Passion
FTW!
#PassionFTW!
Peter Flaschner
@flashlight
peterflaschner.com
April 1, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009

What is passion?
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Is it this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73823441@N00/169622936/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Is it this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72296542@N00/311658424/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Is it this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18583731@N07/3029544704/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Is it this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78436447@N00/63382682/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Is it this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71302538@N00/208890214/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Passion is a force.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21829439@N04/2763734090/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Passion is energy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8070463@N03/3066642728/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Passion is hard to define.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

wiktionary
passion
1. Any great, powerful emotion, especially love or hate.
2. fervor, determination.
3. An object of passionate love or strong interest.
It started as a hobby, but now my motorbike collection has become my passion.
4. (Christianity) The suffering of Jesus leading up to and during his crucifixion.
5. A play, musical composition or display meant to commemorate the suffering of Jesus.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

wiktionary
passion
emotion fervor determination
1. A person's internal state of being and 1. (US) An intense, heated emotion; passion,
involuntary, subjective, physiological response ardor. 1. The act of determining, or the state of being
to an object or a situation, based in or tied to 2. (US) A passionate enthusiasm for some cause. determined.
physical state and sensory feelings. 3. (US) Heat. 2. Bringing to an end; termination; limit.
2. A reaction by an non-human organism with 3. Direction or tendency to a certain end;
behavioral and physiological elements similar impulsion.
to a person's response. 4. The quality of mind which reaches definite
conclusions; decision of character;
resoluteness.
5. (countable) The state of decision; a judicial
decision, or ending of controversy.
6. (countable) That which is determined upon;
result of deliberation; purpose; conclusion
formed; fixed resolution.
7. A flow, rush, or tendency to a particular part;
as, a determination of blood to the head.
8. (countable) The act, process, or result of any
accurate measurement, as of length, volume,
weight, intensity, etc.; as, the determination of
the ohm or of the wave length of light; the
determination of the salt in sea water, or the
oxygen in the air.
9. The act of defining a concept or notion by
giving its essential constituents.
10. The addition of a differentia to a concept or
notion, thus limiting its extent; -- the opposite
of generalization.
11. The act of determining the relations of an
object, as regards genus and species; the
referring of minerals, plants, or animals, to the
species to which they belong; classification; as,
I am indebted to a friend for the determination
of most of these shells.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Passion is slippery.
It’s hard to define.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68845396@N00/89593428/ Malingering
Thursday, April 2, 2009

passion
1. Any great, powerful emotion, especially love or hate.
2. fervor, determination.
3. An object of passionate love or strong interest.
It started as a hobby, but now my motorbike collection has become my passion.
4. (Christianity) The suffering of Jesus leading up to and during his crucifixion.
5. A play, musical composition or display meant to commemorate the suffering of Jesus.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Robert J. Vallerand, professor of Psychology at
Université de Montreal
Past president of the Canadian Psychological Association
Runs the Research Laboratory on Social Behavior at Université de Montreal
Written over 200 articles, many books, yadda yadda
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r26710/LRCS/default_en.htm
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Dualistic Model of Passion
for activities
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Where activity refers to
something we choose to do.
fight for a cause
lose 20 pounds
collect stamps
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Harmonious
Obsessive Passion
Passion
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Harmonious
Passion
People with a harmonious passion
have been found to experience
positive emotions such as happiness
both during and after engagement
in the passionate activity, as well as
a better concentration, feelings of
being fully absorbed during activity
engagement, and report higher
levels of well-being .
Eric G. Donahue
Mars 2009, Le Panoptique
http://www.lepanoptique.com/dev/page-article.php?
id=142&theme=sciences&PHPSESSID=a4a95af0376599f177f36d72
20433622
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76195812@N00/777675231/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Obsessive Passion
Those individuals feel like they cannot help
but to engage in the activity they love due to
the internal forces that control them.
Eventually, the passionate activity takes
disproportionate importance and interferes
with other aspects and activities of the
person’s life. As a consequence, obsessive
passion has been related to negative
emotions (e.g., anxiety, shame) and feelings of
guilt, poor concentration, rumination (i.e.,
difficulty stopping thinking about the activity),
and rigid task engagement.
Eric G. Donahue
Mars 2009, Le Panoptique
http://www.lepanoptique.com/dev/page-article.php?
id=142&theme=sciences&PHPSESSID=a4a95af0376599f177f36d7220433622
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59755778@N00/36985218/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Passion can
develop in two
directions
Harmonious Obsessive
Passion Passion
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Good Evil
bonsai bonsai
trimmer trimmer
Thursday, April 2, 2009

