Slow
Excellence
The Choice
Fast Averageness
The Distraction
We use modern tools to know a little about a lot. We move fast, we ship often, but we master nothing.
Result: High activity, low depth.
Slow Excellence
The Nuance
The relentless, decades-long curiosity to do the same thing every day but find something new in it. It is loving something enough to want to teach it.
Result: Infinite durability.
Relentless Curiosity
For decades, Jiro Ono was considered the world’s greatest sushi chef. His restaurant held three Michelin stars despite being in a Tokyo subway station. Now 100 years old, when asked the secret to his longevity, he simply replies: “To work.”
But “work” for him isn’t just grinding. It is a relentless, decades-long curiosity. It is the discipline of doing the same thing every day—slicing the fish, pressing the rice—but refusing to go on autopilot.
The Power of Nuance
In an era of endless distraction, we often mistake variety for progress. We jump from tool to tool, seeking the new. But Slow Excellence is about finding the new within the old. It is about finding a new nuance in the craft you have practiced for years.
Whether you are studying the infinite intricacies of workplace feedback or refining your craft as a teacher, true mastery happens when you stop looking for shortcuts and start looking for depth. It is about loving something so much you want to teach it.
The Trap of Fast Averageness
We have more tools than ever to distract us, pushing us toward a path of “Fast Averageness.” We use AI and automation to speed up our output, but if we aren’t careful, we end up knowing a little about a lot while mastering nothing.
Slow Excellence is the resistance to that pull. It is the decision to slow down, to feel the resistance of the work, and to realize that the resistance itself contains the lesson.
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