In many beer fueled conversations, I have heard the sentiment of “quitting my job and doing something I am passionate about.” While I see merit in that line of thought, these days I also end up playing party-pooper by asking if he/she has a business model in mind, especially since the ‘passion’ is more often than not from the usual suspects list – digital photography, cooking/baking, writing, travel and so on. To clarify, unlike funded startups this model doesn’t even have to scale, but in the medium-long term, the revenue has to be greater than expenditure. That’s a requisite for survival in the world, unless one has alternate sources of income.
I saw a meeting of worlds when I noticed yet another job listing that demanded the person to be “passionate about digital marketing“? As someone who has been working in the domain since 2004, I have seen a version of this phrase appear in many job descriptions. I could replace digital marketing with startups, consumer insights, programming and so on, the question remains the same.
The professional & the mercenary
In 2010, when I was working with an NGO, I had a debate of sorts with a management expert, who had come for a training session. The crux of it was that I said that I was not passionate about the domain in which the organisation was operating, but that it was mostly irrelevant to the quality of my work. I had a skill set and expertise that was useful in the context. He labeled me a mercenary, my response was that I was a professional. Manish expressed by sentiment best when he wrote in a post on culture later – “You become a professional when you care.”
The skill and the spirit
That point of view remains – I am not passionate about brands or digital marketing, the domains I work in. Interested, most definitely. Passionate, not. If it is taken out of my life, I will show withdrawal symptoms but I don’t think I’ll miss it for long. So why do I work in these domains? Simply put, it allows me to work on interesting challenges. Digital, in all of its ever-changing forms and manifestations, continues to be one of the most formidable and exciting frontiers of any business. I try to solve problems using critical thinking and other skill sets, and I find that stimulating. However, I will do it when I am paid for it, or as a help to friends. On the other hand, I have declined payment offers around the things I really like – reading, travel, food (barring my restaurant reviews for Bangalore Mirror) because I experience a freedom in enjoying these things without constraints/obligations. I will continue to do these things even if I’m not paid for it. Maybe that’s passion!
The purpose and the philosophy
An organisation is defined as a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, controls its own performance, and has a boundary separating it from its environment. While the organisation is defined only by those collective goals, the people who are a part of it will most likely have an individual purpose. And yes, they can be committed to both. Passion might help, but what (I think) helps more is discipline. In fact, this discipline would be part of the individual’s life philosophy and visible in other facets of his/her life – health, relationships etc.
A committed professional will work on his/her skills, hone them and adapt them to meet the objectives. I think that creates a dependability and pragmatism that can work better long term than passion because it’s a process. I agree that these aren’t mutually exclusive, but given we don’t usually have utopian scenarios, I would mostly choose a committed professional over a passionate individual if I were hiring. Since this is eminently debatable, I’d love to hear other thoughts.
Meanwhile, the discussion around “passion as a profession” at social gatherings usually ends with me being exposed as a cynic when I utter, “Maybe it’s (also) the escape from the routine that makes it your passion. What happens if you realise that your passion is reduced to a task when you take it up as your day job?” One must try, but one must also set expectations.
One thought on “That passion – profession debate, again”