Chronic Enthusiasm

When hiring people it is extremely risky to promise business outcomes because the fate of any project or organization is too uncertain for guarantees. So what can be promised to a prospective employee? By providing an enthusiastic blame-free culture that emphasizes positive empowerment, I have learned that I can promise that an employee’s skills and positive attitudes will be enriched as a result of being part of our team.

The best example for this goes back to the early nineties.  I was running an early computerized machine shop focused on quickly delivering prototype mechanical parts to Silicon Valley customers. One employee was a very skilled manual machinist who had never touched a computer. After half a decade in our organization, he had become an outstanding CAD-CAM machinist  After a decade of well mentored service with another organization he now works at the mecca of prototype machine shops: Apple!.  He now gets to make the prototypes of iPhones and other amazing Apple gadgets.

While the behavior of chronic enthusiasm can really help to inspire and motivate a team to a high level of achievement , I have personally experienced a potentially serious downside. I can remember several instances where a concept, company, product or something was presented, discovered or discussed and my personal positive response was interpreted by a team member as a call to action. Chronic enthusiasm can be easily be confused with commitment. I had to learn to consciously temper my enthusiasm by adding a qualifier on my level of commitment.

For an example, I recall an experience where a software vendor presented a really cool software package that did not easily apply to our business situation. I was really impressed with the novelty of the product. One of my team members erroneously took this enthusiasm as a signal to follow up with subsequent meetings with the vendor.