I spotted this question on a Linkedin group and thought I post it here.

My answers is: Yes, it’s possible.

Interestingly, HBR posted an article about why you shouldn’t do what you love last week. I encourage you to read it if you haven’t already.

Here’s the thing about innovation:

Most people who are considered innovative don’t really set out to ‘innovate’. They set out to solve a problem they have/saw because they either see nobody doing anything about it, or they are personally dissatisfied.

My thinking is that if you are a creative problem solver (like me), you are already committed. The act of solving a problem in a creative way (what you like) is the fire needed to take on whatever challenge is presented.

Being constantly challenged is what you like. The context and topic can be anything.

Whether it’s solving the energy problem, climate issues, education or whatever, you don’t necessarily have to be passionate about these topics. You just have to like solving interesting problems and contributing.

That’s your commitment.

This is how it is for me, but it’s certainly not true for everyone else. I’m curious to know, what do you think?