convergence tuesday: The Passion of the Fen
joshuwain wrote some great questions in responding to my very long Four Days post and I wanted to elaborate on that for today's normal* CONvergence Tuesdays post.Much of this emotional state rises from issues outside of the control of the convention. Most passion -unless I am wrong; correct me if I am- seems to arise from personal life.
How do we reinforce, build, and preserve passion as we go forward? What actions can we take to stoke the fires and keep them burning or, in times, re-light them if they appear to have gone out?
I'll try to be brief**, and framed in the context of convention related stuff. This post should flow even if you skip the cut texts.
First, I think I have to dispute or slightly tweak Sylvan's first statement. In the context of CONvergence, we don't actually know whether or not emotional responses are mostly driven from outside or inside issues. I think it's a fair speculation some of them are, but I hesitate to say most. I think the question is well asked though, and I think in fact a lot of passion arises from personal life, yes.
But I argue that passion is only about one third (1/3) of the picture.
We use this model at my work (I'm sure everyone's seen a variant) which is a venn diagram positioning Talent, Organization, and Passion overlapping. When a task or thing you're contributing to is positioned at the junction of these three, then you have the strongest growth or contribution experience. We call it the TOP model, and it's pretty good.
Passion has a lot in itself to push someone forward. But I happen to think it requires balance with those other Talent and Organization factors in order to preserve and feed it.
The individual has considerable ability to control their own level of talent or skill. If you don't have a skill, you can pursue it and increase your depth in it. (The other two factors do play into this, sure)
Some of the Organization's role in fostering best contribution conditions & best performances, is to define its own goals clearly, and facilitate clarity around the individual's role. In some regard, the individual has less ability to control the organization, inasmuch as it might already exist when they arrive, right? But anyway, the organization needs to promote its own goals, and promote an environment that welcomes the contributions of people involved. And it needs to work on defining how the individual's role connects to the organization's goals.
Why am I talking about all this stuff?
When an organization is clear about its goals and the nature and impact of an individual's role in it; and a person has a role/task that suits their talents ... then that fuels passion. You can come with all the passion in the world but if there's no place to fit to the rest of the picture -talents and organizational structure for example- then you just burn brightly. Then out.
Same goes for an organization that has lots of structure and whatnot, but the roles are rigid and have no potential for growth, or don't require any skill, or things like that. That just sucks out passion.
If a group of people has all the wrong talent or more talent depth than the organization has wider goals-like then people have no passion or lose it quickly.
So I think nurturing passion demands balance among at least two other aspects. Some of which are beyond the ability of a single person to control.
I think specific actions can be taken in each division, department and role of contributor at the con. I'll talk about just a couple inside my own division, because I feel most comfortable doing so.
Art Show has a great blend of talented and passionate people. At this point-and I've only been working with them a few months-I think it is in CONvergence's best interest to make sure that Art Show receives ongoing clear communications about the bigger picture of the convention and the Society. That they know how important their contributions are, and that the convention and community show enthusiasm for their area. I can contribute to that specifically by talking with them, attending meetings, and continuing to ask questions. You can contribute by showing up at Art Show and/or the Art Auction; buying (or considering buying) a piece of art; tell other people there are great world class artists contributing to our show; volunteering; and asking the Art Show staff and volunteers for more information about what they do.
There's also a degree to which any person's "best work" experiences-that zone at the T.O.P. meeting place-come when a role demands the upper limits or just beyond the upper limits of their talents. So, yes, one of the stretches that we're putting before Art Show is this shift to four days. It impacts the department in a number of ways around schedules, number of bids to auction, move in and out, etc. It's a big enough change that we're not done evaluating whether or not now is the time to make more on top of it or to hold off. In any case, I'm not making such a decision in a vacuum!
I've also asked them to think about their staffing needs, how they're doing, what they need more of, what will help them have the most enjoyment at con, and succession planning, i.e., who will be the next generation of Art Show leaders. These questions aren't going to get solved all at once, or even in one convention year cycle.
