WEBVTT - Develop a taste for quality

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to develop a taste for quality. You can

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<v Speaker 1>make your work better by surrounding yourself with good work,

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<v Speaker 1>even if it is not all in your immediate field.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip, like another one this week, is inspired by

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<v Speaker 1>Cal Newport's new book, Slow Productivity. In this book, Cal

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<v Speaker 1>talks about how you can achieve great things without burnout.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the ways to be productive over the long term,

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<v Speaker 1>he says, is to obsess over quality. Now, that doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>mean become a perfectionist. Nothing is ever perfect, and eventually

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<v Speaker 1>we have two publish, perform ship, or otherwise get things

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<v Speaker 1>out into the world where the work can be critiqued

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<v Speaker 1>and thus we can approve. But it is better to

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<v Speaker 1>at least try to produce really good work. And that

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<v Speaker 1>means getting better over time. So how do you get

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<v Speaker 1>better over time? There's practice and being prolific, but another

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<v Speaker 1>tool in the toolkit is to surround yourself with really

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<v Speaker 1>good stuff. If you want to be a painter, you

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<v Speaker 1>want to see what the best painters are doing. You

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<v Speaker 1>also want to see what the best painters at your

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<v Speaker 1>level are doing you want to learn from them, and

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<v Speaker 1>that makes sense, But sometimes it can be a little

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<v Speaker 1>disconcerting to look at amazing work when you are still

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<v Speaker 1>growing in your career. Cal describes reading great nonfiction writing

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<v Speaker 1>and getting white knuckled over whatever those writers are doing

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<v Speaker 1>that he is not doing. So in addition to studying

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<v Speaker 1>your field, sometimes it is helpful to look at great

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<v Speaker 1>stuff in slightly different fields. Cal writes that he decided

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<v Speaker 1>to become something of an amateur expert on cinematography. He

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<v Speaker 1>read books on what good looks like in the movies,

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<v Speaker 1>and he studied great movies like Reservoir Dogs somewhat obsessively

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<v Speaker 1>to understand how a great director tells a story. Nonfiction

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<v Speaker 1>writers are telling stories too, so there is a benefit

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<v Speaker 1>to studying an adjacent field without that same sting of competition.

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<v Speaker 1>I like this idea, and I think it's something that

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<v Speaker 1>anyone can do. You can learn a lot about public

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<v Speaker 1>speaking by studying something like Broadway musicals. You can learn

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<v Speaker 1>a lot about strategy by studying historic US matches or

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps the greatest football games of all time. You can

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<v Speaker 1>learn a lot about communication by studying great revival preachers.

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<v Speaker 1>Now Obviously, if you are in corporate strategy, you also

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<v Speaker 1>want to study the strategies of your immediate rivals. You

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<v Speaker 1>shouldn't skip that part. But by surrounding yourself with quality

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<v Speaker 1>in other areas too, you gain an appreciation for good

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<v Speaker 1>whatever good happens to look like. Plus, it just makes

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<v Speaker 1>your leisure time more fun. We are only going to

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<v Speaker 1>see so many plays or read so many books in life.

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<v Speaker 1>Why not focus on the best. We develop more discriminating

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<v Speaker 1>tastes and maybe wind up with some tools for getting

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<v Speaker 1>better at our own jobs too. In the meantime, this

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to make the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.