Passion vs. Productive

Meet Derek.

Derek is a "hotdogger" for Oscar Mayer.  He believes in the brand—so much so, that he got it tattooed on his arm. Derek is a passionate employee.  Would you hire him?

There are actually few organizations that can support passionate employees—even if they say they want them. That's because the original industrial revolution was designed to support productivity. Productivity means you produce. That's how you're measured.  Passion is difficult to quantify, and yet if you ever talk to teams who have produced break through products and innovative solutions—you know it was there. Passionate employees believe in something bigger than themselves. They're not interested in punching the clock, and sometimes they bend the rules.

Managers want passionate employees, but don't always know how to manage them. Passionate employees question things, probe and push. Who's got the time to deal with that?  Productive employees get things done. No questions asked.

Deep down inside we know we need both—the question is do you have the right balance, and if you've got a few passionate employees on your hands, do you know how to motivate them? If Derek had the gumption to tattoo your brand on his arm, what else is he capable of doing?  If you hire someone who lives and breathes the internet, they might be social networking on your dime. If you hire a sports fanatic, they might sneak in a game on the computer you provided them.

And if you align someone's passion with their job description—you just might boost your department's productivity. And that's where it gets interesting.

Comments

[Matt Dickman]

Great post David. Aligning passionate people so they can be productive is a huge opportunity. As you said, there are all types of passions. Finding people who can harness those and turn them into results is the management challenge. Too many people have too little passion, that's the sad thing.

[Blog Expert]

I am more for productive people than anything but I will take both!

[Sampad Swain]

Excellent post David. It's so true that the magic potion of success lies in between those two great combination - passion & productivity.

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Sampad

[Clinton David Skakun]

Hi David,

What your saying here is so true. I'm a firm believer in making your passion you job. Give a person a job he hates, he might try hard but he hates his job, so it hinders his performance. Give the same person a job he's passionate about(not just something he likes) and it's amazing how far he/she will go. It's not the money, the time spent or how easy or hard the job is. It's all about passion.

I'd say a person with a passion for his job is worth a 50 uninspired employees, because you know you can trust him and you know he'll do the work as best as he's able.

This is really who successful people are, I believe. You can see the major difference, between a person who needs to do his job and the person who puts his 100% in every time. People who have a passionate job almost always have more energy, more creativity and high performance than mediocre Jim who can't wait for 5:00.

This post should inspire a lot of people.
Have a great one!

-Clinton

[Leigh Duncan-Durst]

Great post, David. Random thoughts:

Where passion can be overwhelming to others it can also be contagious. It also doesn't negate productivity...in fact, it might just focus it, at times.

I believe good managers know how to focus and apply passionate people. In some cases, they also know how to shelter others from them, because sometimes, it can be distracting or even irritating -- especially when producing the mundane, which is necessary in all kinds of business.

It's late...that's all I've got. Thanks for the consistently good stuff.

[Dave Cynkin]

What a great discussion topic, David.

To me, the passion in business is not measured by what you do and how well, it's about who you profoundly affect with what you do. And how consistently.

Consumers, customers, clients and end users...and their personal, memorable experiences which stem from your engagement.

It's not about what you're doing, and how much you care about it. It's about how much you charge yourself with the responsibility of making the end user have the best possible experience, thorough problem resolution, or tailored selections matching their unique situation.

It's about committing yourself to being a partner as opposed to a supplier. A coach instead of a saleperson. A driver of long-term value and relationships based on trust, empathy and urgency (respecting others' time value, this is key).

It's about checking your ego at the door, making selflessness a habit, and focusing on the needs of those at the end of the channel. Metrics come later, and then, and only then, can you pat yourself on the back (if you even remember to).

If you've got a burning desire to deliver a successful and wholly satisfying experience...then you've got passion. Then, the productivity will be applied toward not just accomplishing volume, but QUALITY volume. Such that the recipients of your efforts return, because they know the guy or gal on the other end was truly passionate and committed, and their experience as a customer was no accident. It was intended and planned with care.

