Sarah Lewis: Embrace the near win

Translator: Andreja Benčina Reviewer: Nika Kotnik

I feel so fortunate that my first job

Imam veliko srečo, da sem imela prvo službo

was working at the Museum of Modern Art

v Muzeju sodobne umetnosti

on a retrospective of painter Elizabeth Murray.

na retrospektivi del slikarke Elizabeth Murray.

I learned so much from her.

Toliko sem se naučila od nje.

After the curator Robert Storr

Ko je kurator Robert Storr

selected all the paintings

izbral vse slike

from her lifetime body of work,

iz njenega opusa,

I loved looking at the paintings from the 1970s.

sem najraje gledala slike iz sedemdesetih.

There were some motifs and elements

Tam so bili motivi in elementi,

that would come up again later in her life.

ki so se ponovno pojavili tudi kasneje.

I remember asking her

Spominjam se, da sem jo vprašala,

what she thought of those early works.

kaj misli o svojih zgodnjih delih.

If you didn't know they were hers,

Če ne bi vedeli, da so njena,

you might not have been able to guess.

mogoče tega ne bi niti uganili.

She told me that a few didn't quite meet

Rekla je, da nekaj teh del ne zadostuje

her own mark for what she wanted them to be.

njenim visokim merilom.

One of the works, in fact,

Pravzaprav je bilo eno od del tako daleč od tega,

so didn't meet her mark,

she had set it out in the trash in her studio,

da ga je hotela zavreči že v ateljeju,

and her neighbor had taken it

a ga je potem vzela njena soseda,

because she saw its value.

ker je prepoznala njegovo vrednost.

In that moment, my view of success

V tistem trenutku se je moj pogled na uspeh

and creativity changed.

in ustvarjalnost spremenil.

I realized that success is a moment,

Spoznala sem, da je uspeh le trenutek,

but what we're always celebrating

kar pa slavimo vedno,

is creativity and mastery.

sta ustvarjalnost in mojstrstvo.

But this is the thing: What gets us to convert success

Toda: Kako spremenimo uspeh

into mastery?

v mojstrstvo?

This is a question I've long asked myself.

To sem se dolgo spraševala.

I think it comes when we start to value

Mislim, da se to zgodi, ko začnemo ceniti

the gift of a near win.

darilo skorajšnje zmage.

I started to understand this when I went

To sem začenjala razumeti, ko sem šla

on one cold May day

neko mrzlo majsko jutro

to watch a set of varsity archers,

gledat tekmo univerzitetnih lokostrelcev,

all women as fate would have it,

po naključju samih žensk,

at the northern tip of Manhattan

na severni konec Manhattna

at Columbia's Baker Athletics Complex.

v dvorano Baker Athletics Complex univerze Columbia.

I wanted to see what's called archer's paradox,

Hotela sem videti tisto, kar imenujejo lokostrelčev paradoks,

the idea that in order to actually hit your target,

to je ideja, da morate za to, da tarčo res zadenete,

you have to aim at something slightly skew from it.

meriti v nekaj rahlo stran od nje.

I stood and watched as the coach

Stala sem in gledala, kako je trener pripeljal te ženske v sivem kombiju

drove up these women in this gray van,

and they exited with this kind of relaxed focus.

in izstopile so v nekakšni sproščeni osredotočenosti.

One held a half-eaten ice cream cone in one hand

Ena je držala pol sladoleda v eni roki

and arrows in the left with yellow fletching.

in puščice z rumenim perjem v levi.

And they passed me and smiled,

Šle so mimo in se nasmehnile,

but they sized me up as they

in me premerile s pogledi

made their way to the turf,

ob odhodu na poligon,

and spoke to each other not with words

in niso se pogovarjale z besedami,

but with numbers, degrees, I thought,

ampak s številkami, mislim da stopinjami,

positions for how they might plan

položaji kako nameravajo zadeti svoje tarče.

to hit their target.

