Are you a passionate worker...?

(Credit: xperthr)

...or just a workaholic?

In a poignant post, Seth Godin explains the difference:

"A workaholic lives on fear. It's fear that drives him to show up all the time. The best defense, apparently, is a good attendance record.

A new class of jobs (and workers) is creating a different sort of worker, though. This is the person who works out of passion and curiosity, not fear.

The passionate worker doesn't show up because she's afraid of getting in trouble, she shows up because it's a hobby that pays. The passionate worker is busy blogging on vacation... because posting that thought and seeing the feedback it generates is actually more fun than sitting on the beach for another hour. The passionate worker tweaks a site design after dinner because, hey, it's a lot more fun than watching TV.

It was hard to imagine someone being passionate about mining coal or scrubbing dishes. But the new face of work, at least for some people, opens up the possibility that work is the thing (much of the time) that you'd most like to do. Designing jobs like that is obviously smart. Finding one is brilliant."

That sounds good and reminds me of the "four-hour work week," as laid out in Tim Ferris' best-selling book: "How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent mini-retirements?" Ferris' book is a manifesto for the mobile lifestyle, and a detailed manual for outsourcing your work and disassembling a cohesive, consistent work life into ultra-flexible and ever-changing roles and tasks. This allows him to live a nomadic and excessive private life in many microverses: "I race motorcycles in Europe," "I ski in the Andes," "I scuba dive in Panama," and "I dance tango in Buenos Aires."

A similar concept is the "slash lifestyle," a term to describe the identity concepts of people who are no longer satisfied with just one professional identity and instead mash up professions and hobbies into a hybrid work/life fulfillment that unleashes their true ever-changing self: "Doctor/author," "Mom/consultant," and "Bellydancer/Scientist" are just some of the possible combinations.

Yet slash-lifestyle and passionate worker attitude have some ramifications. There is a dark side to all the Kumbaya freedom of the new passionate entrepreneurial self. More and more A-list bloggers (i.e. Steve Rubel and David Armano) are admitting a certain blogging fatigue. "Blogging is an addiction," a friend (and avid blogger) told me the other day, "it is a passion that can kill you." So does passion not equal happiness? And how do you draw the line? In a Fast Company cover story, Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs" offers some good advice: "Never follow your passion but by all means bring it with you."

[rockinsakerobot]

This is a great post! However, how does one who is putting in 10 hour work days and on call 24/7 including weekends find the time to develop their interests and create work opportunities that they are passionate about? As the baby boomers begin to retire, some employers are merely reducing their head count and demanding that the remaining employees take on the additional work and responsibilities. This is especially prevalent in IT shops. That leaves many employees with the choice of becoming a workaholic or losing their job. In an atmosphere like that, it is hard to find the time to be passionate about anything.

[robert1trucker]

I think this is a great topic of discussion, and if nothing else, it makes people think somewhat about why they actually go to work. I myself, am a truck driver. I am very passionate about my job and my career. I have been driving for 22 years and worked for about many different companies. I also believe, in my field, if more companies offered something different than the next guy, took more pride in their companies and the employees they employ, develop a positive work environment in which office employees understand that they are a support element which affects the income possibilities of others, and shared a small portion of the financial gains of the company, my profession would be a better place to work and I probably would stick with the same employer for more than 6 month to 2 years. People, like myself, who have a strong desire to succeed, are limited by the others in society that possess a job title with more decision making power in the company than I do. But, the changes need to start at the top. I have yet to work for any company in which any of my suggestions have actually been put into practice.