Today, we build on yesterday’s post where Deloitte Research moved past employee engagement.
We will cover the Passion of the Explorer. Here is the description from the report.
When we talk about worker passion, passionate workers, or Explorers, what we mean is a worker who exhibits three attributes—questing, connecting, and commitment to domain—that collectively define what we have termed the “Passion of the Explorer”. We use these terms interchangeably.
Deloitte Report
Looking at each of the three areas, we start to see how these are different from employee engagement.
Commitment to Domain. This is a desire to have a lasting impact on a domain. The commitment helps us focus on where we can make the most difference. We learn faster, are constantly seeking new information, and look for experiences outside our domain to bring insights back in.
Questing. This dimension drives us to go above and beyond our core responsibilities. We test, push boundaries, are resourceful, and imaginative. When questing we experiment with new ways of doing the work and striving to take performance to the next level.
Connecting. This leads us to seek out others to help find solutions to our problems. Unlike networking, the connecting dimension has us seeking deep interactions with others in our domain or related domains. This enables us to bring insights back to our own work. The process is less about building a network and more about learning from experts and expanding our knowledge.
The most recent article I found on the topic referenced a Deloitte report published in 2020. The three original authors – John Hagel III, John Seeley Brown, and Tamara Samoylova – all participated in this report along with new team members Maggie Wooll, Daniel Byler, Mengmeng Chen, and Alok Ranjan.
The chart below is a summary of worker passion from the report completed just before the COVID-19 shutdown.
My Perspective
I am intrigued with how these three dimensions could be used for personal development.
We could intentionally consider if these three attributes are present in our work.
We could ask questions if the answer is “no” to understand why not.
Do we have a lack of interest?
Is it the nature of our current role or organization?
Based on the answers, we could decide to make adjustments….or not.
Your Turn
What do you think of these three dimensions?
Do you see domain commitment, questing, and connecting in your work?
Does the framework create ideas on how you might want to shift your approach?