The Fire Inside
The innovations that are involved in achieving “faster-better-cheaper” come through people. Human beings serve as the most important hardware in the creative process. The most important software, however, is the programming found in people’s hearts and minds.
If we’re emotionally flat or intellectually uninspired, innovation keeps its distance. Failure prowls around the edges of our efforts. Success doesn’t like to show its face. Those things that do get accomplished carry the stamp of mediocrity, and give us no real sense of accomplishment.
Let’s contrast the results of those lukewarm efforts with what happens when we’re passionately committed to success…when the emotional investment in our work rises far above room temperature.
In those situations where our heart gets involved in the effort—where we care fiercely about the outcomes—a “give what it takes” attitude takes over. We tackle assignments with an unyielding determination that simply refuses to accept defeat. We willingly make personal sacrifices, putting in long hours and hard work. If our hearts are set on the team’s success, we operate from a systems viewpoint. This encourages us to look beyond the boundaries of our immediate responsibilities to consider the needs of the overall effort. And we pitch in to help others without hesitation.
People who are hell-bent on achieving their objectives have a personal intensity that’s contagious. It inspires others to outdo themselves. This passion brings out everybody’s best, and the whole becomes much greater than the sum of its parts.
What this means is that you need to go far past the point of merely being responsible. We’re not talking here about simply having good work habits. And this isn’t about how many brain cells you’ve got engaged. It’s about having fire inside, a vitality born of being emotionally married to the idea of accomplishing your goal.
Bottom line, it’s a statement about you, a naked indicator of how much heart and soul you’re investing. It signals whether your creative spirit has been stirred, whether the explorer within you has awakened, and whether you’ve tapped into that great potential you have inside.