I stood behind one archer as her coach

Stala sem za eno lokostrelko, ko je njen trener

stood in between us to maybe assess

stal med nama, najverjetneje, da oceni,

who might need support, and watched her,

kdo potrebuje podporo. Gledala sem

and I didn't understand how even one

in nisem razumela, kako bo sploh katera

was going to hit the ten ring.

zadela obroč za deset točk.

The ten ring from the standard 75-yard distance,

Ta obroč je s standardne 68,6 metrske razdalje

it looks as small as a matchstick tip

videti velika kot glavica vžigalice,

held out at arm's length.

ki jo držite v iztegnjeni roki.

And this is while holding 50 pounds of draw weight

In to, ko zadržujete skoraj 23 kilogramov natezne moči

on each shot.

ob vsakem strelu.

She first hit a seven, I remember, and then a nine,

Najprej je zadela krog za sedem točk, nato devet

and then two tens,

in dve desetki

and then the next arrow

in potem naslednja puščica sploh ni zadela tarče.

didn't even hit the target.

And I saw that gave her more tenacity,

Videla sem, da ji je to dalo še več zagona

and she went after it again and again.

in streljala je spet in spet.

For three hours this went on.

In tako naslednje tri ure.

At the end of the practice, one of the archers

Ob koncu vadbe je bila ena od lokostrelk

was so taxed that she lied out on the ground

tako izmučena, da je legla na tla

just star-fished,

z vsemi štirimi od sebe,

her head looking up at the sky,

s pogledom v nebo

trying to find what T.S. Eliot might call

in iskala nekaj, kar bi T. S. Elliot mogoče poimenoval

that still point of the turning world.

tista nepremična točka vrtečega se sveta.

It's so rare in American culture,

To je postala redkost v ameriški kulturi, tako malo je še ostalo poklicnega,

there's so little that's vocational about it anymore,

to look at what doggedness looks like

videti, kaj pomeni zagrizenost

with this level of exactitude,

s tako mero natančnosti,

what it means to align your body posture

kaj pomeni držati se pokončno

for three hours in order to hit a target,

tri ure, da zadeneš tarčo,

pursuing a kind of excellence in obscurity.

in iskati neke vrste odličnost v neopaznosti.

But I stayed because I realized I was witnessing

A ostala sem zaradi spoznanja, da sem priča nečemu, kar redko vidimo,

what's so rare to glimpse,

that difference between success and mastery.

tisti razliki med uspehom in mojstrstvom.

So success is hitting that ten ring,

Uspeh je torej, da zadeneš desetko,

but mastery is knowing that it means nothing

mojstrstvo pa je vedenje, da to ne pomeni nič,

if you can't do it again and again.

če tega ne zmoreš storiti znova in znova.

Mastery is not just the same as excellence, though.

A mojstrstvo ni povsem enako odličnosti.

It's not the same as success,

Ni enako kot uspeh,

which I see as an event,

ki ga vidim kot dogodek,

a moment in time,

trenutek v času

and a label that the world confers upon you.

in oznako, ki ti jo podeli svet.

Mastery is not a commitment to a goal

Mojstrstvo ni zavezanost cilju,

but to a constant pursuit.

ampak stalnemu zasledovanju cilja.

What gets us to do this,

To, kar nas k temu pripravi

what get us to forward thrust more

in nas sili, da rinemo naprej, porinemo močneje,

is to value the near win.

je to, da cenimo skorajšnje zmage.

How many times have we designated something

Kolikokrat smo nekaj videli kot

a classic, a masterpiece even,

klasiko, celo mojstrovino,

while its creator considers it hopelessly unfinished,

medtem, ko je njen ustvarjalec videl le nekaj obupno nedokončanega,

riddled with difficulties and flaws,

prepredenega s težavami in napakami,

in other words, a near win?

z drugimi besedami, skorajšnjo zmago?

Elizabeth Murray surprised me

Elizabeth Murray me je presenetila

with her admission about her earlier paintings.

s svojim priznanjem glede svojih zgodnjih del.

