Passion Revisited

I've written before about passion.

I'm the same guy I was five years ago, but writing has ignited an inner passion in me that never manifested itself while working as an IT consultant. Sure, I cared about my projects and clients, but it was never my candy store. CXOs always made the calls, and they could always take or leave my opinion.

When you call your own shots, you cannot be indifferent about the outcome.

Many employees in large organizations have their passions thwarted by internal politics, silly policies, bad managers, and the like. Others work with passion and purpose but don't achieve results because they have no stake in the outcome. They lack a line of sight.

And it's not just a problem with big companies. In many bands like Pink Floyd in the mid-1970s, one member (Roger Waters) routinely mocked the others for their "weak" contributions. His domineering style discouraged the other three men from contributing as much as they could have, and the band's work probably suffered for it. More than 25 years of acrimony ensued.

Passion is not something you can teach or something you can learn. It's easy to let others kill your passion. Don't let them.