Is There Any Room for the Not-Passionate Developer?

I think Brian Dyson said it best:

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.

Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Give the required time to your family, friends and have proper rest. Value has a value only if its value is valued.”

It's easy for people to be too passionate about a particular design decision or implementation which can cause all sorts of unnecessary drama and friction in a team. I think this is where passionate becomes unprofessional. Having spirited arguments about these things is necessary to shake things out of a design and help everyone understand every facet of a problem. But at some point you have to stop beating a dead horse and make a decision. Dwelling too long can cause factions to become entrenched in their own position and for people to take engineering decisions personally. This is poison for any startup. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

There is something incredibly relieving about being able to let it go and to move forward working on things or directions you may disagree with. Or "how I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb".

Work is work, you won't always be having fun or doing something interesting. There are many things that are impossible to be passionate about especially when consulting. A large part of professionalism is buckling down and being productive on dull tasks or decisions you disagree with. Showing that you are capable of this will earn you a great deal of respect from the people you disagreed with. Turning a potential enemy into a colleague who will stand up for you much farther down the road. My ability to do this over the last 10 years has earned me more friends and opportunities in the industry than anything else.

It also lets you go home at the end of the day and enjoy yourself without some silly design decision eating you alive when you are supposed to be relaxing and recharging.

One more thing to add; If you work in a location like SV with seemingly infinite alternatives and people. It's easy to say "fuck that guy" and just quit to go work somewhere else. There is a good chance your adversary will never get handed your resume and asked what they think about you. I live in Anchorage where the professional community is exceedingly small and you have to work on what is available even if it sucks and is uninteresting. Up here having these skills is a necessary long term survival trait because you inexorably will run into the same people again and again.

In my opinion no. Passion is always critical for a good team. But passion doesn't mean you have to work 60 hours or do home projects. You just have to come to work eager a d excited to learn and grow.

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12207970