Is passion enough?
India More Nisbett and Dhru Purohit on apprenticeship, experience and learning how to do the work.
In this archive conversation, I asked Dhru about the gap between having a passion and being good at something, and how he found his way into entrepreneurship.
India
A passion doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good at something, and vice versa. How do you figure out that middle ground? Were there steps you followed, or do you feel you followed your passion?
Dhru
‘Follow your passion, follow your heart’ sounds like beautiful advice, but it’s highly romanticised. Throughout history, when somebody wanted to be good at something, whether it was their passion or not, they would do some form of apprenticeship.
One of the greatest challenges is when we jump straight into entrepreneurship without a history in it, or without having worked in a system where we’ve had exposure to it. People get crippled by fear, doubt and indecision. They also try to work on too many things at the same time.
I was smart enough to know that I didn’t know what to do. So I found my way into a version of apprenticeships: working very closely with people I looked up to, focusing on what I could do best and learning from them about the things I couldn’t.
When you’ve worked closely with people who are doing it, you realise there are best practices you can embrace to make your vision a reality.
Originally recorded for On the Sofa, The Williamson Institute. Edited for length and clarity.