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Ever felt like your career is going nowhere fast? Going out of college without any idea what to do? Dont worry, Johnny Bunko feels the same way!

Today we bring you an interview with Dan Pink, bestselling author of The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, a career advice book written as manga. Dan talks about Jonny Bunko, his experience writing manga and even throws some career advice for us gamers and otaku.

About Dan Pink – Best selling author of A Whole New Mind and Free Agent Nation, Dan Pink is the very example of career discovery. A graduate of Yale Law School, Dan served as speech writer for prominent politicians including Vice President Al Gore. Dan’s latest book, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need, is the first business book for a western audience in manga form.

Hit the jump for the interview!

Nahu: First question and I’m cheating here since it’s more than one and it’s not really a question. Why should The Adventures of Johnny Bunko exist? Why now? In other words, Justify Johnny Bunko.

Dan Pink: Let’s take a step back and think about books more broadly.  Why should a book exist?  To my mind, a book has to provide information, entertainment, narrative that’s valuable in book form and hard to get via another medium.  Now think about career information.  The tactical information — what companies do, what keywords to include in a resume, etc. — is available for free online.  Putting that sort info into a printed book doesn’t make much sense.  But I did think there was value to readers in creating books that offered the sort of insights that couldn’t be Googled — strategic, big picture advice.  That’s what I tried to do with the six big lessons that are the core of this one.

Nahu: The Obligated question, why manga? Was it for the virtues of the form? Was it to speak in a familiar voice to young people?

Dan Pink: A few reasons.  When I was in Japan last year studying the manga industry, one of my big takeaways is that manga is fast.  In many ways, that’s it’s essence.  So I wanted to create something that readers could enjoy and absorb quickly.  Also, it’s an incredibly expressive form — much more than words with pictures or pictures with words.  I thought it’s potential was wildly underappreciated.  Finally, as you say, it’s a form young people appreciate — and these were the people I was trying to reach.

Nahu: How did writing manga change the way you go about your creative
process?

Dan Pink: I had to learn how to tell stories and convey ideas in a medium in which pictures could carry much of that freight.  That didn’t come naturally to be.  I’m a prose person. But having a great collaborator like Rob really helped me get much better at this sort of thing. Early on, I overwrote everything. By the end, I was doing better at writing less to convey more.

Nahu: Having studied manga for a year in Japan you must have some favorites, would you share some titles with us?

Dan Pink: Not surprisingly, I’m a big fan of "salaryman manga," though not much from this genre is translated into English. My all-time favorite here, and something I looked at in crafting Johnny Bunko, is Kosaku Shima, Kenshi Hirokane’s long-running series about a guy rising in the ranks of the fictional Hatsushiba Corp. I also love the longer, darker works of Osamu Tezuka — MW, Apollo’s Song, Ode to Kirihito.  Among the more popular fare, I really like BlackJack (also by Tezuka) and I’m excited that more translations are coming this year. And I’ve been known to read Naruto from time to time.

Nahu: In Japan, as in the rest of the world, Otaku (and geeks and gamers for that matter) are characterized as creatures with more vice than virtue. In The Adventures of Johnny Bunko you say we should focus on strengths, not weaknesses. As big of a generalization as this can be, what do you consider are the biggest, most ignored strengths of the otaku/geek crowd?

Dan Pink: Passion.  Unlike many people — who drift through life, kinda sorta like some things, but never really contemplating what it is they love — otaku have deep, ferocious commitment.  That’s a hugely important trait in any profession, but particularly in artistic or entrepreneurial endeavors.

Nahu: Most of our readers, and in fact all of us on the staff, are precisely where Johnny Bunko is, right out of college or about to graduate and wondering WTF is up with our careers. What is the biggest mistake we are most likely to make at this stage?

Dan Pink: Doing what you think you’re supposed to do rather than what you really want to do.

Nahu: And so, what’s the best thing we could do at this point that we are least likely to do?

Dan Pink: Recognize that you don’t have to have all the answers figured out now.  Discovering who you are, what you’re great at, what you were put on this planet to do, isn’t something most people know at age 22.  It’s a process, a journey.  Embrace that — both its joys and its irritations — and you’ll be fine.

Nahu: If someone had handed you a copy of Johnny Bunko when you were 20, how would that have changed your life?

Dan Pink: I would have changed my life, of course! Actually, I’d have found it interesting. I would love to have talked to people about its ideas — because I likely would have agreed with some and disagreed with others.

Nahu: And finally, can we expect any more manga coming from Dan Pink?

Dan Pink: I sure hope so. Stay tuned.

Thanks to Dan for his time and cooperation, we wish him the best and may he change many more careers! In the meantime you can check out The Adventures of Johnny Bunko and even read a couple of chapters at Johnny Bunko’s official website.