What Is the Passion Trap?
The passion trap is a self-reinforcing spiral of beliefs, choices, and actions that lead to critical miscalculations and missteps, mistakes such as significantly underestimating what is required to get a business off the ground; greatly over-assuming initial customer interest; making deep, irretrievable commitments to unproven concepts; and, in too many cases, rigidly adhering to a failing strategy until it’s too late to recover.
One of the most dangerous aspects of the passion trap is the subtle, illusory way it takes hold. On the surface, it masquerades as the kind of heroic determination that fuels every startup success story. Passionate business owners show boldness, commitment, and clarity of purpose—qualities we all crave, qualities that feel good. Whether or not you identify with the confident swagger of Virgin Group’s Richard Branson or Apple’s Steve Jobs, it’s hard to deny that they seem to enjoy what they do.
However, when an entrepreneur becomes too emotionally attached to an idea, boldness can be transformed into arrogance. Commitment narrows into a kind of tunnel vision. Cognitive biases filter and bend incoming data to conform to the founder’s hopes and beliefs. Conversations are drained of objectivity. Even worse, these patterns are generally invisible to the founder, and their negative impact is usually delayed over time. Like a termite-infested home, the seemingly solid startup is eaten from within.
