My boss, who had been a commercial lender for over 30 years, said that the best loan customer is someone who has no passion whatsoever, just a desire to work hard at something that looks good on a spreadsheet. Maybe the loan customer wants to start a dry-cleaning store or invest in a fast-food franchise—boring stuff. That’s the person you bet on. You want the grinder, not the guy who loves his job.
17 Comments
Can’t you love your job and be a grinder?
No passion? no point in living.
Complete BS.
I love people that have to “write a book” about being successful …… to become successful. LOVE what you do – and you’ll NEVER need a commercial lender. Again – complete BS.
Don Cudney
#1 and #2, y’all should read the article and not just APE’s quote.
That’s a pretty good article, but I feel like the quote pulled is out of context and a ploy to draw comments and pageviews.
and what exactly would I do with more comments and pageviews? pay for my bagel?
True enough, so why then? At least when Fox news or CNN does it they make money.
I still can’t figure out why I follow this blog, especially on days like this. Why post this out of context quote? We’re artists, none of us adhere to or believe that bullshit, so why post it other than to troll a bit for comments?
I ask because, that anecdote is the same description for people who put bullets in their heads.
It’s meant to provoke thought and I like anything that challenges the establishment. Plus, I assume most artists are open to a non-traditional point of view. I’m mystified why you want to make it about something I’m trying to do or what I did to you. Why not comment on the quote without dragging me into it?
Provoke what kind of thought? It’s a commercial lender’s thought process. Every artist knows good art isn’t made on an assembly line.
Comments like this show everything wrong with commerce in America; get ahead, maximize profit, step on necks to get ahead, don’t look back at those you left behind.
We know these people are out there, we all deal with them everyday. I come to blogs to help me grow as an artist, not to remind me why I’m not a corporate douche bag.
I follow your blog regularly and really like it. But I do not get this post… I know photography is also a business, but what are we supposed to get out of this? That one would have a better chance to make it as a photographer without passion? Nonsense. Sure it is a business, but usually one does not decide to become a photographer to be rich (the article is basically about the best ways to become rich).
I must say I stopped reading the article when it got to Nietzsche. So, Mr. Scott Adams, “creator of Dilbert”, thinks he is in a position to mock Nietzsche for his failures? That one was funny!
I am European and I know we have a different approach of business, but I really hope that no only creative people, but also the sellers at my bookshops (who thanks to their passion suggest great books), the cooks in the restaurants I like, the baker to who I buy bread continue to do that because they have a passion for it!
Folks read the wall street journal because they are or want to be rich ;-) So the articles tend to have that bent to them…
Adams point was that businesses (or investment pitches) based on ‘passion’ are usually bad investments because they are based on a person’s enthusiasm rather than hard facts and numbers. That’s not a suggestion to not run a passion business – but don’t invest in someone else’s or be too surprised if yours fails.
And as he points out, people tend to become passionate about something when the weather is fair and it’s delivering returns. Your baker is probably passionate unless he’s getting up at 3 am everyday and still losing money.
Best summary. Michael S. could’ve used this recap before he went off on his self-righteous rant.
it’s a koan
Thank you all for your replies. I think/hope I am open to thought provoking ideas, and I found hundreds of fantastic posts on this blog in the past years that provoked me in an exciting way! This one just baffled me a bit… but no big deal.
Rob, I had to look for the meaning of koan: great concept, thank you for that! And keep up the great job, your blog is one of my 2-3 favorite ones.
Scott Adams is just jumping on the current anti-follow your passion bandwagon. And maybe the backlash is needed, but the bottom line from most of them is pretty simple: work hard instead of sitting around waiting for the passion to hit (or sitting around reading books about it). Just like Jonathan’s piece on Ansel Adams talks about. Some people probably don’t even want to know that Ansel took photos of mens clothing for newspaper ads, but it’s the reality.
Questo articolo è abbastanza stupido e uno spreco di tempo. Ho scelto la fotografia come una professione a causa della passione per il supporto. Che passione le mie energie e combustibili dettato che ho avuto anche per lucidare la mia acumen di affari.
Se ho aperto un negozio a secco invece, in qualche modo che “macinino” non avrebbe funzionato in questo modo quasi come bene.
Great article.
After digesting it, and after considerable soul-searching, I’ve decided to give up building a career in photography and become an accountant instead.
Who in his or her right mind would want to love what they did for a living?
And heck, I can always shoot on the weekends, unless it’s tax season.
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