Passion is Not Enough

Post by David Mead

When we interview someone for a new job, we often find ourselves on the lookout for passion. We want to hire someone who is passionate. And that's usually where we stop. Well, everyone is passionate about something. Hiring a team of passionate people is not a guarantee that you'll accomplish anything great.

The point is not to hire someone with passion. The point is to hire someone who shares the passion your organization is working to bring to life. In other words, are we hiring people who believe what we believe? Are we hiring people who get out of bed everyday to work toward something that supports our vision of the world?

If not, we may just end up with a group of passionate people who are pulling equally hard in different directions rather than a team of people inspired to pull in the same direction toward the destination they all believe in.

Comments

[David Mead]

Thanks for the comment jmang. You bring up a good point. Where most people get a little off track here is that it's not just about hiring people who are just like us. You're right, healthy dissent and diversity on a team is a good thing and it's important to look for that as we hire.

Individual differences in background are important AND individual differences don't mean we can't all be showing up to build the world we all imagine together.

[jmang]

"In other words, are we hiring people who believe what we believe? Are we hiring people who get out of bed everyday to work toward something that supports our vision of the world?"
Sounds good at first, but it also can become a great medium for culturing group think, can't it? The organization then feeds on itself and spits out those who don't completely agree with "our vision of the world". A little healthy dissent in the mix is not only a good thing, it's necessary to keep the organization from turning into an echo chamber and losing touch with reality.