My sister and I were having a discussion about how Generation Y is often seen as the type of person that can’t keep on task, bounces from project to project accomplishing little, and lacks a disciplined enough nature to follow anything through. My sister and I are both early GenY’s although we both noticed that she is much more inclined to follow the path of GenX than I am. The discussion rose from my comments that GenY wants to do something that they are passionate about, and not get bogged down with boring busy work that has no apparent impact on the business. We want to contribute!

My response to her on this issue was to describe my views on passion and that led me to an idea about the importance of the process associated with getting results. I grabbed some comments I made to a fellow bodybuilder and wrote her this reply:

What is passion?

If I were to define passion for myself I would say its an insatiable desire for something. When I was in college I was passionate about playing video games. If I had free time (or didn’t) I would play. The game drew me in, and I worked my hardest to be the best I could at it. In this sense I would say I was passionate about it, I felt compelled to play it.

So yes, passion is an emotion but when I say I want to do something that I’m passionate about I think what that really means to me is that I want to fall in love with the process, not the result. I think a strong correlation can be drawn between someone who is passionate about something and the results that they produce but they never seem to be focused on these results. These people that are passionate about something practice for the sake of doing it. This is what makes them so valuable in the workplace, on a team, or just in life. It can be said that they fall in love with the process, not the results!

Too often people center everything around results these days but I’d like to argue that results are arbitrary. The reason being is that all of the personal growth happens while trying to achieve results. In the end, if the focus is on the results and not the process of obtaining results, then the person will have learned nothing other than that they can achieve a certain result. This result, when compared to other results that other people or companies are attempting to achieve, becomes arbitrary and always changing over time. However, if instead we focus on the process and get people in place that are passionate about that process, results will produce themselves because those people will naturally be developing their skills, personality, and work ethic, through their passionate work.

A Weightlifting Example

Tom, Brian and Jake set a goal for themselves to be able to squat 405lbs 8 times. This weight is very good in the weightlifting realm. It requires a lot of hard work, dedication, etc. When they start they are on different levels but over time all are progressing along to their goal.

Brain is fixated on the goal of 405lbs and wants to reach it the quickest. He ends up increasing the weight too heavy to fast, and because he hasn’t taken the time to perfect his form he gets injured. This sets him on the sideline for a while where he eventually gets discouraged and quits trying. He is the type of person that sets goals and never seems to achieve them.

Tom has a very athletic build. His body naturally puts on muscle and holds it. He has a friend that has given him pointers on how to squat. It takes him a long time but eventually he is able to squat 405lbs 8 times. At this point, he feels good about his accomplishment, however, he doesn’t feel like continuing to lift anymore because he feels its too much work. Tom is the type of person that achieves goals that are within reach simply because of their natural abilities. If he were to continue lifting he would most likely plateau, that is reach a point where he can no longer make improvements. These people rarely achieve excellence because they lack the passion to go beyond their natural ability. Some would say they have lousy work ethic, or are not driven to succeed.

Jake is the third guy, and is passionate about lifting. He immerses himself in books about lifting techniques, and enlists trainers and people he trusts to check his form for him. He’s constantly asking for input from others about their lifting ideas, tricks, philosophy, etc. In addition, Jake has taken the time to understand how diet can play a role in strength building. He works up a diet that will help maximize his gains and strength in the gym. Tom reaches the goal of 405lbs much quicker than Jake, but Jake isn’t worried because he is taking his time, enjoying the process. Eventually, Jake reaches the goal. Instead of stopping though, he resets it to 495lbs. (Goals are arbitrary) Jake continues to work out per his workout program, and follow a strict diet, while getting good rest. He knows these are keys to making progress in the gym. Unfortunately, he hits a plateau at 455lbs. Nevertheless, he does not get discouraged. He continues to ask others for help in the different areas of weightlifting and seeks out new ideas. Through this process he begins to understand what type of resistance training his body responds to best. He also finds out that a low carb, high fat diet seems to work best with his body. By combining these two he is able to push beyond his plateau and achieve 495lbs. At this point, he decides to not set goals, but just to continue trying to lift more each workout and refine his process.

Through Jake’s passion for weightlifting, he is able to realize things about him that make him unique and that help lead him to future sucesses. In the business realm, this would coincide with a group of people that are able to innovate, and push the envelope of technology further because they are passionate about the product or service.

My point is I think people that are passionate about something will take it farther, produce more original ideas, and achieve higher results. I do think that coupling this with a disciplined nature makes for a 1,2 punch.

Not Feeling Very Passionate About Work?

So what happens when we don’t seem to be passionate about anything or don’t know how to translate a passion into the workforce? Its difficult but in these situations, it might be possible to develop a passion for something. Developing passion is difficult to do and requires the same amount of effort as it takes to develop a new habit. Three ways to help develop passion for something are as follows:

• Surround yourself with other people that are passionate about what you want to develop a passion for. These people will energize you when you’re down and provide support throughout your journey.
• Create a plan for improvement, and be disciplined about following it. Learn about the PDCA cycle used in the Quality industry and apply it to your life.
• Set attainable goals within time frames which you can pursue and feel accomplishment from. These small milestone accomplishments will help you maintain forward progress.

Aside from developing a passion, there will be situations where you just cannot bring yourself to feel motivated about certain tasks at work. This is normal. Unfortunately, the corporate structure does not ensure a utopian environment for its employees and until a new business structure is created that accomplishes this, we will just have to deal with the un-shiny tasks as they present themselves! Fortunately, our Baby Boomer bosses perceive this character building exercise as a positive thing, and will most likely reward you when you’ve worked hard at something that does not fit your skillset or interests.