So...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonivc/2363758336/in/set-72157603742415116/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Why is harmonious passion important?
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Because it can
make us better
communicators.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124404848@N01/47868720/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Because it can
make us happy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42921300@N00/264814182/ Felix42 contra la censura
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Because it makes us better entrepreneurs.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chromaticaberrations/2274493496/sizes/o/ ground*floor
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Because it’s the foundation of evangelism.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chromaticaberrations/2274493496/sizes/o/ ground*floor
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Because the world is fucked.
kevindooley http://www.flickr.com/photos/12836528@N00/2808632690/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Harmonious passion as saviour, part 1
The Motivator
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72033685@N00/273357938/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

What’s led us to this?
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Human behaviour.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55544800@N00/314391903/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Changing
behaviour is
hard.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Need strong, consistent internal drive.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48549719@N00/2901927644/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

We need
motivation
that can
withstand
setbacks.
the driver of this car had just
walked away to get gas when a
tractor trailer ran over it...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32708549@N00/6224088/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

If we just look at
motivation, we’re not
looking deep enough.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33781019@N00/1612085620/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Motivation
grows out
of passion.
(not exclusively)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48549719@N00/2920297233/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

There is a certain QUALITY to motivation
that arises from harmonious passion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10997674@N07/3334923965/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

The problems we face are really big.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035624977@N01/72750725/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

We need to think about how
to develop our passion for
solving the problems, so that
we can have the motivation
to do the hard work.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8938625@N07/2541275902/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Passion can be an important tool
in helping us out of this mess.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Passion as saviour, part 2
The happiness factor
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63894760@N00/108765872/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

(this is just a hunch.)
Thursday, April 2, 2009

(Happiness as well-being, not pleasure)
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Happy people do less harm.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Generally.
I mean, think about the opposite:
Do angry people do more harm?
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Happy people leave
a gentler mark.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76195812@N00/1888321618/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Happy people spread happiness.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Research has identified a number of correlates with
happiness. These include religious involvement,
parenthood, marital status, age, income and
proximity to other happy people.
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness
Thursday, April 2, 2009

+
Thursday, April 2, 2009

“Passion can fuel motivation, enhance well-being,
and provide meaning in everyday life.”
Éric Donahue, Research Laboratory on Social Behavior, Université de Montreal
Thursday, April 2, 2009

=
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Passion can lead to happiness.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76195812@N00/1888321618/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Let’s apply this to entrepreneurs.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Setbacks? Hells, yeah.
Max Estes http://www.flickr.com/photos/10337870@N06/1556858800/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Need strong, consistent internal drive?
Um, yes.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48549719@N00/2901927644/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

We want to be in the groove, flowing.
There is strong correlation between
passion and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s
definition of flow.
see TED Talks Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creativity, fulfillment and flow
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10997674@N07/3334923965/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

No passion, no evangelists.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chromaticaberrations/2274493496/sizes/o/ ground*floor
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Deep breath.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

So what does this have to do with any of us?
Thursday, April 2, 2009

It affects
this
particular
group in
two ways:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59562171@N00/247249870/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/txanoduna/477985347/sizes/o/ Txanoduna
Thursday, April 2, 2009

It affects us personally.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7346219@N03/2464804268/ GirLy GirL
Thursday, April 2, 2009

I want to be happy.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

I want my friends and family to be happy.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

I want to be
around happy
people.
So it’s in my best
interest to
understand how
harmonious
passion can lead
to happiness so
that I can
generate it and
feed it to you.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

What’s more, it’s in my interest for my
friends and family to understand
harmonious passion so you can
generate it and feed it to me.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

It affects us
professionally.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23356961@N00/4830305/ julieta masina
Thursday, April 2, 2009

As entrepreneurs, we have a
lot of power.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

We actually get to live our passions.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

We get to be enablers for other people’s passions.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

We build companies and tools for our
colleagues and clients, often allowing them to
pursue their passion.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

We provide the means and
expertise for people to
exercise their passions
Thursday, April 2, 2009

