It's not work, it's re-work
Average college students learn ideas once. The best college students re-learn ideas over and over again. Average employees write emails once. Elite novelists rewrite chapters over and over again. Fitness enthusiasts still don't think about the same exercise routine every week. The best athletes actively critique each rep and constantly improve their technique. It is the review that matters most. 3
To continue with the bus metaphor, photographers who get off the bus after a few stops and then transfer to a new bus line are constantly working. They have completed their 10,000 hours. They are not, however, re-working. They are so preoccupied with jumping from one line to the next in the hope of discovering a new route that no one has taken before that they do not take the time to rework their old ideas. And, as the Helsinki Bus Station Theory demonstrates, this is the key to creating something unique and wonderful. 4
By staying on the bus, you give yourself time to get back to work and review until something unique, inspiring, and great is produced. It is only by staying on board that mastery is revealed. Show up enough times to get average ideas out of the way and every now and then the genius will reveal itself.
The 10,000 hour rule, popularized by Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, states that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become an expert in a specific field. I think what we often overlook is that deliberate practice is revision. If you are not paying enough attention to the review, then you are not being deliberate.
Many people spend 10,000 hours. Very few people put 10,000 review hours. The only way to do this is to stay on the bus.
Which bus will you get on?
We are all creators in some way. The manager fighting for a new initiative. The accountant that creates a faster process for managing tax returns. The nurse who thinks of a better way to manage her patients. And, of course, the writer, designer, painter, and musician who work to share their work with the world. They are all creators.
Any creator who tries to advance society will experience failure. Very often, we respond to these failures by calling a taxi and getting on another bus line.
Perhaps the journey will be smoother there.
Instead, we should stay on the bus and put in the effort to review, rethink, and revise our ideas.
However, in order to do so, you must make the most difficult decision of all. Which bus are you going to take? What do you want your life to be known for? What skill do you want to work on honing and perfecting?
What criteria do you use to determine which answer is correct? You're completely unaware of it. Nobody knows which bus is the best, but you must choose one if you want to maximize your potential. This is one of the most significant stresses in life. It's your choice, but you have to make one.
And once you've done that, stay on the bus.
Footnotes
1. This article shares a shortened version of Mikkinen's speech. I originally read the full opening speech here.
2. Minkkinen faced challenges similar to these in his own career. During his early years, he struggled to separate his photography style from contemporaries like Ralph Gibson.
3. I owe a debt of gratitude to Venkatesh Rao and his fantastic post about the sand, which is where I originally came across the idea that rework is more important than more work. I'm basically repeating your logic here.
4. Let's be clear, showing the issues. It is better to go to class than to skip class. It is better to reply to your emails than not to write them. It is better to go to the gym than to avoid exercising. But for high performers the key is to get back to work, not just more work.
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