Painter Paul Cézanne so often thought his works were incomplete

Slikar Paul Cézanne je pogosto ocenjeval svoja dela za nedokončana

that he would deliberately leave them aside

in jih namerno puščal ob strani,

with the intention of picking them back up again,

odločen, da se jih pozneje loti znova,

but at the end of his life,

a ob koncu njegovega življenja,

the result was that he had only signed

je bil rezultat to, da je podpisal

10 percent of his paintings.

le 10% svojih del.

His favorite novel was "The [Unknown] Masterpiece" by Honoré de Balzac,

Njegov najljubši roman je bil Balzacova 'Neznana mojstrovina',

and he felt the protagonist was the painter himself.

in čutil je, da je on sam junak tega romana.

Franz Kafka saw incompletion

Franz Kafka je videl nepopolnost,

when others would find only works to praise,

kjer so drugi našli le dela vredna pohvale,

so much so that he wanted all of his diaries,

do take mere, da je hotel, da vse njegove dnevnike,

manuscripts, letters and even sketches

rokopise, pisma in celo osnutke

burned upon his death.

zažgejo po njegovi smrti.

His friend refused to honor the request,

Njegov prijatelj ni hotel spoštovati njegove želje

and because of that, we now have all the works

in zato imamo danes vsa dela

we now do by Kafka:

Kafke, ki jih obravnavamo:

"America," "The Trial" and "The Castle,"

'Amerika', 'Proces' in 'Grad',

a work so incomplete it even stops mid-sentence.

slednje tako nedokončano, da se konča sredi stavka.

The pursuit of mastery, in other words,

Zasledovanje mojstrstva, z drugimi besedami,

is an ever-onward almost.

je skorajda neskončno početje.

"Lord, grant that I desire

"Bog, nakloni mi, da si želim

more than I can accomplish,"

več kot lahko dosežem,"

Michelangelo implored,

je moledoval Michelangelo,

as if to that Old Testament God on the Sistine Chapel,

kot bi govoril bogu Stare zaveze v Sikstinski kapeli

and he himself was that Adam

in kot da je on sam tisti Adam

with his finger outstretched

z iztegnjenim prstom,

and not quite touching that God's hand.

ki se nikoli ne more čisto dotakniti božje roke.

Mastery is in the reaching, not the arriving.

Mojstrstvo je v iztegovanju prsta, ne v dotiku.

It's in constantly wanting to close that gap

Je v stalni želji premostitve tiste vrzeli

between where you are and where you want to be.

med kjer si in kjer hočeš biti.

Mastery is about sacrificing for your craft

Mojstrstvo je v žrtvovanju za svoje delo

and not for the sake of crafting your career.

in ne za ustvarjanje kariere.

How many inventors and untold entrepreneurs

Koliko izumiteljev in nepoznanih podjetnikov živi ta pojav?

live out this phenomenon?

We see it even in the life

Opazimo ga celo v življenju

of the indomitable Arctic explorer Ben Saunders,

nepremagljivega arktičnega raziskovalca, Bena Saundersa,

who tells me that his triumphs

ki mi nekoč pove, da njegove zmage

are not merely the result

niso samo rezultat

of a grand achievement,

velikanskega dosežka,

but of the propulsion of a lineage of near wins.

ampak zagona, ki ga daje vrsta skorajšnjih zmag.

We thrive when we stay at our own leading edge.

Najboljši smo, ko smo na robu svojih zmogljivosti.

It's a wisdom understood by Duke Ellington,

To je modrost, ki jo je razumel Duke Ellington,

who said that his favorite song out of his repertoire

ki je rekel, da mu je od njegovih najljubša

was always the next one,

vedno tista naslednja pesem,

always the one he had yet to compose.

tista, ki jo je moral še napisati.