This is true for our clients
and our clients’ audience.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59562171@N00/247249870/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

This is really
important, and
usually overlooked.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

It means the
impact of our
work is
exponential
http://www.flickr.com/photos/80122196@N00/4557105/ GustavoG
Thursday, April 2, 2009

We have a tremendous
opportunity. If we accept that
a) harmonious passion can
help improve lives, and
b) harmonious passion can be
developed
then we have to accept that
we can make a big difference.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Time to get
practical:
Let’s look at
how passion
develops
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49968232@N00/12364944/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Robert J. Vallerand, professor of Psychology at
Université de Montreal
Past president of the Canadian Psychological Association
Runs the Research Laboratory on Social Behavior at Université de Montreal
Written over 200 articles, many books, yadda yadda
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r26710/LRCS/default_en.htm
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Dualistic Model of Passion
for activities
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Harmonious
Obsessive Passion
Passion
Thursday, April 2, 2009

2007 Presidential Address to the Canadian
Psychological Association
On the Psychology of Passion: In
Search of What Makes
People’s Lives Most Worth Living
On the development of passion
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r26710/LRCS/papers/vallerandcp2008.pdf
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Three processes are
hypothesised to influence the
development of passion
toward an activity:
activity selection,
activity valuation,
and the type of internalisation
of the activity representation in
one’s identity.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26084283@N00/72697229/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

This is deep stuff.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Three processes are hypothesised
to influence the development of
passion toward an activity:
activity selection,
activity valuation,
and the type of internalisation of
the activity representation in one’s
identity.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Activity selection is simply
what do I choose to do.
Visit a site, make a purchase,
play a game, join a social
network, etc.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

As creators, how we present activity
options has an impact.
Can the user find the right activity?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14468301@N06/2150870925/ Spiritless Visionary
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Three processes are hypothesised
to influence the development of
passion toward an activity:
activity selection,
activity valuation,
and the type of internalisation of
the activity representation in one’s
identity.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

activity valuation is the
subjective importance given
to the activity by the person
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Context is critical to activity valuation.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Research has shown that
when the object of interest
is highly valued and
meaningful, one is inclined
to internalise the valued
object, to make it part of
him or herself.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

As it relates to
strategy, we need
to be aware that if
we give an
important element
low valuation in it’s
presentation, it
may affect how
our users
internalize their
experience.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46425925@N00/179019989/ Pulpolux !!!
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Three processes are hypothesised
to influence the development of
passion toward an activity:
activity selection,
activity valuation,
and the type of internalisation of
the activity representation in
one’s identity.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Two types of internalization:
Autonomous Controlled
Thursday, April 2, 2009

An individual, of his or her
own volition, chooses to
Autonomous pursue a thing for the
pleasure/challenge/
enjoyment of it.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

An individual feels internal
Controlled or external pressure to
pursue a thing.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Classic example is
music students.
Those who
autonomously
internalize the activity
of making music tend
to be happier than
those who are
controlled into the
activity.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43462240@N00/279290857/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Here’s the thing:
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Nag, and you lose.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10049178@N00/117350635/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

If you’re building a business or a tool
that you want your users to be
passionate about, you have to let
them internalize the action of
participating on your site
autonomously.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Activity selection
Activity valuation
Type of internalization
Thursday, April 2, 2009

In summary
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Harmonious
passion can
be a force
for good.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76195812@N00/777675231/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

It can improve the quality of your life.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8747118@N05/2233385611/
Thursday, April 2, 2009

It can improve the quality of
your colleague’s and client’s
lives.
(which ought to give you
some more dough)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63613245@N00/460583582/ Dalboz17
Thursday, April 2, 2009

It can help power us through
some of the behavioural
changes we’re all facing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43204851@N00/182910562/ Asten
Thursday, April 2, 2009

As
entrepreneurs,
we have a lot
of power.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/86891211@N00/72224228/ Matthew Clark Photography & Design
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Let’s do something awesome with it.
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Passion FTW!
#PassionFTW!
Peter Flaschner @flashlight
March 31, 2009
http://peterflaschner.com/passionftw
For more on passion and business, Check out The Passion Economy
(free e-book, designed by me). http://peterflaschner.com/the-passion-economy/
Thursday, April 2, 2009