(really) entrepreneureal

I just read an article about Mike Rowe (of Dirty Jobs fame) in the latest issue of Outside magazine.  Other than the fact that I love Rowe’s quirky, aw-shucks sense of humor and general approach to life and all things feces, I was struck by one of the quotes highlighted in the article (which happens to come from a FastCompany article):

‘Follow your passion’ is the worst advice you can give someone… Had I ever even bothered to define what that was, this never would have worked out.

Definitely an interesting thought, especially because us Gen-Y-ers are consistently egged on to follow our passion and hearts wherever they might take us (and chances are that won’t be any of the dirty jobs Rowe gets to try out).  This is interesting, too, because it turns the “find your passion and you will be happy philosophy” on its head.  Rowe goes on to point out that every single person he profiles, from the gourd maker to the fish farmer to the sewer cleaner to the ostrich raiser, first found something they could do well, and then, with a dollop of time and a pinch of patience (and oftentimes poo), built a solid passion around it.

What’s so contrary about this statement is that it re-imagines passion as something to be nurtured over time. Not as the flash-in-the-pan, go-down-in-flames-with-nary-a-care-in-the-world passion that we read about in books or see on the silver screen.

I, for one, am not sure whether Rowe has it right.  Sure, he became really good at one thing (off-the-cuff humoristic monologues on any topic under the sun) and managed to turn it into something meaningful, but his story does creak a little under scrutiny: first, the dirty jobs he takes as proof-positive that a seemingly dull task can engender passion envision a future where everyone does menial work.  So, what, that ex-day trader should take up goat castrating because he happens to be good with a blade? I exaggerate, but the point needs to be made: well-paying labor that is at first blush a little boring does not necessarily make sense for the average person (or, indeed, passion make).  Second, it took Rowe 47 years to “make it”; how is that for a lesson to teach others? Wander along aimlessly for half a century and then you might find your passion?  There has to be a better, potentially faster, way.

For the time being, I’ll stick with passion for passion’s sake.  How about you?