If you’re not passionate about your work, take two minutes out of your day today and apply a simple test.
If you are having doubts about your job or if you just don’t feel excited to come to work each day, the Microsoft Vision Test may be able to help.
If your work passes the test, you are going to be much more excited about the job you do.
If your work fails the test, you may realize that it is time to look for another job or another line of work all together.
What’s the Microsoft Vision Test?
While growing Microsoft to be the billion dollar company, Bill Gates had a clear vision. He had what Jim Collins calls a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (BHAG).
He stated this vision very clearly:
A computer on every desk and in every home, all running Microsoft software.
With passion and clarity, Microsoft leadership and employees could work relentlessly at this goal.
It was an unbelievable and virtually impossible goal at the beginning. Remember, that at the beginning of Microsoft, the personal computer was not common. People did not have computers on their office desks or in their homes. If they did, the software was very basic and didn’t have the level of software and applications that we are so used to today.
Yet, the vision drove their actions. Bill Gates had a reputation for his passion and relentless pursuit of this goal. As a result, he became one of the richest men in the world and grew his company to incredible heights.
Get Excited About Work! Try this.
So, what does this have to do with how excited you are about your work?
Take Bill Gates’s vision statement and insert the product or service your company provides instead. Then ask yourself if you can honestly repeat that statement and mean it.
Fill in the blanks:
A __________ on every desk and in every home, all __________.
A [product or service your company provides] on every desk and in every home [or wherever your product or service is experienced], all [name your company or brand.]
For example, if your work includes any of the following:
Musician
A MP3 player on every desk and in every home, all playing my music.
Law Firm
A defendant in every court in this district, all represented by a lawyer in our law firm.
Coffee Shop:
A cup of coffee on every desk and in every home, all made by our coffee shop.
Consulting Company
A strategic plan on every desk in our industry, all developed by our consultants.
Car Factory
A car in every home, all built by our car company.
Teacher
A diploma on the wall of every home, all issued by my school.
Fast Food Restaurant
A meal in every car, all made by my fast food place.
Bank
A checkbook on every desk and in every home, all issued by my bank.
Here’s how my vision might read:
A book on every bookshelf in every church and in every home, written by Jared Dees.
And for my day job:
A book on every bookshelf in every parish and every Catholic home, published by Ave Maria Press.
Pass or Faith? Excited or Not?
If you don’t read this vision statement and get excited about making it a reality, then maybe it is time to pursue a different line of work.
If, however, you read that vision statement and immediately think of doing your job differently and of doing more to achieve that goal, then you have passed.
Applying this vision test to your work should get you excited about making it a reality. It is very likely that you’ve never thought about your work at that scale before.
Adjusting your vision for the goal line might just motivate you do think, act, and do more.
