Jon and Scoop have a conversation with author and consultant John Hagel about his new book, The Journey Beyond Fear, which explores the psychology of change, the passion of the explorer, and how to identify, face, and move beyond your fears to focus on opportunities and realize your full potential.
John has more than 40 years’ experience as a management consultant, author, speaker and entrepreneur. He recently retired from Deloitte. Post-retirement, McGraw-Hill published the new book, and John founded a new company, Beyond Our Edge, LLC, that works with companies and people who are seeking to anticipate the future and achieve much greater impact.
John Hagel: “I actually did a survey of the U.S. workforce – of the entire U.S. workforce – and I came across this notion – and again, it’s a very specific form of passion, the passion of the explorer. And what I found was at most 14% of US workers have this kind of passion about their work. 86% do not. And I don’t think that’s an accident. I believe all our institutions are actually deeply suspect, and even hostile to, this kind of passion. People with this kind of passion ask too many questions. They take too much risk. They deviate from the script and do things that weren’t assigned to them. And that’s not what we need from efficient workers. So the instruction is, if you have a passion, pursue it as a hobby after work. But when you’re at work, just follow the instructions. And I think it’s surprising that 14% still held onto this passion, even though they’re in an environment that’s very hostile.”
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