I’m rethinking my earlier thinking on drive.

In physics, generally speaking, physical systems seek equilibrium. What if drive is a form of seeking equilibrium? Hang with me.

Imagine that your perception of your life is a system. You know this because you say things like “you only have so much energy” or you make work for other people. You are transferring your energy to the world via work.

Imagine that you have this external force — like a voice in the back of your head, or a vision, or an idea — that makes the world seem out of balance. You suddenly have infinite amounts of energy to realize that vision, tackle that problem, or get that last item crossed off your check list. That seemingly infinite energy could be drive.

That infinite energy is an imbalance in a sense. That imbalance compels you to spend time and energy chipping away at that vision or that idea. With each exertion of energy, your system is that much closer to equilibrium.

Perhaps drive is not a desire to keep going, but perhaps it’s a desire to achieve balance?

Application for Leaders:

1. How well do you know your team and what positively stimulates their creativity or productivity?

2. How might you leverage what you know and introduce positive external forces that create that energy imbalance that all but compels your team to make productive outputs?

3. Recruiting for drive? Consider this interview prompt: Tell me about a project you worked on where the work was so exciting that you felt you had near-infinite amounts of energy to work on that project.