You can’t really buy passion-driven people. You have to pay for them, of course, but they have to choose you. Passion-driven people are attracted by many things, but one of the biggest attractions is the desire to work with other passion-driven people who can challenge and appreciate them. As an organization grows, the challenge is to keep the bar high enough that critical mass can be maintained and new people will still continue to be attracted. It’s like running a nuclear reactor — if your fuel rods aren’t pure enough, you won’t be able to get/keep the reaction going; but if you enrich and purify the material, the reaction is self-perpetuating.

back at kpmg consulting, i tried to follow this rule of thumb as well. i only wanted to hire people that actually cared. as it turned out later, these people are rare. when the climate for innovation at kpmg consulting became hostile, i started to work on open source projects, which eventually led me to my current employer. all projects i’m involved in have to pass the radioactivity test. some are on the verge of no longer passing.

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