Regular readers will probably be aware that I've recently
become preoccupied with finding my Genius (what I'm good at), my
Passion (what I love doing), and my Purpose (what there is a great need
for) -- and, more specifically, finding or creating work that lies at
the intersection of all three. I've also used a fourth term -- one's
Gift -- for what lies at the intersection of one's Genius and one's
Passion.
I thought it might be useful for me to chronicle my search, in the
hopes that it might be helpful to others engaged in a similar search.
That's what this article is about.
My first step, inspired by Dick Richard's wonderful book Is Your Genius at Work?, was to articulate, in a two-word gerundive phrase, my Genius (I decided it is Imagining Possibilities) and my Purpose (I believe it's Provoking Change).
My second step, inspired by Dave Smith's inspiring book To Be Of Use,
was to ask the question Who Needs Your Gift Now?, to focus my attention
on how my Purpose might be applied to address important (or at least
urgent) human needs. This second quest encountered a familiar obstacle:
the urgent human needs that my Imagining Possibilities Genius could be
applied to, in order to Provoke Change, seemed to be all non-paying, volunteer
work, which I won't be in a position to take on at least until my
pension begins in three years (even though I have already halved my
monthly living expenses -- as several readers pointed out, "Does it pay
enough?" is relative to how extravagantly you, and those you love, choose to live). Greenpeace and
PETA could undoubtedly use my help Imagining Possibilities that would
help them achieve more of their objectives more effectively, for
example, but their budgets are fully committed.
It also occurred to me that the role of 'Possibilities Imagining
Officer' is unlikely to exist in any organization, volunteer or not.
Managers and Directors are (often vainly and incorrectly, in my
experience) of the opinion that imagining possibilities is among their
core competencies. And having applied this competency in every role I
have ever taking on, I can also attest to the fact that most
organizations are uninterested in even hearing about imagined
possibilities -- that might suggest that they're not already
doing a stellar job, and would require them to challenge accepted
wisdom, take some risks, and be innovative, all of which are anathema
to most established organizations. Imagined possibilities are
unsettling and threatening to them, and, as I've learned the hard way,
if a need
isn't recognized, no one will be interested in having you fill it.
So over the past week or so I've been doing some research, to see
whether there might be some other way to coordinate and find outlet for
my Genius, my Passion and my Purpose.
There
are many models out there for identifying one's Genius, Passion and the
types of work that will focus them 'on Purpose'. Probably the best
known model for 'flavours' of Passion is the one outlined in Richard
Bolles' What Color Is Your Parachute, based on John Holland's RIASEC model:
- Realistic (like to work with objects or outdoors),
- Investigative (like to observe and solve problems),
- Artistic (like to create, imagine or innovate),
- Social (like to work with people),
- Enterprising (like to lead, influence, or persuade), and
- Conventional (like to work with data or carry out tasks set by others)
-- pick the top 3 and find a job that entails a mix of them (I'm A-I-S on this test).
A second well-known model is the Princeton Berkman
model, which identifies your Interest 'colour' and your Style 'colour'
(very roughly analogous to Passion and Genius) and points you to
careers for each -- you then look for the overlaps. There are four
'colours':
- Green (communicating & persuading),
- Blue (planning & supporting),
- Red (expediting & leading), and
- Yellow (administrating & overseeing).
A similar four-colour model is the Follow Your True Colors model:
- Green (thinking & analyzing),
- Blue (inspiring & coaching),
- Gold (organizing & tracking) and
- Orange (entertaining & persuading).
It
tells you your 'personality/style' type which mixes what you like with
how you behave, another sort of Passion/Genius blend (I'm Green+Blue on
both of these tests). Another practical take on Myers-Briggs is Do What You Are,
which suggests general types of work for each of the 16 MBTI types
(According to this test, as an ENFP, I'm an "anything's possible"
Champion -- at least that fits with my Genius of Imagining
Possibilities):
By contrast, the Gallup organization focuses more on Genius than Passion. Their Strengthsfinder test and book (Now Discover Your Strengths) identifies a whopping 34 Strengths:
| Achiever | Connectedness | Harmony (consensus-seeking) | Relater | | Activator | Context (setting/learning) | Ideation (imagining) | Responsibility | | Adaptability | Deliberative | Inclusiveness | Restorative (fixer) | | Analytical | Developer | Individualization (specialization) | Self-assurance (decisiveness) | | Arranger | Discipline (self-) | Input (inquisitiveness) | Significance (aggressiveness) | | Belief (Spiritual) | Empathy | Intellection (reflection) | Strategic | | Command (taking) | Fairness (balance) | Learner | Winning others over | | Communication | Focus | Maximizer (optimizing) |
| | Competitiveness | Futuristic | Positivity (encouragement) |
|
Heh--
competitiveness but no collaboration: tells you something, eh? The book
tells you how to apply your strengths to selecting and excelling in
your work, which implies that you should focus on What You're Good At
(Your Genius) and not bother to try to find where it overlaps with your
Passion. I found this disappointing and a bit paternalistic, and got a
laugh at the example of Colin Powell as a guy who has discovered and
stressed his strengths. (My top 5 in this test were ideation,
intellection, input, strategic and command -- but you have to buy the
book to take the test).
