“Good is the enemy of great.” — [@collinsGoodGreatWhy2001]
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs
“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is better than two doubles.” — Steve Jobs
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. […] You’ve got to find what you love.” — Steve Jobs
“To seek greatness is the only righteous vengeance.” — Criss Jami
TODO”How To Do Great Work” by Paul Graham
“Here’s how to live: Master something.” by Derek Sivers
Mastery is the best goal because the rich can’t buy it, the impatient can’t rush it, the privileged can’t inherit it, and nobody can steal it. You can only earn it through hard work. Mastery is the ultimate status.
“A Stroke of Genius: Striving for Greatness in All You Do” by Richard Hamming 1 2
If you are to do important work then you must work on the right problem at the right time and in the right way. Without any one of the three, you may do good work but you will almost certainly miss real greatness. […] The first person to produce definitive results generally gets all the credit. Those who come in second are soon forgotten. Thus working on the problem at the right time is essential. […] Hard work is a trait that most great scientists have. Edison said that genius was 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. Newton said that if others would work as hard as he did then they would get similar results. Hard work is necessary but it is not sufficient. Most people do not work as hard as they easily could. However, many who do work hard — work on the wrong problem, at the wrong time, in the wrong way, and have very little to show for it.
Some people work with their doors open in clear view of those who pass by, while others carefully protect themselves from interruptions. Those with the door open get less work done each day, but those with their door closed tend not know what to work on, nor are they apt to hear the clues to the missing piece to one of their “list” problems. I cannot prove that the open door produces the open mind, or the other way around. I only can observe the correlation. I suspect that each reinforces the other, that an open door will more likely lead you and important problems than will a closed door.
Personal Traits: Energetic (coupled with emotional commitment), Courage (Without courage you are unlikely to attack important problems with any persistence, and hence not likely to do important things. Courage brings self-confidence, an essential feature of doing difficult things.), the ability to tolerate ambiguity (If you believe too much then you are not likely to find the essentially new view that transforms a field, and if you doubt too much you will not be able to do much at all. It is a fine balance between believing what you learn and at the same time doubting things.)
The particular vision you have is less important than just having one - there are many paths to success. Therefore, it is wise to have a vision of what you may become, of where you want to go, as well as how to get there. No vision, not much chance of doing great work; with a vision you have a good chance.
Too many scientists think that this is beneath them, that the world is waiting for their great results. In truth, the other researchers are busy with their own work. You must present your results so that they will stop their own work and listen to you. Presentation comes in three forms: published papers, prepared talks, and impromptu situations. You must master all three forms.
Lots of good work has been lost because of poor presentation only to be rediscovered later by others. There is a real danger that you will not get credit for what you have done. I know of all too many times when the discoverer could not be bothered to present things clearly, and hence his or her work was of no importance to society.
It is in the struggle and not the success that the real gain appears. In striving to do great things, you change yourself into a better person, so they claim. The actual success is of less importance.
= 做出偉大的成就
The three most powerful motives are curiosity, delight, and the desire to do something impressive (obsession). Sometimes they converge, and that combination is the most powerful of all.
Cultivating infinite devotion with internal drive is the prerequisite for becoming great in any field.
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing very well.
The margin between good and great is narrower than it seems. What begins as a slight edge over the competition compounds with each additional contest.
精進/偉大/專家/頂尖之路是短時間進步、長時間停滯的旅程，要學會「享受」過程 中的高原期 (Plateau)
The 2-step process for exceptional results:
- Spend a little time each day thinking about the highest leverage activity available to you.
- Spend a little time each day working on it.
Footnotes
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美國數學家，圖靈獎得主，「漢明碼」的發明人。 1946 至 1976 年在貝爾實驗室 (Bell Telephone Laboratory) 工作，1956 年參與了 IBM 650 的程式設計語言發展工作。 它是美國電腦協會 (ACM) 的創立人之一，曾任該組織的主席。 ↩
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Another great one by Richard Hamming: “You and Your Research” ↩