Jerry Seinfeld was once interviewed by HBR’s Daniel McGinn:
McGinn: You and Larry David wrote Seinfeld together, without a traditional writers’ room, and burnout was one reason you stopped. Was there a more sustainable way to do it? Could McKinsey or someone have helped you find a better model?
Seinfeld: Who’s McKinsey?
McGinn: It’s a consulting firm.
Seinfeld: Are they funny?
McGinn: No.
Seinfeld: Then I don’t need them. If you’re efficient, you’re doing it the wrong way. The right way is the hard way. The show was successful because I micromanaged it—every word, every line, every take, every edit, every casting. That’s my way of life.
Two things stood out to us:
1) “If you’re efficient, you’re doing it the wrong way.”
2. “The right way is the hard way.”
Another way we could say it is that the right way is the emotional way. Truly great performance isn’t rational. It’s not an exercise in project management, process improvement, or box checking. As much peace as there is in an instruction manual, that’s not where creativity and greatness lie. It’s in the void. It’s on the dance floor. It’s in the arena.
There’s a lesson in there somewhere….