I find all of these tests and models too
prosaic -- they seem designed to help you find existing jobs that suit
your personality, your skills, and your 'style', which to me falls far
short of matching your Passion, your Genius and outlets for your
Purpose.
The new kid on the 'vocational counseling' block is Dan Pink, whose new book A Whole New Mind
is more focused on What's Needed. His thesis is that what's not needed
any more are the traditional left-brain analytical skills that the
industrial age has rewarded since its inception. Most of these jobs, he
says, will be offshored to struggling countries whose people will do
this prosaic work much cheaper than the residents of the affluent
nations where the head offices are located. Taking their place, he
says, will be six types of right-brain skills:
- Design
- Story(-telling)
- Symphony (coordinating)
- Empathy (coaching)
- Play (creativity)
- (adding) Meaning
Pink's
approach is refreshing, but he's only half right. Left-brain work will
be offshored to struggling countries, but the corporations that do so
will not be hiring right-brainers to take their place. It is cheaper
and less risky for them to allow right-brained entrepreneurs to do
these things, and then buy them out, or copy them and crowd them out.
Pink is right that there is a great need for these skills, but that
need will be met by people starting their own businesses -- bad news
for the faint-hearted.
All of this is marginally helpful -- it
can point us in directions that we might not have thought about, about
what our Genius might be, and about opportunities to find (or more
likely create) much-needed work of types that you won't find in
standard taxonomies of jobs or in the want-ads. But what about finding
your Passion -- the Dream Job that probably doesn't yet exist but meets
a need that isn't filled by anyone else?
Well, I'm not a
vocational counselor, but here are five questions that I think might
help you find your Passion, and maybe even point you to a Purpose that
will allow you to make a living at it:
- What do you see
yourself doing when you retire? Is there a way you could make a living
doing something like this now? If it's traveling, could you make a
living as a maker of travelogues, travel guide writer, or as a guide or
in some facet of the hospitality industry? If it's spending time in
nature, could you find a job teaching others why you love it? If it's watching sports, could you make a living as a commentator or analyst?
- What
are you doing to explore what's possible? Most of us kind of drift into
traditional jobs because we're convinced that's all there is, or
because it's tje path of least resistance. We have no idea what's
possible, how some people are actually making a living doing things we
would love to do. The Internet is full of information. There are books
like Po Bronson's What Should I Do With My Life?
that tell inspiring stories of people who have discovered their Passion
and applied it to their Purpose, and how they did it. And through
social networking, you can find and talk with people who are doing what
you've always wanted to do.
- What are you doing to become
better at what you love? Is the fact that you're not skilled or
knowledgeable about something you always secretly wanted to do, just a
convenient excuse for not overcoming the fear of trying to be good at
it? If courage is merely not having any alternative but to do something
remarkable, what can you do to make trying to become expert at
something you think you'd really love so compelling you have no
alternative but to go for it?
- Have you considered trying something out, either on a volunteer or short-term basis, that will show you whether or not it's your Passion or your Purpose without the need to make a long-term commitment to it?
- If
you're really convinced that your Genius (What You're Good At), your
Passion (What You Love), and what there's a great human need for, are
irreconcilable, have you considered what Paul Graham calls the "two job option: work at things you don't love to get money to work on things you do".
If,
like me, you haven't yet identified how to make a living in that sweet
spot at the intersection of What's Needed, What You're Good At, and
What You Love, don't give up, and don't despair. As Paul Graham says,
it's hard work. Po Bronson's stories of those who've succeeded suggests
it rarely happens by luck, and can be uncomfortable, scary, even
painful. It's often precipitated by a crisis that gives us the courage
to do what we otherwise never would. We all tell ourselves we only have
one life, but it's often tempting to say we can always do what we love
later, or just learn to love what we do well and is needed.
The
cliche is that on their deathbed, no one ever regretted not having
spent more time at work (and many regretted having spent too much).
Maybe that tells us how many of us squander our lives settling for two
out of three. I've spent my whole working life (thirty years) doing so,
and most of the last two years looking (not intensively or courageously
enough) for work that offers all three, and settling, in the interim,
for other two-out-of-three jobs. I'm not going to wait for a crisis, or
a wake-up call, to give me the courage not to settle. |
MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
