Passion and Work

My favorite blogger, Kathy Sierra, has written another great post - this time it's "Don't ask employees to be passionate about the company!"  She says employers often value the worker who is passionate about the company rather than the worker who is passionate about the work itself.  Now it's possible to be both, but Kathy prefers the employee who cares most about the work. 

Now, how can you tell if you're someone who is passionate about their work?  She's devised a simple 4 question test:

1. When was the last time you read a trade/professional journal or book related to your work? (can substitute "attended an industry conference or took a course")
2. Name at least two of the key people in your field.
3. If you had to, would you spend your own money to buy tools or other materials that would improve the quality of your work?
4. If you did not do this for work, would you still do it (or something related to it) as a hobby.

And her definition of the employee who's passionate about work:

• Scores well on the 4-question test:
  - keeps up with trade/professional journals
  - knows who the key people in the industry are
  - would spend his own money, if necessary, for better tools
  - if they were NOT doing this as their job, they would still do something related to it as a hobby
• Works late nights when, "I'm just one-compile away from this awesome refactoring that's going to make this thing run 40% faster." In other words, they work late when they're driven by something they know they can do better on.
• Defends the quality of his own work (and, in the Hollywood Model, the work of his team).
• Puts responsibility to his own ethics and values--especially related to quality of work--over responsibility to employer.
• May not be extremely well-liked, but is highly respected and tolerated because he's known as one who, "cares deeply about doing the best possible job, and is very good at what he does."
• Does not accept, "this is what corporate needs us to do" when it conflicts with quality and ethics. Must be given a damn good reason why a corporate decision is worth the downsides.
• Does not care about upward mobility in the company. Cares about doing fabulous work and possibly the recognition of his peers in the industry. May strive for professional recognition.

Read the whole post - lots of food for thought.