- or people you know who know others -- in marcom and reach out them.

Daniel Pink: again, don't ask for a job. ask for advice.

Daniel Pink: also, don't forget the third lesson that johnny learns in THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY BUNKO:

Daniel Pink: It's not about you.

Daniel Pink: a job search, yes, is about what's good for you. but the way to get a job is to show how you can help someone else -- how you can solve their problem, fill a need, etc.

Daniel Pink: i know you know that, switch. but it sometimes amazes me that people searching for jobs never take the perspective of the potential employer.

Daniel Pink: let's see what else we have . . .

Bianca: Hello Daniel. I was wondering if you are you planning to write more manga-style books in the future? And if so, what on?

Daniel Pink: hi, bianca. i might do more in manga. it's an extremely expressive form. this book, which i did in collaboration with an insanely talented manga artist named rob ten pas, packs a huge amount of information into a very small package. you can do that with graphic novels in a way that you just can't through ordinary prose.

Daniel Pink: given how time-pressed people are these days, i'm really attracted to creating (and consuming) books that folks can read in an hour and pass on to someone else.

Seeker: Is it career "death" to end your current job in order to transition into a new one?

Daniel Pink: no. in fact, it might be a different form of "death" to remain in a job that's ill-suited to your talents and values.

Linda: Dan, I have been such a big fan of your free agent nation book....what are the recent trends around this type of workforce?

Daniel Pink: thanks, linda. what i've seen since that book came out are a bunch of things. let me list them off the top of my head:

Daniel Pink: 1. working for yourself (or working for home) has become far less exotic.

Daniel Pink: 2. the technology, which i thought was awesome back then, has become even more super-duper awesome today. mobile phones are ubiquitous. broadband is everywhere. internet telephony and videoconferencing are essentially free. the barriers to entry have fallen even further.

Daniel Pink: 3. companies are changing, too. they know that today talented people need organizations less than organizations need talented people. so they're ofen treating their employees more or less as they treat free agents -- simulating inside the company what it would be like to work outside the company.

Daniel Pink: only with health insurance!

Seeker: How do you effectively explain your decision to interviewers who notice a gap in employment?

Daniel Pink: just tell the truth. these sorts of jagged resumes are far more common than they were 15 years ago. plus, there's really no other option.

wally123: Morals ethics seem to be a sliding scale in most industries how important is it to maintain your own set of ethics and not follow the crowd?

Daniel Pink: think of this from the perspective of two people ten years after they've made a decision to violate their own ethical code. one person caved; the other person held fast. which -- ten years later --do you think regrets the decision?

SoOverThisPlace: Has the format of your booked changed the perception of the career guide?

Daniel Pink: maybe. and i think it's an important question. think about it: if you were going to an interview on wednesday and wanted to find out more about the company where you were interviewing, how would you get that info?

Daniel Pink: today, 99 times out of 100 people will go online. that's the sort of thing i mean by *tactical* information.

Daniel Pink: putting tactical information in book form just doesn't make any sense. once the information gets memorialized on a page, it starts to go stale. by the time the book arrives in the store, it's staler still. plus, it's not searchable. and it costs money!

Daniel Pink: it just doesn't make any sense.

Daniel Pink: but as i mentioned earlier, there's some information and advice that eludes googling: strategic information, big picture information, broad lessons.

Daniel Pink: books can do a fabulous job of convey that sort of information. and if they do it in a form that is fun, fast, and memorable, i think authors can provide a very useful service to readers.

Daniel Pink: and i'm not kidding about being able to read THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY BUNKO in an hour. you can. you should. and that's a good thing.

Daniel Pink: when you're done, you can pass it to someone else. these days, authors might get the first word. but we don't get the last word. our ultimate goal ought to be to start conversations, which is what i'm trying to do in this book.

jeff: What is your take on headhunters? I'm always reluctant to use a head hunter when I change jobs. I'm in the healthcare field and can easily find a job on my own. My question; are you more or less likely to get more $ and benefits going through a headhunter compared to going it own your own? Wouldn't the high finder fees these headhunters charge the employer negatively affect your salary and benefits?

Daniel Pink: it really depends. there are some great headhunters out there; and there are some shysters. just as with any field. the thing to keep in mind, though, is that headhunters typically work for the employer not the jobseeker. that's their ultimate client.

SoOverThisPlace: What's the biggest mistake people make when prepping for an interview?

Daniel Pink: they focus too much on why they want the job or why they'd be good for the job or what it can do for me. and they focus too little on making the case for why they'll make the employer's life easier.

Daniel Pink: that's the key. every interviewer has a problem that he or she needs solved. if you can show how you'd make their life easier, how you can solve their problems or meet their unmet needs, you'll be very unattractive.

Daniel Pink: let me take a few more questions.

Daniel Pink: but first, two unrelated things.

Daniel Pink: 1. i'm on twitter and just tweeted what i'm doing. weird.

Daniel Pink: 2. the career changers out there might benefit from two books i've enjoyed. one is WORKING IDENTITY by herminia ibarra.

Daniel Pink: the other is marci alboher's ONE PERSON/MULTIPLE CAREERS

Mark: I'm late to the chat. In reading the transcript you say the "MFA is the new MBA." Since I have an MFA I'm dying to know what this means. Can you elaborate??

Daniel Pink: just google the phrase. it refers to a piece i did for the harvard business review a few years ago -- and it's an idea that appears in my book, A WHOLE NEW MIND.

brc045: Are you aware of anyone else out there who are going to try and copycat your idea? i can see a dr. ruth manga aimed at teaching high school kids about sex ed. Nooooo!!!

Daniel Pink: ha! very scary concept indeed. (and i say that as the parent of three kids.)

Daniel Pink: actually, it's not my idea. books on business in manga -- as well as books on just about any topic in manga -- are widespread in japan. i'm just trying to bring that idea to the u.s. as i've mentioned, manga is an incredibly powerful form of expression - a wonderful way to convey ideas, make arguments, and tell stories.

gunslinger: How long did it take to write johnny bunko ... and how much collabortion did you have with the illustrator? Was it hard getting on the same page (no pun intended)?

Daniel Pink: i worked on it over about 8 or 9 months. i wrote a script -- sent pages from it to my incredibly talented collaborator rob ten pas. (i blocked out many scenes, but not all.) rob then did pencil sketches of what it all would look like in comic form.

Daniel Pink: i'd look at those -- and inevitably cut out words. my early drafts were way overwritten. i had to learn how much storytelling freight pictures can carry. as things went along, it ended up being a very fruitful collaboration. i think we both made each other better. or at least rob made me better.

Daniel Pink: looks like our time is about up.

Boston.com Moderator: Thanks to everyone for the questions, and thanks Dan for taking the time to chat!

Daniel Pink: let me conclude with the fourth less of johnny bunko: Persistence trumps talent. the world is littered with extremely talented people who didn't persist. there are massive returns to doggedness.

Daniel Pink: remember that. and check out our website: www.johnnybunko.com.

Daniel Pink: thanks for your time and your great questions.

Daniel Pink: ja, mata!