Sarah Lewis: Embrace the near win

Prevodilac: Davor Altman Lektor: Mile Živković

I feel so fortunate that my first job

Osećam se srećnom što je moj prvi posao

was working at the Museum of Modern Art

bio u Muzeju moderne umetnosti

on a retrospective of painter Elizabeth Murray.

na retrospektivi slikarke Elizabet Mari.

I learned so much from her.

Naučila sam veoma mnogo od nje.

After the curator Robert Storr

Nakon što je kustos Robert Stor

selected all the paintings

odabrao sve slike

from her lifetime body of work,

koje je za života naslikala,

I loved looking at the paintings from the 1970s.

volela sam da gledam slike iz 1970-ih godina.

There were some motifs and elements

Bilo je nekih motiva i elemenata

that would come up again later in her life.

koji će se opet pojaviti kasnije u njenom životu.

I remember asking her

Sećam se da sam je pitala

what she thought of those early works.

šta misli o tim svojim ranijim radovima.

If you didn't know they were hers,

Da niste znali da su njeni,

you might not have been able to guess.

verovatno ne biste mogli da pogodite.

She told me that a few didn't quite meet

Rekla mi je da nekolicina nije u potpunosti ispoljila

her own mark for what she wanted them to be.

njen lični pečat onako kako je to želela.

One of the works, in fact,

Jedno delo, u stvari,

so didn't meet her mark,

tako nije ispoljilo njen pečat,

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

da ga je bacila u kantu u svom studiju,

and her neighbor had taken it

i njena komšinica ga je uzela

because she saw its value.

jer je uvidela njegovu vrednost.

In that moment, my view of success

U tom trenutku, moj pogled na uspeh

and creativity changed.

i kreativnost se promenio.

I realized that success is a moment,

Shvatila sam da je uspeh jedan trenutak,

but what we're always celebrating

ali ono što stalno slavimo

is creativity and mastery.

su kreativnost i majstorstvo.

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

Ali stvar je u ovome: šta je to što nas podstiče da uspeh pretvorimo

into mastery?

u majstorstvo?

This is a question I've long asked myself.

Ovo je pitanje koje sam sebi dugo postavljala.

I think it comes when we start to value

Mislim da to dolazi kada počnemo da cenimo

the gift of a near win.

poklon izmaknute pobede.

I started to understand this when I went

Počela sam da razumem ovo kada sam otišla

on one cold May day

jednog hladnog majskog dana

to watch a set of varsity archers,

da gledam koledž tim strelaca,

all women as fate would have it,

sve žene, tako je sudbina htela,

at the northern tip of Manhattan

na severnom vrhu Menhetna

at Columbia's Baker Athletics Complex.

u Bejker sportskom kompleksu Kolumbije.

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

Želela sam da vidim ono što se zove paradoks strelaca,

the idea that in order to actually hit your target,

ideja da bi uopšte pogodio metu,

you have to aim at something slightly skew from it.

moraš da ciljaš u nešto blago iskosa od mete.

I stood and watched as the coach

Stajala sam i posmatrala kako trener

drove up these women in this gray van,

dovozi ove žene u sivom kombiju,

and they exited with this kind of relaxed focus.

i izlazile su sa tim nekim opuštenim fokusom.

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

Jedna je držala polu-pojeden sladoled u jednoj ruci

and arrows in the left with yellow fletching.

i strele u levoj sa žutim krilcem.

And they passed me and smiled,

Prošle su me i nasmejale se,

but they sized me up as they

ali su me odmerile dok su

made their way to the turf,

prolazile do terena

and spoke to each other not with words

i pričale jedna sa drugom ali ne rečima

but with numbers, degrees, I thought,

nego brojevima, uglovima, pomislila sam,

positions for how they might plan

pozicijama kojima možda planiraju

to hit their target.

da pogode svoju metu.

I stood behind one archer as her coach

Stala sam iza jedne strelkinje dok je njen trener

stood in between us to maybe assess

stajao između nas kako bi možda procenio

who might need support, and watched her,

kome bi mogla biti potrebna pomoć, i posmatrala sam je

and I didn't understand how even one

i nije mi bilo jasno kako će ijedna

was going to hit the ten ring.

pogoditi centralni krug.

The ten ring from the standard 75-yard distance,

Centralni krug sa standardne daljine od 68.5 metara,

it looks as small as a matchstick tip

izgleda sitno kao vrh šibice

held out at arm's length.

koja se drži na dužini ruke.

And this is while holding 50 pounds of draw weight

I sve to dok drži 23kg vučne težine

on each shot.

pri svakom hicu.

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

Prvo je pogodila sedam, sećam se, potom devet,

and then two tens,

a onda dve desetke,

and then the next arrow

a onda sledeća strela

didn't even hit the target.

nije čak ni pogodila metu.

