NO PARALYSIS THROUGH ANALYSIS!
I’m currently reading Will Smith’s autobiography (I choose my books by what’s in the charity shop; it adds an enjoyably random element to my selections).
Before he gets all maudlin and woo-woo about Jada and the kids, there’s a lot of great stuff about how he came up from not much at all, won a Grammy, sold three million albums, hung out with drug dealers, and lost everything, and that was all before The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
The story of how that happened is quite amazing: he was invited to Quincy Jones’s birthday party, seemingly out of nowhere, but it was all a plan for him to audition spontaneously in front of all the party guests (including Steven Spielberg and the head of NBC) even though he had never acted before.
Long story short, it all turns out great, but what caught my eye was the point at which the audition had ended and everyone was impressed.
“Did you like it?” Quincy screamed aggressively at the head of NBC.
“Yes, yes, I liked it,’ he replied, keeping his cards close to his chest.
“Don’t give me that shit! You know what I’m talkin’ about! DID YOU LIKE IT?”
“Yes Quincy, I liked it.”
“You!” said Quincy to the guy’s lawyer. “Draw me up a deal memo right now!”
“Quincy, listen -“
“NO PARALYSIS THROUGH ANALYSIS! Draw me up a deal memo RIGHT NOW!”
And that is the story all about how Will’s life got flipped, turned upside-down.
I love that story so much because one man’s will (pardon the pun) and drive ensured that a massive hit happened and its star eventually became the world’s biggest movie star.
(Side note: I met Quincy Jones a few years ago, not long before he died. My son sat on his knee. Happy days. I also read his autobiography, and it’s a doozy.)
Anyway, NO PARALYSIS THROUGH ANALYSIS is the same message that Ed Catmull, one of the founders of Pixar, gives in Creativity Inc. (read books, kids!).
He says that if you’re faced with two mountains and you’re not sure which one to go up, don’t just stand there working out which is the perfect mountain; climb one of them. It might be the right one, and even if it isn’t, the action of climbing it will serve you far better than just standing around analysing a choice that will never be exactly right.
In other words, don’t let perfect be the enemy of great. In other other words, momentum counts for a lot. Inertia is a powerful force, so it’s always better to get moving, to be in action.
If it’s good enough for Quincy fucking Jones, it’s good enough for you.