Think about the companies that have left you with an experience that was so memorable, you could almost feel their passion. Their care. The importance they placed on how you felt. Can you name a handful?

For me, in the past, it's been FedEx, Southwest Airlines, Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Nikon, Trader Joe's, Mac & PC Connection, Apple Computer and a few restaurants here in San Diego where old-fashioned loving care goes into treating each visitor as a family friend. There are more, but those stick out in my mind.

Sorry for the ramble...I love this subject! :)

Safe, Healthy and Happy Holidays, everyone.

Dave Cynkin
Co-Founder, CMO, Sleep Deprivationist & Thrill Seeker
BlogWorld & New Media Expo

[eamon]

Passionate people can be difficult to manage, but managed right, they can be invaluable. Passionate people can often be those who will spend extra time and energy in coming up with ideas that can move a business forward (as well as being passionate in a practical sense - going overboard in difficult times / working under preassure and so on).
And, yes, you need a variety of different people in a team.

[krishna]

Good Post indeed. Tweeted this one :).

[Joann Sondy]

Wow, can he deduct that as a business expense?

Very timely post for me on a personal / career level as I try to tap into new passion for 2009. I know I need to make changes with my business and how I do business but does it fit with what I really want to do.

The remaining days of 2008 will be filled with much reflection and soul searching.

Maybe a tatoo with my logo might help.

[Tim Otis]

I was wondering why it was so hard for me to get a job, haha! No, I do see the value in brand evangelism manifested by one's own bodily display of it. Same thing happened with the winner of a photo contest. Company decided the guy went above and beyond the call of duty to show them logo artistry. I thought other entries were much more creative, but you show here-- it's all about passion!

[Ric Cortez]

People who have passion for something are fully self expressed, free from any constraints. They're sooo freed up to innovate and enroll others on their cause. Seth calls them heretics.

[Tim Jahn]

Passionate people are the ones who are going to lead the company to new horizons, to new successes, and to new happiness.

Those are the right people to get on the bus.

Great discussion David!

[Ari Herzog]

How about instead of aligning someone with a job description, enabling that passionate employee the power to rewrite the job description? Or toss the description out the door and allow the employee to be productive and get the work done whatever it takes?

We have too many rules and standards in society. Some are necessary to keep order and prevent chaos, but others are there because, well, nobody knows but they've always been there. Like job descriptions.

[Ari Adler]

I don't think you have to choose one or the other. It's not about passion vs. productivity. It's about having the best of both worlds.

In battle, a volunteer army is always seen as superior to a drafted one. The same goes for the business world. The key is to find a way to manage the passionate employees so you can focus their passion and turn it into productivity.

[Sonny Gill]

What's scary is knowing someone who had a great balance of both Passion and Productivity but still being let go. I think it was the biggest mistake the company could have made (aside from the fact about company layoffs) because I do think it's harder to get a solid balance of the two.

Nonetheless, I'm a believer in Passion breeding Productivity. It's contagious and is no doubt visible throughout the entire company and should be lucky to have someone like that within your business.

[Kelly Shaw]

Passion = Suffering for a cause.
Tattoos hurt, you carry then (or their scars) for life.
Raising organizational cause to this level is the realm of masterful leaders. Don't seek passionate people seek worthy cause and the right people will be drawn in.

[David Armano]

Kelly,

That's a good point. Purpose. An organization that has a purpose. People who are purposeful.

Good food for thought.

[Chad Bookidis]

You effin Genius....

The question is, Do you have Logic+Emotion tattooed anywhere?

[Sachendra Yadav]

For the leaders passion about about the product is imperative although they do need to keep themselves detached a little bit... too much passion about the product can be a bad thing as it starts affecting your judgment.
As for the employees, I second @Sonny "Don't seek passionate people seek worthy cause and the right people will be drawn in"