In a recent conversation with a close friend, I had mentioned the stubbornness of my father as he approaches 80 and he turned to me and said, “Well, you’re stubborn too.” I was taken aback by that, but it got me thinking. I don’t believe I’m stubborn personally because I’ve been known throughout my life to be a good listener and take others’ positions into account. But. . . when it comes to my standards regarding my creativity and work ethic, I know I’m as stubborn as they come. And in my mind, that is good.
If you ever listen to Tony Robbins speak, one of his core principles is that you can’t make effective change in yourself until you raise your standards. Michael Jordan told him that’s how he reached his level of excellence, by living up to his own standards and not being concerned with comparing himself to others.
When I started as an editor back in 1993, the equipment was pre-digital. Editing was done tape to tape and because this was more of a “mechanical” process, there’s always a chance of video tape “slipping” one or two frames in between edits. Usually these slips are barely perceptible because it is 2/30 of a second. Even though my boss often told me not to worry about it, my standards in my work were so high, I wanted to be accurate and often used my lunch break to work on cuts until they were right.
Standards can also be raised in the presence of people with even higher standards than yours. My first time working a live event running tapes at a Hadassah National Convention in Los Angeles was where my standards reached a new level. The Technical Director was young, very intense and always had a cup of espresso in his hand. When we did our first technical rehearsal and I didn’t have frame accurate TRT’s (Total Running Times) for the tapes with count downs, he pulled me aside and went into a caffeine fueled rage about the importance of having every second accounted for in live production. First this scared me, then depressed me for coming up short to his standards, then moved me to grow. After rehearsal, I left the hotel and scoured the streets for a Radio Shack and bought a pocket count up/count down timer. I spent that evening timing every tape and practicing perfect countdowns to starts and ends of programs. When I called those times over my headset as I ran tapes for the live events, everything ran flawlessly. The Technical Director thanked me for doing such a great job and I thanked him for helping me step up.
This creative stubbornness also connects to tapping my resourcefulness to achieve the outcome I need. Back to Tony Robbins, he always advises if something doesn’t work, change your approach and keep doing that until you’ve achieved your outcome. “How long do you give a baby to learn to walk until you just give up and say forget it?” You don’t, and you shouldn’t give up if something doesn’t work the first two or three or ten tries! You can’t say you’ve tried “everything” because if you did, you would have what you want.
It amazes me how many things I see get overlooked. From Photoshop errors on a café wall mural in Hungary to misspellings on television graphics to a Macy’s print ad with four models side by side and the third one floating, holding a Macy’s bag with no legs! Everyone from the designer, to the art director to the proofer to the printer missed that! Where are the standards? Is just good enough, good enough? Not for this stubborn cinematic craftsman.
When I was a camera operator for the Tribeca Film Festival, I didn’t think twice about wearing a suit and tie because that was my standard for professional dress knowing I would be interacting with event coordinators, security and celebrities as well as representing the Tribeca Film Institute. Despite the odd looks from my more “casually dressed” colleagues, the festival producers treated me with respect and I was often mistaken for a speaker or panelist at many of the events I went to shoot.
From picking a piece of music for a project, getting a motion graphic to work just right or bringing out the most natural and honest delivery from whomever I’m shooting, if my name is associated with a video or graphic design, I will expect nothing less than outstanding from myself. And neither should you. Be stubborn about your standards and you’ll see unlimited growth and possibilities.
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