And I saw that gave her more tenacity,

Videla sam da joj je to dalo još istrajnosti,

and she went after it again and again.

i pokušala je ponovo i ponovo.

For three hours this went on.

Ovo je trajalo tri sata.

At the end of the practice, one of the archers

Na kraju treninga, jedna od strelkinja

was so taxed that she lied out on the ground

je bila toliko opterećena da je legla na zemlju

just star-fished,

jednostavno raskrečeno,

her head looking up at the sky,

glavom gledajući ka nebu,

trying to find what T.S. Eliot might call

pokušavajući da shvati ono što bi T.S. Eliot nazvao

that still point of the turning world.

onom mirnom tačkom sveta koji se okreće.

It's so rare in American culture,

Retkost je u američkoj kulturi,

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

tako je malo stručnosti u tome sada,

to look at what doggedness looks like

gledati kako upornost izgleda

with this level of exactitude,

sa ovim nivoom preciznosti,

what it means to align your body posture

šta znači ispraviti stav tela

for three hours in order to hit a target,

tri sata kako bi pogodio metu,

pursuing a kind of excellence in obscurity.

tražeći takvo savršenstvo u tami.

But I stayed because I realized I was witnessing

Ali ostala sam jer sam shvatila da sam svedok

what's so rare to glimpse,

nečega što se jako retko vidi,

that difference between success and mastery.

te razlike između uspeha i majstorstva.

So success is hitting that ten ring,

Dakle, uspeh je pogoditi centralni krug,

but mastery is knowing that it means nothing

ali majstorstvo je znati da to ne znači ništa

if you can't do it again and again.

ako ne možete to da uradite ponovo i ponovo.

Mastery is not just the same as excellence, though.

Majstorstvo ipak nije isto što i savršenstvo.

It's not the same as success,

Nije isto što i uspeh,

which I see as an event,

što mogu da vidim kao događaj,

a moment in time,

momenat u vremenu

and a label that the world confers upon you.

i etiketu koju ti svet dodeli.

Mastery is not a commitment to a goal

Majstorstvo nije posvećenost cilju,

but to a constant pursuit.

već konstantnom traženju.

What gets us to do this,

Ono što nas pokreće da to radimo,

what get us to forward thrust more

što nas tera da stalno guramo napred

is to value the near win.

je to da cenimo izmaknutu pobedu.

How many times have we designated something

Koliko smo puta označili nešto

a classic, a masterpiece even,

kao klasik, čak remek-delo,

while its creator considers it hopelessly unfinished,

dok njegov kreator smatra da je to beznadežno nedovršeno,

riddled with difficulties and flaws,

prepuno teškoća i mana,

in other words, a near win?

drugim rečima, izmaknuta pobeda?

Elizabeth Murray surprised me

Elizabet Mari me je iznenadila

with her admission about her earlier paintings.

svojim pristupom prema svojim ranim slikama.

Painter Paul Cézanne so often thought his works were incomplete

Slikar Pol Sezan je često mislio da su njegova dela nedovršena

that he would deliberately leave them aside

da bi ih namerno ostavio po strani

with the intention of picking them back up again,

sa namerom da im se ponovo vrati,

but at the end of his life,

ali na kraju svog života,

the result was that he had only signed

rezultat je bio da je samo potpisao

10 percent of his paintings.

10 posto svojih slika.

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

Njegov omiljeni roman bio je "Nepoznato Remek-delo" Onore de Balzaka,

and he felt the protagonist was the painter himself.

i on je osećao da je glavni lik sam slikar.

Franz Kafka saw incompletion

Franc Kafka je video nedovršenost

when others would find only works to praise,

kada su drugi videli samo dela za pohvalu,

so much so that he wanted all of his diaries,

toliko, da je želeo da svi njegovi dnevnici,

manuscripts, letters and even sketches

rukopisi, pisma pa čak i skice

burned upon his death.

budu spaljeni nakon njegove smrti.

His friend refused to honor the request,

Njegov prijatelj je odbio da uvaži zahtev,

and because of that, we now have all the works

i zbog toga, sada imamo sva dela

we now do by Kafka:

koja imamo od Kafke:

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

"Ameriku", "Proces" i "Zamak",

a work so incomplete it even stops mid-sentence.

dela toliko nedovršena da se prekidaju na pola rečenice.

The pursuit of mastery, in other words,

Potraga za majstorstvom, drugim rečima,

is an ever-onward almost.

je stalno napredovanje za skoro.

"Lord, grant that I desire

"Bože, podari mi da želim

more than I can accomplish,"

više nego što mogu da postignem",

Michelangelo implored,

Mikelanđelio je preklinjao,

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

kao onom bogu Starog zaveta na Sikstinskoj kapeli,

and he himself was that Adam

a on je sam bio taj Adam

with his finger outstretched

sa svojim prstima ispruženim

and not quite touching that God's hand.

i ne baš dodirujući tu božju ruku.