Same thing with Concessions (aka Merchandise). We have a new Head in Concessions. He's got a huge talent for project management and a passion for transparency. He also has a great network of people to tap. We do have the incumbent Sub Heads, and we want to have them continue contributing. The first thing we did for example-before saying "sure Jeff, come on over" was ask Sue if and how she wanted to continue to be a part of the team. That's some of the organizational stuff that needs to be done to support the other aspects described in the model. She likes her role, she wasn't crazy about being the Head which she was on an interim basis earlier this year. Anyway it sure seems like her talents and interest still fit in to the department-I got the sense she felt that way too.
Under those circumstances it might have been a bad idea to push her to "step up" or somesuch, just because she was standing there when we needed to change. It was hopefully a good win-win to let her continue to do what she likes without making her feel a)burdened by some set of responsibilities she accepted reluctantly, or b) mistrusted and not given a chance. Hopefully that bears fruit in keeping her level of commitment and enjoyment where she wants it to be.
Jeff, the new Head, also has passion for the convention overall and for the best interests of the Society. So there's a real obligation on the Organization's part (and me as the division director in particular) to make sure the Concessions dept. continues to be an integral contributor to the community, and to make sure that the org's goals and long term hopes are manifest. There's a bit of "get out of the way" for me to do, as far as talent and passion go, because Jeff and crew have both. I'll ask questions here and there, and I've shared some of my long term hopes with Jeff to try to stretch things a little bit for everyone. (It's not necessary for this topic, but yeah, I have longer term visions: better product marketing research to drive new product development? good marketing platform(s) to generate attendee knowledge and interest in the stuff we make and sell. selling online, maybe? We need to do a proper needs assessment and vendor evaluation project. That kind of thing)
Passion needs to be rewarded with organizational interest; as well as roles/tasks that demand the appropriate level of current talent + stretch talent from contributors.
Reigniting passion, the other part of your question, I think deserves a different post, maybe?
*"normal" in this case to be understood as "controlled by my whims and far unrealistic goal of regularity"
**I failed to be brief
How do we reinforce, build, and preserve passion as we go forward? What actions can we take to stoke the fires and keep them burning or, in times, re-light them if they appear to have gone out?
I'll try to be brief**, and framed in the context of convention related stuff. This post should flow even if you skip the cut texts.
First, I think I have to dispute or slightly tweak Sylvan's first statement. In the context of CONvergence, we don't actually know whether or not emotional responses are mostly driven from outside or inside issues. I think it's a fair speculation some of them are, but I hesitate to say most. I think the question is well asked though, and I think in fact a lot of passion arises from personal life, yes.
But I argue that passion is only about one third (1/3) of the picture.
We use this model at my work (I'm sure everyone's seen a variant) which is a venn diagram positioning Talent, Organization, and Passion overlapping. When a task or thing you're contributing to is positioned at the junction of these three, then you have the strongest growth or contribution experience. We call it the TOP model, and it's pretty good.
Passion has a lot in itself to push someone forward. But I happen to think it requires balance with those other Talent and Organization factors in order to preserve and feed it.
The individual has considerable ability to control their own level of talent or skill. If you don't have a skill, you can pursue it and increase your depth in it. (The other two factors do play into this, sure)
Some of the Organization's role in fostering best contribution conditions & best performances, is to define its own goals clearly, and facilitate clarity around the individual's role. In some regard, the individual has less ability to control the organization, inasmuch as it might already exist when they arrive, right? But anyway, the organization needs to promote its own goals, and promote an environment that welcomes the contributions of people involved. And it needs to work on defining how the individual's role connects to the organization's goals.
Why am I talking about all this stuff?
When an organization is clear about its goals and the nature and impact of an individual's role in it; and a person has a role/task that suits their talents ... then that fuels passion. You can come with all the passion in the world but if there's no place to fit to the rest of the picture -talents and organizational structure for example- then you just burn brightly. Then out.
