June 16, 2009 by John Dickinson | 1,920 views | Comments (8)
In the last episode of The Business of Motion we explored the importance of passion and how it can be your communication super power. Like fire however, passion can be dangerous. In this discussion Robin explains the 3 ways passion can hinder your communication and damage relationships.
Watch Video Discussion (10 minutes, 30MB)
Discussion Summary
Like fire, passion is a good friend and a bad enemy. What transforms a good idea into an outstanding success can also completely destroy your profits, relationships and business in three ways:
- Passion blinds you from seeing the commercial reality of a situation.
- Passion deafens you from hearing critical feedback from others.
- Passion ‘dumbs-down’ your voice to talking about one boring topic: your passion!
To prevent the destructive effects of passion and ensure you are able to take full advantage of the opportunities that comes your way, it’s important to passion–proof yourself.
8 Responses to this post
June 17, 2009 at 6:35 am |
Passion proof……….Brilliant! I’m guilty of over powering my passion with clients, and it took me a some time to realize that.
Great Post!!
June 17, 2009 at 9:25 am |
Great video! Passion is the key to moving your creativity and business forward, but I think the most important part Robin mentioned is dialing it down when appropriate. It’s a very fine line. On one side, you can be the guy (or girl) everyone wants to work with. You bring an excitement and enthusiasm with which people want to associate. On the other hand, you can come across as completely ignorant of other people’s (client’s) input and collaboration.
The difference can mean many thousands of dollars over the course of a career. It takes practice to negotiate that line. Passion without business sense will soon disappear, but good business sense can certainly fuel the passion.
June 17, 2009 at 11:39 am |
Interesting discussion. I’m not sure it’s “passion,” per se, that clouds the minds of designers like an opiate, and leads to them shutting out the feedback of clients and colleagues–rather, I think it’s more a combination of lack of communication skills, lack of self-awareness, and an artistic vision that borders on delusional zeal. Perhaps this egotistic sense of vision could be construed as passion of a sort, but to me it’s an insular, callow sort of passion–an unrequited teenage pining, rather than a rich, seasoned, grown-up love.
These qualities are actually somewhat admirable in the iconoclastic solo artist who bucks all trends and does his or her own thing, breaking new ground for those who will follow in their footsteps.
But a designer has to keep one foot planted firmly in the commercial world, and remember that we are dichotomous creatures who employ our arts in commercial applications.
Designers who can’t evoke their vision in ways that invite dialogue and feedback aren’t real designers, in my opinion. They’re iconoclasts who are trying to shoehorn themselves into a commercial career that they’ll never truly fit. And they’re probably not entirely happy with their position.
I think all good designers struggle with balancing our passion between the commercial and art worlds. As Robin suggests, being aware of these tendencies within ourselves is vital.
June 22, 2009 at 8:49 am |
Hi JD and Robin,
I’d like to see a BOM discussion on the art of ‘closing the deal.’
Here’s the picture:
The two-way communication leading up to a sales meeting is great.
The pitch goes very well, but the followup falls flat.
The worst part is that the great communication leading up to the meeting is now replaced by silence: the message appears obvious “not interested, now go away.”
What is the secret to closing the deal, and what should our response be when a prospective client does not reply to emails and/or a telephone call?
Thanks,
J
June 22, 2009 at 6:56 pm |
Hey Jim, Thanks for the excellent feedback. Robin and I are very keen to build these topics into the current series.
June 22, 2009 at 6:41 pm |
Guys, this is great stuff. I feel as if I should be paying for it, but I’m not – which means you guys rock for hosting this series for free! Thanks for all the useful insight!
June 22, 2009 at 6:58 pm |
Thanks Josh, we will be offering a valuable fee-based resource a little further into the future.
June 24, 2009 at 8:16 am |
A big thank you to the “Dickinson Brothers”
. This series really gives me new insights…
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