Tag: Excellence

For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake bitter bread

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bread bakery

“…Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.”

– Kahlil Gibran, (1883-1931) from The Prophet – “On Work”

Sources: Bakery Image – The Girl on the Moon; Quote – katsandogz

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Just take it. Do it. Take the next step.

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black and white photography, trees, woods, quotes,

“All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man has taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Image: Laura B. Fernandez photograph titled “The Next Step Will Lead Our Lives.”  Quote: whiskeyriver.blogspot.com

Making Same Mistakes. Certainly.

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Power, Jeffrey Pfeffer

We’re back to work after a wonderful two week siesta with the family.  No travel.  No stress.  Just watching movies, eating and napping sprinkled with a well intentioned but woefully under-executed exercise regimen.  Time to shift gears to work-mode.  A post I came across during my vacation by Eric Barker @ “Barking Up The Wrong Tree” reminded me of an earlier conversation with a bright (very), ivy league educated, younger colleague.  He posed these following questions:

You have achieved modest success in your career, what key learnings can you share?  (Modest?  Do I ooze underachievement?)

I’m sure you have made mistakes along the way?  Would you mind sharing?  (Why not start with the wins?  Is it that obvious that this captain has weathered too many rough seas?)

Have you made repeated mistakes in the same area and why?  (Cringing. How does he know? Do all ex-collegiate hockey players have a reputation of diving into the same scrum and looking for trouble?)

What tips would you share with someone just starting their career?  (In contrast to me, that is, one who is just finishing or finished?)

Continue reading “Making Same Mistakes. Certainly.” →

The Relentless Reviser

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henri matisse-young-sailor I & II (1906)

The path to excellence.  Study the best in the field. Develop lifelong habits. Continuously revise and improve. (Kaizen.)  Practice.  Have a critical eye with your own work.  Be sure to focus on the process as it is as important as the output. Pursue your field of passion despite the views of your critics.  There are no shortcuts to excellence – it takes incredible focus and effort.  Same old, same old?  Yes.  It worked for Matisse.  And it will work for you and me.

Henri Matisse (1869-1954), along with Picasso and Duchamp, was regarded as one of three artists who helped define art and sculpture in the 20th century.  There is a Matisse show on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until March 17th, 2013.  There is an exceptional review of the show in wsj.com titled The Relentless Reviser.  Below I share excerpts from the review that are applicable to many of us in our fields: Continue reading “The Relentless Reviser” →

We are the introverts…

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Close.  (Excluding Michael Jackson and the entire party-part.)

Source:teachingliteracy via explore-blog