might even call it passion.
The ones that didn’t work out—
and that would be most of them—
slowly drained my passion as they
failed. The few that worked became
more exciting as they succeeded.
For example, when I invested in a
restaurant with an operating partner,
my passion was sky-high. And on
day one, when there was a line of
customers down the block, I was
even more passionate. In later years,
as the business got pummelled, my
passion evolved into frustration and
annoyance.
When it started to look as if it
might be a success, my passion
for cartooning increased because I
realized it could be my golden ticket.
In hindsight, it looks as if the projects
that I was most passionate about
were also the ones that worked. But
objectively, my passion level moved
with my success. Success caused
passion more than passion caused
success.
So forget about passion. And while
you’re at it, forget about goals, too.
Just after college, I took my first
airplane trip, destination California,
in search of a job. I was seated
next to a business person who was
probably in his early 60s. I suppose
I looked like an odd duck with my
serious demeanor, bad haircut and
cheap suit, clearly out of my element.
I asked what he did for a living,
and he told me he was the CEO of
a company that made screws. He
offered me some career advice.
He said that every time he got a
new job, he immediately started
looking for a better one. For him, job
seeking was not something one did
when necessary. It was a continuing
process.
This makes perfect sense if you do
the math. Chances are that the best
job for you won’t become available
at precisely the time you declare
yourself ready. Your best bet, he
explained, was to always be looking
for a better deal. The better deal has
its own schedule. I believe the way
he explained it is that your job is not
your job; your job is to find a better
job.
This was my first exposure to the
idea that one should have a system
instead of a goal. The system was to
continually look for better options.
Throughout my career I’ve had my
antennae up, looking for examples of
PAGE 44 / NORTHERN HILLS / EASTER ISSUE 2015
TO PUT IT BLUNTLY, GOALS
ARE FOR LOSERS
people who use
systems as opposed to goals. In most
cases, as far as I can tell, the people
who use systems do better. The
systems-driven people have found a
way to look at the familiar in new
and more useful ways.
To put it bluntly, goals are for
losers. That’s li \