Mastery is in the reaching, not the arriving.

Majstorstvo je u dosezanju, ne u dolasku.

It's in constantly wanting to close that gap

Ono je u stalnoj želji da se zatvori ta rupa

between where you are and where you want to be.

između toga gde ste sada i gde biste želeli da budete.

Mastery is about sacrificing for your craft

Majstorstvo se nalazi u žrtvovanju zarad svoje veštine,

and not for the sake of crafting your career.

a ne zarad karijere kroz veštinu.

How many inventors and untold entrepreneurs

Koliko izumitelja i neznanih preduzetnika

live out this phenomenon?

živi ovaj fenomen?

We see it even in the life

Vidimo ga čak i u životu

of the indomitable Arctic explorer Ben Saunders,

neukrotivog arktičkog istražitelja Bena Sandersa,

who tells me that his triumphs

koji mi kaže da njegovi trijumfi

are not merely the result

nisu samo rezultat

of a grand achievement,

velikog dostignuća,

but of the propulsion of a lineage of near wins.

već nagona loze izmaknutih pobeda.

We thrive when we stay at our own leading edge.

Napredujemo kada se držimo van naše prednje ivice.

It's a wisdom understood by Duke Ellington,

To je mudrost koju je razumeo Djuk Elington,

who said that his favorite song out of his repertoire

koji je rekao da mu je omiljena pesma iz njegovog repertoara

was always the next one,

uvek bila ona sledeća,

always the one he had yet to compose.

uvek ona koju je tek trebalo da komponuje.

Part of the reason that the near win

Deo razloga zašto je izmaknuta pobeda

is inbuilt to mastery

ugrađena u majstorstvo

is because the greater our proficiency,

je zato što, što je naše znanje veće,

the more clearly we might see

to jasnije možemo videti

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

da ne znamo sve ono što smo mislili da znamo.

It's called the Dunning–Kruger effect.

To se zove naziva efektom Daning-Kruger.

The Paris Review got it out of James Baldwin

Paris Rivju je to dobio od Džejmsa Boldvina

when they asked him,

kada su ga pitali:

"What do you think increases with knowledge?"

"Šta misliš da se povećava sa znanjem"?

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

a on je rekao: "Saznaješ kako malo znaš".

Success motivates us, but a near win

Uspeh nas motiviše, ali izmaknuta pobeda

can propel us in an ongoing quest.

može da nas pokrene na dugotrajnu potragu.

One of the most vivid examples of this comes

Jedan od najživopisnijih primera ovoga dolazi

when we look at the difference

kada vidimo razliku između

between Olympic silver medalists

osvajača olimpijske srebrne medalje

and bronze medalists after a competition.

i bronzane medalje nakon takmičenja.

Thomas Gilovich and his team from Cornell

Tomas Gilovič i njegov tim sa Kornela

studied this difference and found

proučavali su ovu razliku i otkrili su

that the frustration silver medalists feel

da frustracija koju osećaju osvajači srebrne medalje

compared to bronze, who are typically a bit

upoređena sa osvajačima bronzane, koji su uglavnom

more happy to have just not received fourth place

nešto srećniji što nisu osvojili četvrto mesto

and not medaled at all,

i ostali bez medalje,

gives silver medalists a focus

daje osvajačima srebrne medalje fokus

on follow-up competition.

na narednom takmičenju.

We see it even in the gambling industry

Vidimo to čak i u kockarskoj industriji

that once picked up on this phenomenon

koja je jednom pokupila ovaj fenomen

of the near win

izmaknute pobede

and created these scratch-off tickets

i napravila te greb-greb kartice

that had a higher than average rate of near wins

koje su imale veću nego obično šansu za izmaknutu pobedu

and so compelled people to buy more tickets

i tako su prisilili ljude da kupe više kartica

that they were called heart-stoppers,

da su ih zvali izazivačima infarkta,

and were set on a gambling industry set of abuses

i bili su postavljeni u kockarskoj industriji zloupotrebe

in Britain in the 1970s.

u Britaniji 1970-ih.

The reason the near win has a propulsion

Razlog zašto izmakla pobeda ima nagon

is because it changes our view of the landscape

je zato što menja naš pogled na pejzaž

and puts our goals, which we tend to put

i postavlja naše ciljeve, koje imamo tendenciju da postavimo

at a distance, into more proximate vicinity

u daljinu, u neposrednu blizinu

to where we stand.

naše lokacije.

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

Ako bih vam tražila da zamislite kako izgleda odličan dan sledeće nedelje,

you might describe it in more general terms.

možda biste ga opisali u okvirnim crtama.

