Comments

No surprise about the passion!!

Some good bits on team work too. Far too rare - which is a pity. Just once in my career I had the privilege to belong to a truly extraordinary team. The boss of that team did 2 things

1) She deliberately recruited diverse people (different styles) – We had process junkies, fun lovers, empathetic, task focussed and just plain argumentative (Me!)

2) She worked damned hard to get them to respect and use each others talents. People felt comfortable enough to admit weakness and go and get help.

I hope this is what more woman in leadership roles can bring (and I am not saying us blokes can’t have a bash at it too!!)

Posted by PaulH at July 25, 2005 4:22 PM

My feeling on how things actually get done is Passion with a Side Salad of Process!

“All humanity is passion; without passion, religion, history, novels, art would be ineffectual.” Honore De Balzac

Over thirty years experience in administration and management in the National Health Service, has led me to believe that the right mixture of passion and process is the way to get things done.

I believe passion, with a “side salad” of process, is the way – process being another word for effective action plan.

Some would argue a meal, without a side salad, is incomplete. If an outcome is a destination then three-quarters of the journey is not the final destination. A balance of passion and process can ensure we get the whole way ….. or, put another way ….. makes the meal complete.

Too much process or too much passion will often ensure non-arrival at your intended destination. But remember, individuals differ in their preferred learning styles and I do not find generalisations helpful. “She is a process person”… “He is too evangelical” ….. You have heard them all.

Sometimes situations call for more passion and sometimes for more process. I would say “single bullet” solutions are rarely achievable in complex organisations.

Passion can take us a long way down the road but without process, I believe we are more likely to fail. That is not to say one is more important – simply that both are needed.

The writing, publishing and marketing of my book Simplicity is the Key is a great example.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/190423531X/qid%3D1107188769/sr%3D1-3/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F8%5F3/202-4657672-9650217

I was totally naïve about formal processes of writing books so I wrote this book, fired only by passion to do it.

I feel too much process would have stifled me.

I would have stagnated and drowned in plans and process. The manuscript would probably have been on the shelf gathering dust for years.

As it was the book was produced from nothing to retail outlets in less than six months which I was pleased with.

The wonderful connections made though various accidental routes that led me to Anand the publisher definitely owed more to luck and networks than any formal plan. What a fabulous stroke of luck that turned out to be. Interestingly I did approach a publisher early on in the traditional (“correct“) way - submitting a formal manuscript for consideration. I never received a reply to my letter.

The rapid production of my book was probably due, in no small measure, to my innocence of rules and regulations. I tended to simply ring people to ask simple questions and found I was pushing at open doors.

People seemed to want to help me and they did. I hope I retain that simplistic and innocent approach to future writing - it seems to work.

Posted by Trevor Gay at July 26, 2005 12:50 AM

PASSIONATE quotes to ponder....

"There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life." - Federico Fellini

"Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion" - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

"Passion is the genesis of genius." - Anthony Robbins

"Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things." - Denis Diderot

"I find that the Americans have no passions, they have appetites." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"None, but people of strong passion are capable of rising to greatness." - Comte de Mirabeau

"One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested." — E. M. Forster

"You never achieve success unless you like what you are doing." — Dale Carnegie

"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Posted by K.Sriram (India) at July 26, 2005 1:15 AM

Trevor -- thanks for that!!!

Posted by Michael J at July 26, 2005 6:23 AM

Tom as usual has it right on the head. Passion is THE key differentiator of WOW teams.

I've worked with and researched passionate teams in the corporate sector. And I find if there's one thing that differentiates these teams from others is that they have a sense of mission about what they are doing. I don't know if you can instil passion without first creating a cause - an overarching purpose. The job of any team leader is to create that MISSION!

The MISSION releases its own energies and unleashes tremendous belonging and innovation.

The question is HOW is that MISSION created? One way is when a passionate individual finds a Cause that attracts like-minded rebels. Another, more predictable way is for the team leader to CO-EVOLVE an almost impossible aspiration with his/her team. This shared 'impossible' aspiration creates new reference points that often sparks tremendous passion, ownership and innovation within the team.

Posted by Porus Munshi at July 26, 2005 7:55 AM

K. Sriram ... love the E.M. Forster quote in particular! (And agree with Forster's quantification ... 1:40.)

Posted by tom peters at July 26, 2005 8:37 AM

Porus - I agree 100%. I reflected on a time when I felt incredible passion about my job and it stemmed from the fact that my team had a shared sense of purpose. We knew what it was we needed to do and were given the freedom, by our great leader, to figure out how to do it. We were given permission to be passionate, which I often find is not the case. Passion, like creativity, are often stifled in process driven environments. Hence, all the more reason to find that balance.

