The One Thing Great Innovators Have In Common

In all the years that I’ve been involved with leadership development, one question that I’ve often been asked is: Which is most important — to have passion or a plan?

I’ll bet that many people will have an initial reaction to this question, and everyone will have well-thought out reasons as to why their choice trumps the other. Personally, when I first pondered this question many years ago, I was instinctively drawn towards passion as the most important trait.

Without passion, there’s no commitment and without commitment, there’s no perseverance. And with no perseverance, most people fall at the first hurdle in pursuit of their goals and ambitions.

But passion without a plan can be aimless. It can also become an obsession and, like a raging fire, if there is no careful direction, can get out of control and consume us.

Of course, on the other hand, a plan without passion can be a laborious and cumbersome process — I’ve yet to hear of a success story that was built solely on a plan without an intense passion driving the overall vision.

Stepping outside the box 

In business, as with life, we can often get caught up in dualistic thinking. The “this or that” approach is more often a hindrance than a help, and yet, it’s one we see embraced all the time. How many career choices are weighed by this measure?

You could try to become an artist, but you probably won’t make any money. Better to become a banker; that way, you’ll have a solid career and income.

Here we see “this or that” in full flow: you can either be creative or sensible, but you can’t be both… Why not?

This modern-day conventional wisdom directs us to be boxed in, to compact the complexity and range of who we are into a single space. Passion is for the few who are creative enough to put it to good use.

And yet, when we think of great minds of the past — who weren’t born great — we see this dichotomy smashed into pieces.

Albert Einstein was told at school that he’d never amount to much. The renowned and revered physicist was a genius…and one who credited his success to his ability to play the violin.

Einstein once said of playing that the “most joy in my life has come to me from my violin,” and he would often play classical music as a brainstorming technique.

Another giant of history, Leonardo da Vinci, had a whole range of talents. Many people associate the Italian icon with his famous paintings.

And yet, he was also a musician, cartographer, mathematician, geologist, sculptor, engineer and geologist…just to name a few of his capabilities.

Image | pexels

READ: The Innovator’s Mind

Potential beyond boundaries 

Whenever I advise young students and professionals, I try to remind them to delve into as much of the human experience as possible, just as any great mind of the past and present has done.

It’s by immersing ourselves in the world that we come alive to the possibilities that we can create through the passions that we discover.

We all see things through different perspectives, and so our potential to contribute to the world is absolutely unique.

The flip-side to this, of course, is the requirement for a plan of action. To briefly counter an objection I’ve often heard: yes, there are people who successfully wing their way to success thanks to an unyielding dedication to their passion.

But these truly are the lucky few who are able to make use of their circumstances, timing, opportunities and other factors that happen to come together at the right moment.

We risk falling into the trap of believing that passion and success are reserved for the few and not the many when we look to exceptional examples of those who both work hard and find Lady Fortune on their side.

But success and deep satisfaction is available to anyone who takes the time to discover and evolve their passion, while at the same time making sure they have a plan in place, an idea of where they want to go and how to get there.

Within that plan, there needs to be room for flexibility to allow for unexpected circumstances and challenges that might arise.

If we are able to have a framework within which our passion can thrive, it’s in that space that we can truly maximise our potential to achieve great things.

It’s by dropping clichéd conventional wisdom that this process can flourish. There’s a reason why we’re often advised to “think outside the box” — because that’s where well-worn ideas are kept.

If we want to make changes for ourselves, we can’t make those changes by repeating the same thoughts, words and actions.

By marrying our passion and a solid plan together, rather than seeing the two as mutually exclusive, we can reach amazing heights. As the saying goes, electric light didn’t come about by constantly improving candles.