Brain Food #639

Getting from here to there with water in your hands

Thoughts of the day

It is often tempting to look at successful people and think they have done it all by themselves. But then it takes only one look at their creative process to understand that the result is thanks to a team. The process is long, and the execution of an idea can seem impossible.

Aaron Sorkin, one of America’s most celebrated screenwriters, described this as ‘walking with water in your hands.’ But with the right people, that water can turn to champagne, as long as we are willing to let the idea grow, as long as we share it with those people generously, while being ready to change our minds.

“You start with a feeling about an interesting workplace, whether it’s a cable newsroom or the White House. Getting that feeling, that idea, from your head to the page to the screen is like trying to walk from here to there with water in your hands. By the time you get to there, there’s not going to be much water left. But every once in a while, if you collaborate with great people, not only do you get from here to there with a lot of that water left, it turns into champagne by the time you’ve done it.”