The New Yorker magazine is famous for its cartoons. Drew Dernavich has been one of its top contributors over the past two decades. He’s probably been called some variant of talented genius many times.
So, I loved this picture of his desk just as he was submitting a new cartoon.
Drew’s daily practice/process: Lots of attempts -> many crappy ideas and stumbles -> reflection and learning -> more attempts -> eventual success.
One interpretation is that even a “talented genius” can’t escape the process.
The other is that we may have gotten the direction of causality all wrong. It is probably that commitment to the process that makes someone a talented genius.
(H/T: The Practice by Seth Godin)
