It’s been a very long time since a story was posted on thepassionformula.com and I’ll spare the excuses and say what the real reason is for that — I’ve simply not prioritized it. saying that, I recently had an experience that I think is worth sharing.
Last week I attended a yearly industrial automation & controls trade show put on by my employer in Chicago at the McCormick place. It was huge…18,000 people attended & I flew in late Sunday and left early Friday. I ran from meeting to meeting, to the show floor, to breakout sessions then to dinners, breakfasts and lunches from Monday till the evening on Thursday. I must have interacted with close to 500 people…many of which were new people I’ve never met, while others I’ve known my entire career or are folks that I interact with weekly. It’s equally exciting, invigorating and really really socially draining. By Friday holding a conversation was hard. These people that I met and interacted with drive an entire industry forward. From innovators, programmers, engineers, directors, marketeers, vice presidents and to CXO’s. It’s an amazing industry and this event was full of some of the most passionate people in the industry.
All that being said, the most impactful conversation I had was when I was completely socially drained…at 4am on the Friday morning with my cab driver Montumbo. (it might have been Mawuli…but I seem to have Montumbo in my memory so I’ll roll with that.)
Muntumbo was one of 10 cabbies waiting out front of the hotel and I hopped in. He was a very chatty driver and his story was amazing…it woke me up. This is what I remember.
After emigrating from Ghana in west Africa sometime in the 90’s, he settled in Chicago and went to college. After earning a mechanical engineering degree, he worked for 12 years at a manufacturing company. His last project there was one that he was tasked to lead a team to select the right product lifecycle management (PLM) software product. His boss had recently joined the company when he started this project and has been successful implementing Oracle solutions prior — but he didn’t let that bias the teams research. During the 6 month evaluation and research period, his team discovered that there were groups in the IT division that detested Oracle solutions. When they came to the end of their research period and all the variables were evaluated; they ended up recommending Oracle. When Muntumbo’s boss presented the findings to the board for the investment funding, he was blind sided with immense push back for that the IT division had influenced the board and didn’t want that solution. Needless to say, Muntumbo took the fall for the groups decision and was let go as a result. Muntumbo has been bouncing from short term contract to short term contract for almost 3 years now. In addition, he’s now doing midnight shifts driving a cab to make ends meet.
I felt for him for that from what I could tell he was a leader and passionate about life. Although I have no idea on all the details of his work or life situation & I realize he could be sensationalizing the events in his favor – regardless I think he was a smart guy, he knew the right software lingo and during this 40 minute cab ride I couldn’t ignore his relentless positivity about his current situation and his optimistic view of his future.
I gave him a ‘bro-hug’ when he dropped me off at O’Hare…yes it was weird and my first one to a cabbie 🙂 But I gave him my card, told him to keep pushing and thanked him because he inspired me to keep the passion and positivity no matter what. He committed to keep pushing and to continue searching the job openings to get out of the cab driver business.
On the flight home and over the weekend, I couldn’t get this experience out of my head and am still thinking about it today, the day america gives thanks and I’m thankful for this random conversation. This experience reminded what danger is out there when you’re too passionate and focused – just how fragile things can be. There is a big need to throttle your passion, take in all angles and focus on making others believers vs. going it alone — especially in a corporate environment.
I also feel that seeing Muntumbo’s positivity no matter his situation was infectious and the best learning from my week. His passion for learning, doing what it takes, realizing how life is great even though his current situation totally sucks and keeping positive was amazing.
Engaging in real conversations with total strangers never ceases to amaze me…everyone has a story and it’s amazing to ‘info sponge’ and learn from others. In this case, 18,000 people at the trade show and I get the biggest lesson from a cab ride…
just thought it was worth sharing. Happy Thanksgiving America.
Keep passionate and I’ll catch you the next time.
Kyle
The Passion Formula 