I’ve been stewing this for a while. It’s time to add the word “passion” to the bullshit bingo grid. I didn’t want to do it but it’s become grossly over used. Let’s put an end to the fashionable assumption that it’s always positive. It is not. In the tech industry especially it seems like it’s come to mean, “love” almost exclusively.

It’s a tough call. Most of the things that sound like nails on a chalkboard have been hollow from the start. (Just so we’re on the same page I’m referring to; shifting paradigms, think outside the box, make it pop and my favorite—brain dump. I’m sure you have favorites of your own.) Passion doesn’t fit the mold.

I’m certain you have seen the misuse:
“We’re looking for someone with a passion for reporting.”
“It’s our passion to help your business grow!”
“Must have a passion for educating and closing deals.”

The first dictionary definition of the word passion is “strong and barely controllable emotion”. There are equal and opposite sides of passion. Productive outbursts and enthusiasm are certainly welcome. Impetuous acts of forcefulness and thoughtlessness? Not so much.

For example, someone with a passion for learning more about a topic can struggle to draw a line between production and procrastination. We obfuscate the implication of obsessive behavior as passion is defined.

There are better words for referring to the love or enjoyment of something. Consider these: enthusiasm, desire, zeal. It could be splitting hairs but to me they don’t also describe rage, fanaticism or obsession the way passion does.

Then again, I could be overly zealous in this but what can I say—I have passion.