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“Build only what you believe in.”  That was advice given by Kelly Johnson, who designed both the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird planes.

It’s so simple.  But do any of us actually follow it?

If we look at all the stories of divorces where someone said, “I knew better, but…”  Or the number of times people take a job just because of a pay raise, only to be miserable weeks later.   Then it surely seems “not many” is the answer.  It’s so bad that we even have a term (buyer’s remorse) for buying something that we later regret.

We spend a lot of our lives pursuing things that we don’t believe in.

Maybe it’s time we stop.

What would your job look like if you believed in what you did?  What would your family look like if you believed in them?  What would your customer service look like if you believed that the customer really mattered?  How much change, hope, and improvement could you bring to the world if you ditched a job you didn’t care about for a job you believed in?

I was struck by this as I was giving a test to my Industrial – Organizational Psychology students.  While they were taking the test I was reading a biographical work by John Bunyan.  That’s right in my spare time I like to read biographies from people who have been dead for close to 350 years.  As I was sitting there, I thought, “Man I am a dork!”

But you know what?  I’m okay with that.  If being a dork means pursuing my passions, and the things that excite me, then I’ll be a dork.

What the world needs more of are people willing to pursue their passions.  Not people willing to give up on their dreams for convenience or because they were told their dreams were impractical.

The bottom line is that we’re successful when we’re doing something that’s interesting to us.  The reason we play video games for hours instead of reading about chemistry is simply that we’re more interested in video games than chemistry (at least most of us.)  The same is true for our work.  How many people passionately volunteer, spending hours of their time working with kids, animals, the elderly etc… and yet grumble when they roll into work the following Monday?

You simply can’t do your best work if you don’t bring your meaning into that work.  If you don’t believe in what you’re building, you’ll never build something great.  Not because it’s impossible, but because you simply won’t have the desire to do it!  You’ll never put in the 10,000 hours of practice, or fight through the dip of failure, or stand strong in the face of criticism.

If you want an innovative company, find people who are passionate about your industry.  If you want a successful career, find a field that you naturally want to pour your heart into.

Anything less and it won’t work.

It’s not magic. Just basic human psychology.

Image courtesy of NASA