Part of the reason that the near win

Del razloga, da je skorajšnja zmaga

is inbuilt to mastery

vgrajena v mojstrstvo

is because the greater our proficiency,

je ta, da višje kot so naše sposobnosti,

the more clearly we might see

jasneje lahko vidimo,

that we don't know all that we thought we did.

da ne vemo vsega, kar smo mislili, da vemo.

It's called the Dunning–Kruger effect.

To je Dunning-Krugerjev efekt.

The Paris Review got it out of James Baldwin

Revija Paris Review ga je našla pri Jamesu Baldwinu,

when they asked him,

ko so ga vprašali:

"What do you think increases with knowledge?"

"Kaj mislite, da se veča z znanjem?"

and he said, "You learn how little you know."

In odgovoril je: "Spoznaš kako malo veš."

Success motivates us, but a near win

Uspeh nas motivira, ampak skorajšnja zmaga

can propel us in an ongoing quest.

nas lahko popelje na neskončno iskanje.

One of the most vivid examples of this comes

Enega najbolj živih primerov najdemo,

when we look at the difference

če pogledamo razlike

between Olympic silver medalists

med olimpijskimi dobitniki srebra

and bronze medalists after a competition.

ali brona po tekmovanju.

Thomas Gilovich and his team from Cornell

Thomas Gilovich in njegova ekipa z univerze Cornell,

studied this difference and found

so preučevali to razliko in ugotovili,

that the frustration silver medalists feel

da frustracija, ki jo čutijo drugouvrščeni

compared to bronze, who are typically a bit

v primerjavi z bronastimi, ki so navadno

more happy to have just not received fourth place

veseli že, da niso četrti

and not medaled at all,

in brez medalje,

gives silver medalists a focus

daje srebrnim olimpijcem zbranost

on follow-up competition.

na sledečih tekmah.

We see it even in the gambling industry

Opazimo jo tudi v industriji iger na srečo,

that once picked up on this phenomenon

ki je prepoznala pomen tega fenomena

of the near win

skorajšnje zmage

and created these scratch-off tickets

in ustvarila hipne srečke

that had a higher than average rate of near wins

z višjim povprečjem skorajšnjih dobitkov,

and so compelled people to buy more tickets

kar je ljudi tako sililo k nakupu,

that they were called heart-stoppers,

da so jih poimenovali 'srčni napad'

and were set on a gambling industry set of abuses

in so na seznamu zlorab s strani igralniške industrije

in Britain in the 1970s.

v Britaniji v sedemdesetih.

The reason the near win has a propulsion

Razlog za tak zagon skorajšnje zmage

is because it changes our view of the landscape

je v tem, da spremeni naš pogled

and puts our goals, which we tend to put

in premakne naše cilje, ki smo jih vajeni

at a distance, into more proximate vicinity

postavljati v daljavo, veliko bližje,

to where we stand.

tja kjer stojimo.

If I ask you to envision what a great day looks like next week,

Če vas prosim, da si zamislite, kakšen bi bil odličen dan drug teden,

you might describe it in more general terms.

bi ga opisali bolj na splošno.

But if I ask you to describe a great day at TED tomorrow,

Če pa vas vprašam, kako bi opisali super dan na TED jutri,

you might describe it with granular, practical clarity.

bi ga opisali s podrobno, praktično jasnostjo.

And this is what a near win does.

To je učinek skorajšnje zmage.

It gets us to focus on what, right now,

Zaradi nje se osredotočimo na tisto, kar bomo

we plan to do to address that mountain in our sights.

naredili, da osvojimo goro pred nami.

It's Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who in 1984

Leta 1984 je Jackie Joyner-Kersee

missed taking the gold in the heptathlon

zgrešila zlato v sedmeroboju

by one third of a second,

za tretjinko sekunde,

and her husband predicted that would give her

in njen mož je napovedal, da ji bo to dalo

the tenacity she needed in follow-up competition.

odločnost, ki jo je potrebovala za prihodnjo tekmo.