Same goes for an organization that has lots of structure and whatnot, but the roles are rigid and have no potential for growth, or don't require any skill, or things like that. That just sucks out passion.
If a group of people has all the wrong talent or more talent depth than the organization has wider goals-like then people have no passion or lose it quickly.
So I think nurturing passion demands balance among at least two other aspects. Some of which are beyond the ability of a single person to control.
I think specific actions can be taken in each division, department and role of contributor at the con. I'll talk about just a couple inside my own division, because I feel most comfortable doing so.
Art Show has a great blend of talented and passionate people. At this point-and I've only been working with them a few months-I think it is in CONvergence's best interest to make sure that Art Show receives ongoing clear communications about the bigger picture of the convention and the Society. That they know how important their contributions are, and that the convention and community show enthusiasm for their area. I can contribute to that specifically by talking with them, attending meetings, and continuing to ask questions. You can contribute by showing up at Art Show and/or the Art Auction; buying (or considering buying) a piece of art; tell other people there are great world class artists contributing to our show; volunteering; and asking the Art Show staff and volunteers for more information about what they do.
There's also a degree to which any person's "best work" experiences-that zone at the T.O.P. meeting place-come when a role demands the upper limits or just beyond the upper limits of their talents. So, yes, one of the stretches that we're putting before Art Show is this shift to four days. It impacts the department in a number of ways around schedules, number of bids to auction, move in and out, etc. It's a big enough change that we're not done evaluating whether or not now is the time to make more on top of it or to hold off. In any case, I'm not making such a decision in a vacuum!
I've also asked them to think about their staffing needs, how they're doing, what they need more of, what will help them have the most enjoyment at con, and succession planning, i.e., who will be the next generation of Art Show leaders. These questions aren't going to get solved all at once, or even in one convention year cycle.
Same thing with Concessions (aka Merchandise). We have a new Head in Concessions. He's got a huge talent for project management and a passion for transparency. He also has a great network of people to tap. We do have the incumbent Sub Heads, and we want to have them continue contributing. The first thing we did for example-before saying "sure Jeff, come on over" was ask Sue if and how she wanted to continue to be a part of the team. That's some of the organizational stuff that needs to be done to support the other aspects described in the model. She likes her role, she wasn't crazy about being the Head which she was on an interim basis earlier this year. Anyway it sure seems like her talents and interest still fit in to the department-I got the sense she felt that way too.
Under those circumstances it might have been a bad idea to push her to "step up" or somesuch, just because she was standing there when we needed to change. It was hopefully a good win-win to let her continue to do what she likes without making her feel a)burdened by some set of responsibilities she accepted reluctantly, or b) mistrusted and not given a chance. Hopefully that bears fruit in keeping her level of commitment and enjoyment where she wants it to be.
Jeff, the new Head, also has passion for the convention overall and for the best interests of the Society. So there's a real obligation on the Organization's part (and me as the division director in particular) to make sure the Concessions dept. continues to be an integral contributor to the community, and to make sure that the org's goals and long term hopes are manifest. There's a bit of "get out of the way" for me to do, as far as talent and passion go, because Jeff and crew have both. I'll ask questions here and there, and I've shared some of my long term hopes with Jeff to try to stretch things a little bit for everyone. (It's not necessary for this topic, but yeah, I have longer term visions: better product marketing research to drive new product development? good marketing platform(s) to generate attendee knowledge and interest in the stuff we make and sell. selling online, maybe? We need to do a proper needs assessment and vendor evaluation project. That kind of thing)
Passion needs to be rewarded with organizational interest; as well as roles/tasks that demand the appropriate level of current talent + stretch talent from contributors.
Reigniting passion, the other part of your question, I think deserves a different post, maybe?
*"normal" in this case to be understood as "controlled by my whims and far unrealistic goal of regularity"
**I failed to be brief