Working with a master elevates our standards

Summary

Working with a master forces you to up your standards

Details

The story is told about Henry Kissinger and his staffer who drafted a memo and put it on his desk. Kissinger asked him if it was his best work. The staffer said no and rewrote it again. The next day Kissinger asked him the same question and he rewrote it yet agian. The next time they met, when asked if it was his best work, he said yes it was. Only then did Kissinger agree to read it.
Master work requires almost fanatical workmanship.
If we dont have the opportunity to work with a master directly, you can still read about them (or watch them on youtube) to absorb their standards.

References

Clear Thinking - Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results - Shane Parrish

Quotes

I remembered a story I’d read about Henry Kissinger. A staffer had drafted a memo and left it on Kissinger’s desk for him to read. A while later Kissinger approached him and asked if it was his best work. The staffer said no and rewrote the entire memo. The next day the staffer ran into Kissinger again and asked what he thought. Kissinger asked him again if this was the best he could do. The staffer took the memo and rewrote it yet again. The next morning the same scenario played out, only this time the poor staffer stated that yes indeed it was his best work. Kissinger replied, “Okay, now I’ll read it.

Masters of their craft don’t merely want to check off a box and move on. They’re dedicated to what they do, and they keep at it. Master-level work requires near fanatical standards, so masters show us what our standards should be. A master communicator wouldn’t accept a ponderous, rambling email. A master programmer wouldn’t accept ugly code. Neither of them would accept unclear explanations as understanding.

Working with a master firsthand is the best education; it’s the surest way of raising the bar. Their excellence demands your excellence. But most of us aren’t lucky enough to have that opportunity. Still, not all is lost. If you don’t have the chance to work with a master directly, you can still surround yourself with people who have higher standards by reading about them and their work.