Don’t follow

your passion
6 questions to find
satisfaction at work
“Follow your passion” is probably the worst
career advice you can give to someone.

Human beings are passionate about lots of

things at the same time. Making just one of
them the centre of our lives feels like a
limited approach and quite frankly, most of
us don’t even know whether we prefer pizza
to sushi.

Most importantly, that advice just cannot

guarantee that you will be satisfied with your
job or that it will make you feel good.

A better approach is to ask yourself the

following questions.
Do you have
different
responsibilities?
It’s hard to be motivated in the long run if
your job is just about pushing one button.
Arguably, that also sounds like the type of
work that algorithms can do much better.

Try to be in an environment that offers at

least 3 to 5 different responsibilities. Working
in interdisciplinary teams, small-mid
companies or self-steering organisations are
good ways to ensure that diversity.
Does the job offer
variety?
If you’re expected to come up with creative
solutions, you want to put yourself into an
environment that gives maximum exposure
to new ideas, problems, and diverse people.

That will have all kind of benefits on you,

from uncovering personal biases to boosting
your creativity and helping you grow.
Are you receiving
good feedback?
It’s hard to grow without feedback loops
from people you trust. Experienced bosses
can be a good source for that, as much as
smart colleagues in your team.

However, for feedback to work, there has to

be a safe space where people can challenge
each other and improve. Make sure that the
feedback is centred around the actions and
outcomes, not the individuals doing them.
Do you have
autonomy?
It’s very hard to feel ownership or engaged
when you are being micro-managed.

Find a role where you have space to explore

different solutions and where you are
responsible for their outcome.
Does the job
contribute to the
wider world?
This may sound like a cliché, but at the end of
the day, we want to go home and feel good
about what we did.

These two questions will help you answer

that:
• Is the job making the world around you
better?
• Can you find a deeper meaning than just
‘getting some cash’?
Can you practice a
skill you’re good at?
To put this simply, it’s hard to feel like you’re
doing good work if the job does not leverage
your strengths.

Fixing your weaknesses is certainly possible,

but it’s not as effective or efficient as just
focusing on your strengths. A job that does
not leverage your strengths is a barrier for
you to achieve mastery.