First of all, happy holidays and New Year to all. 2007 was an exciting year for us and we are looking forward to a great but challenging 2008 as we look to see where this economy takes us. I"m not going to get into my predictions on the economy because there are many far better paid prognosticators who will get 2008 wrong, so I'll leave it to them and get on to my post.
For some context as to the title of this post, "jump the shark" is a term that denotes the point when something has reached its pinnacle and is now about to begin to decline. The term comes from a Happy Days episode when Fonzie literally jumped the shark tank with his motorcycle. This was the climax for Happy Days and the show went downhill from there. There is actually a whole website dedicated to "jump the shark" moments - be sure to check it out.
As any of you who know the Vann Group know, passion is something we talk about quite frequently. Its one of the core tenets of Collins Hedgehog Concept. We preach it as part of our strategic planning process and even have a section on our website dedicated to our passion and the passion we look for in choosing the companies we work with. So you can imagine how much it pains me to even begin to contemplate the thought that term "passion" has joined the lexicon of business terms and concepts that have jumped the shark.
Two recent news/stories have led me to consider whether or not passion has lost its meaning. The first was this story about Bill Parcells, who announced in his inaugural press conference with the Miami Dolphins announced that he would only be drafting players who have passion. Yikes! If Parcells is talking about passion the term has had to lose its meaning. After all, the Tuna has only ever had a passion about his next job, certainly not for building organizational culture that survives for the longterm. From the context in which we apply "passion", Parcells in the antonym!
The second story was in Sunday's Boston Globe Magazine and entitled Married to the Job. The article is about romantic relationships and dedication to work (yes, Amanda was sympathetic to the story!). Beyond that what caught my eye it has a paragraph about passion that really hit home and made me consider whether or not passion has jumped the shark. Here is the key paragraph from the article:
"Consider: Some 978 of Monster.com's Massachusetts job listings have "passion" as a keyword. Companies want people who are passionate about investigating insurance claims, selling motorcycles, thwarting shoplifters, and replenishing the stock on the shelves of a discount clothing store. My favorite, placed by a restaurant chain, requires that all candidates demonstrate "a passion for casual dining." Do they rent rooms by the hour for that?"
So 978 job listings have the word passion in the description - amazing! Have that many companies gotten the religion of passion or has passion become just another buzzword that we are randomly applying because it sounds good to use? From a business sense has the word lost its meaning? Or alternatively, has it become a qualifier - as in you need a masters, 3-5 years experience and the ability to demonstrate passion about casual dining? I'm not sure, but what I do know is that once a word or phrase becomes ubiquitous it: 1) loses its value and 2) has a backlash against its use.
I would hate to see this happen to passion because much like the term "love" or "six figure bonus" when properly applied it communicates a powerful feeling. To have it watered down would be extremely disappointing because of what it does imply and what we believe. However, as I continue to assess whether or not passion has jumped the shark I've begun looking for other terms that I can use to communicate the principles of passion in the event I find that yes, passion is on the 2008 in/out list. So far, I'm not having any luck, as the thesaurus does not provide much help. Any suggestions you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
Lastly, I'm leaving for a European business trip on Friday, so look for a couple of posts in the next week or so as I will finally be able to catch up on my business reading.
For some context as to the title of this post, "jump the shark" is a term that denotes the point when something has reached its pinnacle and is now about to begin to decline. The term comes from a Happy Days episode when Fonzie literally jumped the shark tank with his motorcycle. This was the climax for Happy Days and the show went downhill from there. There is actually a whole website dedicated to "jump the shark" moments - be sure to check it out.
As any of you who know the Vann Group know, passion is something we talk about quite frequently. Its one of the core tenets of Collins Hedgehog Concept. We preach it as part of our strategic planning process and even have a section on our website dedicated to our passion and the passion we look for in choosing the companies we work with. So you can imagine how much it pains me to even begin to contemplate the thought that term "passion" has joined the lexicon of business terms and concepts that have jumped the shark.
Two recent news/stories have led me to consider whether or not passion has lost its meaning. The first was this story about Bill Parcells, who announced in his inaugural press conference with the Miami Dolphins announced that he would only be drafting players who have passion. Yikes! If Parcells is talking about passion the term has had to lose its meaning. After all, the Tuna has only ever had a passion about his next job, certainly not for building organizational culture that survives for the longterm. From the context in which we apply "passion", Parcells in the antonym!
The second story was in Sunday's Boston Globe Magazine and entitled Married to the Job. The article is about romantic relationships and dedication to work (yes, Amanda was sympathetic to the story!). Beyond that what caught my eye it has a paragraph about passion that really hit home and made me consider whether or not passion has jumped the shark. Here is the key paragraph from the article:
"Consider: Some 978 of Monster.com's Massachusetts job listings have "passion" as a keyword. Companies want people who are passionate about investigating insurance claims, selling motorcycles, thwarting shoplifters, and replenishing the stock on the shelves of a discount clothing store. My favorite, placed by a restaurant chain, requires that all candidates demonstrate "a passion for casual dining." Do they rent rooms by the hour for that?"
So 978 job listings have the word passion in the description - amazing! Have that many companies gotten the religion of passion or has passion become just another buzzword that we are randomly applying because it sounds good to use? From a business sense has the word lost its meaning? Or alternatively, has it become a qualifier - as in you need a masters, 3-5 years experience and the ability to demonstrate passion about casual dining? I'm not sure, but what I do know is that once a word or phrase becomes ubiquitous it: 1) loses its value and 2) has a backlash against its use.
I would hate to see this happen to passion because much like the term "love" or "six figure bonus" when properly applied it communicates a powerful feeling. To have it watered down would be extremely disappointing because of what it does imply and what we believe. However, as I continue to assess whether or not passion has jumped the shark I've begun looking for other terms that I can use to communicate the principles of passion in the event I find that yes, passion is on the 2008 in/out list. So far, I'm not having any luck, as the thesaurus does not provide much help. Any suggestions you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
Lastly, I'm leaving for a European business trip on Friday, so look for a couple of posts in the next week or so as I will finally be able to catch up on my business reading.
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