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

Ali ako bih vam tražila da opišete odličan dan na TEDu sutra,

you might describe it with granular, practical clarity.

možda biste ga opisali sa sitnom, realnom jasnoćom.

And this is what a near win does.

Ovo je ono što radi izmakla pobeda.

It gets us to focus on what, right now,

Tera nas da se fokusiramo na to šta upravo sada

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

planiramo da uradimo da se sukobimo s onom planinom u našem vidiku.

It's Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who in 1984

Bila je to Džeki Džojner-Kersi, koja je 1984.

missed taking the gold in the heptathlon

propustila da osvoji zlato u sedmoboju

by one third of a second,

za jednu trećinu sekunde,

and her husband predicted that would give her

i njen muž je predvideo da će joj to dati

the tenacity she needed in follow-up competition.

istrajnost koja joj je bila potrebna na narednom takmičenju.

In 1988, she won the gold in the heptathlon

1988, osvojila je zlato u sedmoboju

and set a record of 7,291 points,

i postavila rekord od 7291 poena,

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

rezultat kojem nijedan sportista nije prišao blizu od tada.

We thrive not when we've done it all,

Napredujemo ne kada smo uradili sve,

but when we still have more to do.

nego kada imamo još da uradimo.

I stand here thinking and wondering

Stojim ovde misleći i pitajući se

about all the different ways

o svim različitim načinima

that we might even manufacture a near win

kako bismo mogli da proizvedemo izmaknutu pobedu

in this room,

u ovoj sobi,

how your lives might play this out,

kako bi vaši životi mogli da se odigraju,

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

zato što mislim da negde duboko u sebi ovo znamo.

We know that we thrive when we stay

Znamo da napredujemo kada ostajemo

at our own leading edge,

na našoj prednjoj ivici,

and it's why the deliberate incomplete

i zato je namerno nedovršeno

is inbuilt into creation myths.

usađeno u mitove stvaranja.

In Navajo culture, some craftsmen and women

U Navaho kulturi, neke zanatlije i žene

would deliberately put an imperfection

bi namerno ostavili nesavršenosti

in textiles and ceramics.

u tekstilu i keramici.

It's what's called a spirit line,

To se zove linija duha,

a deliberate flaw in the pattern

namerna greška u šablonu

to give the weaver or maker a way out,

kako bi dala tkaču ili stvaraocu izlaz,

but also a reason to continue making work.

ali takođe i razlog da nastavi sa radom.

Masters are not experts because they take

Majstori nisu eksperti zato što uzimaju

a subject to its conceptual end.

predmet do svog konceptualnog kraja.

They're masters because they realize

Oni su majstori jer shvataju

that there isn't one.

da nema istog.

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

Dok sam razmišljala o ovome, sinulo mi je

why the archery coach

zašto mi je streličarski trener

told me at the end of that practice,

rekao na kraju treninga,

out of earshot of his archers,

da čuju i njegovi strelci,

that he and his colleagues never feel

kako on i njegove kolege nikada ne osećaju

they can do enough for their team,

da mogu dovoljno da učine za svoj tim,

never feel there are enough visualization techniques

nikada ne osećaju da ima dovoljno vizuelnih tehnika

and posture drills to help them overcome

i vežbi stava da im pomognu da prevaziđu

those constant near wins.

te konstantne izmaknute pobede.

It didn't sound like a complaint, exactly,

Nije baš zvučalo kao žalba,

but just a way to let me know,

već kao način da mi kaže,

a kind of tender admission,

kao blag pristup,

to remind me that he knew he was giving himself over

da me podseti da je on znao da je davao sebe

to a voracious, unfinished path

proždrljivom, nezavršenom putu

that always required more.

koji je uvek zahtevao više.

We build out of the unfinished idea,

Mi gradimo na nezavršenoj ideji,

even if that idea is our former self.

čak iako je to ideja pređašnjeg sebe.

This is the dynamic of mastery.

Ovo je dinamika majstorstva.

Coming close to what you thought you wanted

Biti blizu onoga što si mislio da želiš

can help you attain more than you ever dreamed

može da ti pomogne da postigneš više

nego što si ikad sanjao da bi mogao.

you could.

It's what I have to imagine Elizabeth Murray

To je ono što zamišljam da je Elizabet Mari

was thinking when I saw her smiling

mislila kada sam je videla da se osmehuje

at those early paintings one day

onim prvim slikama jednog dana

in the galleries.

u galeriji.

Even if we created utopias, I believe

Čak iako bismo napravili utopije,

we would still have the incomplete.

verujem da bismo i dalje imali nezavršeno.

Completion is a goal,

Završetak je cilj,

but we hope it is never the end.

ali se nadamo da nikada nije kraj.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Aplauz)

(Applause)