In 1988, she won the gold in the heptathlon

Leta 1988 je osvojila zlato v sedmeroboju

and set a record of 7,291 points,

in postavila rekord z 7.291 točkami,

a score that no athlete has come very close to since.

ki se mu do danes še niso približali.

We thrive not when we've done it all,

Zato sploh nismo najboljši, ko nam je uspelo,

but when we still have more to do.

ampak, ko moramo še veliko postoriti.

I stand here thinking and wondering

Tu sem in premišljujem

about all the different ways

o vseh različnih načinih,

that we might even manufacture a near win

s katerimi bi lahko morda proizvedli skorajšnjo zmago tukaj

in this room,

how your lives might play this out,

in kako bi vaša življenja to izkoristila,

because I think on some gut level we do know this.

saj menim, da nekje v sebi to že vsi vemo.

We know that we thrive when we stay

Vemo, da smo najboljši, ko ostanemo na meji svojih moči

at our own leading edge,

and it's why the deliberate incomplete

in zato je namerna nepopolnost

is inbuilt into creation myths.

vgrajena v mite o ustvarjanju.

In Navajo culture, some craftsmen and women

Pri Navajo Indijancih nekateri rokodelci in ženske

would deliberately put an imperfection

namenoma vdelajo napako

in textiles and ceramics.

v tekstil in keramiko.

It's what's called a spirit line,

Temu rečejo duhovna črta,

a deliberate flaw in the pattern

namerna napaka v vzorcu,

to give the weaver or maker a way out,

ki izdelovalcu nudi izhod,

but also a reason to continue making work.

hkrati pa razlog, da še naprej izdeluje.

Masters are not experts because they take

Mojstri niso strokovnjaki, ker slednji svoje delo pripeljejo do idejnega konca.

a subject to its conceptual end.

They're masters because they realize

Mojstri so zato, ker spoznajo, da tega sploh ni.

that there isn't one.

Now it occurred to me, as I thought about this,

Posvetilo se mi je, ko sem o tem razmišljala,

why the archery coach

zakaj mi je trener lokostrelstva

told me at the end of that practice,

ob koncu vadbe,

out of earshot of his archers,

tako da ni nihče mogel slišati,

that he and his colleagues never feel

rekel, da s svojimi kolegi vedno čuti,

they can do enough for their team,

kot da še niso naredili dovolj za moštvo,

never feel there are enough visualization techniques

da še ni dovolj vizualizacijskih tehnik

and posture drills to help them overcome

in treningov drže, da bi jim pomagali premagati

those constant near wins.

te stalne skorajšnje zmage.

It didn't sound like a complaint, exactly,

Ni bilo slišati kot prava pritožba,

but just a way to let me know,

ampak kot način, da mi pove

a kind of tender admission,

neke vrste nežno priznanje,

to remind me that he knew he was giving himself over

da me spomni, da se zaveda svoje predaje

to a voracious, unfinished path

tej nenasitni in nedokončani poti,

that always required more.

ki vedno zahteva več.

We build out of the unfinished idea,

Gradimo iz nedokončane ideje,

even if that idea is our former self.

četudi je ta ideja naš pretekli jaz.

This is the dynamic of mastery.

To je dinamika mojstrstva.

Coming close to what you thought you wanted

Približevati se tistemu, kar misliš, da hočeš,

can help you attain more than you ever dreamed

ti pomaga osvojiti več, kot si kdajkoli sanjal, da lahko.

you could.

It's what I have to imagine Elizabeth Murray

Mislim, da si je to morala misliti Elizabeth Murray,

was thinking when I saw her smiling

ko sem jo videla smehljati se

at those early paintings one day

tistim svojim zgodnjim slikam tedaj

in the galleries.

v galeriji.

Even if we created utopias, I believe

Tudi, če bi ustvarili utopije, mislim da bi še vedno imeli nepopolnost.

we would still have the incomplete.

Completion is a goal,

Dokončanje je cilj,

but we hope it is never the end.

a upamo, da ni nikoli tudi konec.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz.)