On excellence

“Excellence is an aesthetic: consistently showing up forces everyone else on the team to do the same.”
— Sam Gerstenzang, Four sayings that changed how we operate

Ad legend Bill Bernbach letter on creativity, written in 1947:

Dear ________:

Our agency is getting big. That’s something to be happy about. But it’s something to worry about, too, and I don’t mind telling you I’m damned worried. I’m worried that we’re going to fall into the trap of bigness, that we’re going to worship techniques instead of substance

“There are some painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are other painters who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.”
— Picasso

“Once I went to a new dentist and he said, “That crown is beautiful. Which dentist did it?“ Most people wouldn’t think dentistry is art. But there’s opportunity for je ne sais quoi in every field.”
— Wesk Kao, Turning a yellow spot into the sun

“Discipline is not a lack of freedom, it is a harmonious relationship with time.”
— Rick Rubin, The Creative Act