Better to be passionate than smart
June 19, 2006
Or so Seth Godin seems to say. Here, he advocates for hiring passionate people who may or may not be particularly efficient or effective. Truth be told, I tend to agree with him.
I’m dealing with a situation now with my bank. It involves a lost wire transfer – they sent it, and no one got it. They’ve spent the last two weeks “tracking it” but have yet to “find anything.” How can this be possible?
It’s possible because the people just don’t care. It’s not a big enough amount of money, and I’m not important enough a customer for anyone to really give a hoot about tracking it down.
It reminds me of part of a speech I listened to last week by Jason Fried of 37 signals. In it, he says that hiring “happy people” is more important than hiring for the perfect skill-set. Why? Because happy people come to work everyday ready to do what needs to be done. They bring people up instead of dragging them down.
Seth is right - even if the sales clerk in his article seems overly detailed - passionate people make all the difference. They go the extra mile to get things done and keep customers happy. And ultimately, customer success matters most.
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I have to agree with Seth and Jason: Happy people ROCK! Unhappy people suck…your energy, your effort, your LIFE. You can teach skills, but not attitude, though you can make people aware of their poisonous attitude and help them find a compelling reason to change that attitude, or help them find another pool to poison. Easier said that done, to be sure, though still necessary.