Posted by Darci at July 26, 2005 2:37 PM

Can you teach passion? It is one thing to say Passion is the key. It is true but what is passion and how does one get it. I am one of the most passionate people I know. Whether I am cleaning the house, cooking, planting, doing a presentation, firing up the troups, teaching my grandchildren, writing, designing, reading, communicating, developing new ideas, caretaking, I make a masterpiece of the day in everyway. I was born with that enthusiasm, wonderment, appreciation and gratitude for the smallest things. When I was 13, I read Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking and I never stopped applying those principles. I was so lucky to be a reader when I was young because I knew that I could learn to do anything. I have friends today who can't really read because they don't have concentration powers and read the same paragraph over and over again. So that whole world of learning in books is cut off from them. When my two grandaughters were coming of age to reading, I brought them over for the night and plumped up the bed with fluffy pillows, got them hot chocolate with marshmellows, opened all the windows for a cool breeze to whisper through the room along with the sounds of crikets and night birds, lit vanilla candles everywhere so it smelled good and it was peaceful and I brought out the books and taught them the magic of solitude and reading. To this day, one of our biggest joys is piling into bed to read. And I started telling them stories, hysterical stories, stories that brought tears to my eyes, everything that happened in my life, they depend on my passion to fuel them and hopefully some of it will wash off and they will continue a passionate life like mine. Maybe that is how you teach it. By not being afraid to have passion for life in all its aspects. A Passionate person inspires all who come into their path. I like that E.M. Forster quote the best as well. Tom Peters knows how to stir up passions by touching that creative nerve in you and opening up that big box of possible ideas to the point where you can't sleep because you just want to get busy. Which I have to do right now.

Posted by suzanne g. at July 27, 2005 3:17 PM

Great comment Suzanne - you cannot teach passion - impossible.

I do think people can have passion without showing it. Focus determination and persistence are perhaps not as sexy words as passion but I feel that some of the most determined characters I have met in my life have an inward passion that drives them - even if it never shows outwardly.

You must all have met them - you know .... those people who just quietly and very effectively get the job done with no frills - no histrionics and no shouting.

cheap viagra on line They are inwardly passionate about what they are doing. And they are usually very effective at what they do.

Posted by Trevor Gay at July 27, 2005 4:05 PM

Yes, Trevor, I have known those quiet people as well. I once met a very quiet woman and we had coffee and she said "would you like to go into the back yard to drink our coffee". I said yes and she opened the back door and it was like going into the magic garden - it was so beautiful it took your breathe away..there were little fountains with gold fish - and a hammock tucked away among the roses and secret benches hidden and budda statues and maybe 200 varieties of flowers - she lived alone and did it all herself and I saw her beauty and her passion that afternoon. I knew that she was in touch with her highest power working in her garden. However, in business, I appreciate those passionate souls who inspire me with the unlimited possibilities and creative thinking connected to the project that I am working on so that my own drive is enhanced.

Posted by suzanne g. at July 27, 2005 8:55 PM

Amen Suzanne - I agree with you totally

Posted by Trevor Gay at July 28, 2005 1:52 AM

Great comments, Susanne, Trevor. I don't know if passion can be taught. I think it's largely infected - like Suzanne does with her granddaughters. I guess she's infecting them with her passion. Building on what Trevor says, the quiet ones are sure passionate about what they do - often with zen-like persistence. And they certainly inspire. I guess they inspire with their achievements, while the obviously passionate ones INFECT others with their passion. By infection I mean that just being around the person and feeling the energy field is enough to want you to go make a difference in the world.

Personally, although I've never met him, Tom Peters has certainly infected me with his passion. Two lines in his book - The Project 50, have begun to make quite a difference in my passion towards any thing I do. One line is that 'there's no such thing as a small task. Every task/job contains within it the entire strand of the Organization's DNA'. The other line is: 'can you imagine a great cardiologist who's not obsessed with hearts or a great janitor not obsessed with cleanliness?' Actually, before I begin any large task/project, I dip into Tom's circle of innovation and project 50. That often helps me set perspective and really triggers passion for me in the project... And I love that quote of Emile Zola that Tom uses - 'Live Life Out Loud'. canada viagra mastercard

Posted by Porus Munshi at July 28, 2005 3:21 AM