You Have To Put The Work In

"Talent is never enough. With few exceptions, the best players are the hardest worker." - Magic Johnson

Once after speaking at a conference, a young designer approached me with a career development question I hear a lot. 

"Hi, I'm about to graduate. I feel like I have the basics down, but how do I use my talent to become a great designer?" 

I paused briefly and replied, "You just have to do more design." We continued chatting for a few minutes, but I always thought he missed my point because he insisted that he focus on his portfolio and learning more tools. Looking back, I wish I had this quote from former Rocket's coach Jeff Van Gundy handy during that conversation.

“I crack up,” Van Gundy said. “(Media) always say it. Players always say it. Players, when they’re losing, say, ‘I don’t understand why we’re losing. We got a lot of talent.’ Obviously, if you’re one of the top 400 in your profession in the whole world, you have a lot of talent. Obviously. Unfortunately, so does the competition.

“So what separates teams is not talent, it’s habits. Whatever habits you have will come out. What you’re constantly trying to do as a coach is create habits that are winning habits...What loses are turnovers, bad shots, poor containment of the ball, (not) helping on defense, not rebounding, lack of poise under pressure. There’s a lot. Not one of them is decided in this league … on talent. ‘We got out-talented tonight. We don’t have enough talent.’ What does that mean? We didn’t have enough production. This is a production-oriented business, as are most.”

“I don’t understand this obsession with talent." - Houston Chronicle 10/04/2004

Coach Van Gundy's advice makes just as much sense for business professionals as it does for athletes because everyone wants to win, and no one wants to consider themselves average. The reality I wish I had communicated to that younger designer is that you can't think your way to success. No matter if it's academics, sports, business, or entertainment, the most successful people put in the most work. They commit to putting in hard work when no one is watching, and when they reach a certain level of success, they don't stop. They find new ways to challenge themselves because when they stop, the world catches up.

The world is constantly evolving, and the thing that stands between anyone and their goal is understanding that you can't expect above average results from an average effort.