"The free play of art is the result of mastery. " --Ernst Fischer, The Necessity of Art

"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." --Ladybird Johnson

"...a well-trained ear, a well-trained intelligence, a well-trained heart, and a well-trained hand...." --Zoltan Kodaly

9/29/10

Daily Life, 74

Have you read Guillebeau's distinction between good work and great work?

Not a new concept, as he says, but it caught me this morning: "Good work is useful, productive work.  There's nothing wrong with it, but the problem is that we have too much good work.  (His italics)  Great work, on the other hand, is revolutionary.  Great work leads to innovation.  While most good work is comforting, great work is simultaneously comforting and discomforting, because it pushes us to go further."  Guillebeau, The Art of Non-Comformity,  p. 211

The characterization of good work as 'comforting'  is eye-opening for me; it's troubled me previously that the good/great distinction undervalues the contribution and satisfaction levels of what I actually do every day.   "What's wrong with it?"....and here I see: it's good, but it's static.   

Yep.   More to think about.




See you tomorrow.


--K

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