“For anyone who is a parent, it’s a must. It’s a must because your children—and you—forget everything. Within a few years, they’ll forget things that you think they should remember for the rest of their lives. They’ll only remember it if it’s reinforced. I’m a real family man, so I really love every birthday. I’ll tell my kids, because they forget by the next year, what their first years were like. I’ll just read through the journal entries, and it blows them away. Or they’ll say: ‘Hey, we should go camping again.’ I go, ‘Camping? Oh yeah, remember that time we went camping and I put the tent in the backyard and it had electricity going through? We had fans, and we were watching Jonny Quest and we were playing. . . . I must have a journal on that, and I must have video.’ So year by year, I just search ‘camping.’ ‘Oh, May 4, 1999. We went camping. It’s on tape 25.’ I go find the tape and show it to them. After I’d show them the tape, they didn’t have to go camping again. They just relived it. . . .
“[Or] you ask your girlfriend or your wife, ‘What did we do last year on your birthday?’ They won’t remember. A year goes by and you will not remember the details. You go back and you see the journals, it’s even better the second time. You live through it again and you realize the importance of it.”
You Don’t Need to Know. Trust Comes First.
Robert has many different “jobs” and doesn’t view creativity as job-specific. It’s a meta-skill. He routinely plays guitar on set and invites master painters to set to teach the actors during breaks. He believes that if you develop creativity, trust and getting started often take care of the rest:
“The technical part of any job is 10%. 90% is creativity. If you already know how to be creative, you’ve kind of got the battle half beat, [because] you don’t need to know. You don’t need to know what note specifically you’re going to play when you get on stage and do your solo.
“Everybody will ask, what did you just play? And you’re going to go, ‘I don’t know.’ I asked Jimmie Vaughan: ‘How do you know what you’re playing just now?’ ‘I don’t even know what I played.’ . . . Ask any of the greats. I studied under a painter, Sebastian Krüger. I went all the way to Germany to watch him paint, to figure out his trick. How does he do it? Because I tried to do what he did, and it looked like garbage. He must have a special brush. He must have special paint and a special technique. So, I go and now, he starts with a mid tone, starts knocking in some highlights, a little bit on the chin, and then he goes to the eye. I ask, ‘How do you know where to go next?’ He says, ‘Oh, I never know. It’s different every time.’
“That drives me bonkers. ‘What do you mean? How come I can’t do that?’ and I’d go sit down, and suddenly I could do it. It blows you away. So I take those lessons back and I teach my actors that. I teach my crew that. You don’t need to know.”
TIM: “Sorry to pause, but this is so fascinating to me. So what clicked? What was the realization when you sat down and suddenly . . . ?”
ROBERT: “You get it in your own way—thinking that you needed to know something, a trick or a process, before it would flow. If you got out of the way, it would just flow. What gives you permission to let it flow? Sometimes if you take 4 years of schooling or you study under somebody, then you’ve suddenly given yourself permission to let it flow. . . .
“You’re just opening up the pipe and the creativity flows through. And as soon as your ego gets in the way, and you go, ‘I don’t know if I know what to do next’ you’ve already put ‘I’ in front of it and you’ve already blocked it a little bit. ‘I did it once, but I don’t know if I can do it again.’ It was never you. The best you can do is just to get out of the way so it comes through.
“When an actor comes to me and he says, ‘I’m not sure I know how to play this part,’ I say, ‘That’s beautiful because the other half’s gonna show up when we’re there.’ They say knowing’s half the battle. I think the most important is the other part—not knowing what’s going to happen but trusting that it will be there when you put the brush up to the canvas. It’s going to know where to go.”
TIM: “So the trust comes first.”
ROBERT: “The trust comes first.”
Lessons from Daily Cartooning
While at the University of Texas, Robert produced a comic strip called Los Hooligans:
“I used to come home and I’d have to do a strip a day, and it might take 3 or 4 hours. I would sometimes not feel like facing the blank page, so I would go lie down and try and figure out if I could create this method, where I could stare at the ceiling and it will just appear, fully formed, and then I could go and draw it. I never could get that to work. I’d be running out of time. I’d run back to the table, and I’d realize the only way to do it was by drawing. You’d have to draw and draw and draw. Then one drawing would be kind of funny or cool. ‘That one’s kind of neat. This one kind of goes with that.’ Then you draw a couple of filler-ups and that’s how it would be created. You had to actually move.
“I applied that to all my other work: filmmaking and everything. Even if I didn’t know what to do, I just had to begin. For a lot of people, that’s the part that keeps them back the most. They think, ‘Well, I don’t have an idea, so I can’t start.’ I know you’ll only get the idea once you start. It’s this totally reverse thing. You have to act first before inspiration will hit. You don’t wait for inspiration and then act, or you’re never going to act, because you’re never going to have the inspiration, not consistently.”
TF: This is also how Kevin Kelly (page 470) writes, and the sentiment reminds me of Rolf Potts (page 362): “The simple willingness to improvise is more vital, in the long run, than research.”
Even the Pros Don’t Know
“[On The Director’s Chair, Robert Zemeckis said] he thought he was making the worst movie ever in Forrest Gump . . . or that he was so punchy in Back to the Future [that] he almost cut the ‘Johnny B. Goode’ sequence because he thought, ‘Well, it doesn’t really fit. I’m going to cut it before we even preview it.’”
TIM: “That’s when his editor was like, ‘Just leave it in for the screening.’”
ROBERT: “Let’s just preview it. . . . He said, ‘We couldn’t peel people off the ceiling.’ You never know. It shows that you don’t know. I want people to hear those stories because when you feel like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I’m doing it right. These other guys seem to know.’ No, they don’t know. None of them know. That’s the beauty of it. You don’t have to know. You just have to keep moving forward.”
More on Creativity
“When people say: ‘You do so many things. You’re a musician, you’re a painter, you’re a composer, you’re a cinematographer, you’re the editor. You do so many different things.’ I go, ‘No, I only do one thing. I live a creative life. When you put creativity in everything, everything becomes available to you.’ . . .
“[If] I’m going to get into this character’s head, maybe I’ll paint him first and see what he looks like visually, or musically [figure out] what he sounds like. You can work completely nonlinear that way.
“How you journal things, how you cross reference, how you present things, how you inspire your crew, how you inspire other people around you, how you inspire yourself—it’s all creative. And if you say you’re not creative, look at how much you’re missing out on just because you’ve told yourself that. I think creativity is one of the greatest gifts that we’re born with that some people don’t cultivate, that they don’t realize it could be applied to literally everything in their lives.”
His Pitch to Frank Miller to Get Rights for Sin City
“I went to Frank Miller, and I showed him this test I did for Sin City [based on the graphic novels]. I said, ‘I know what it’s like to create original characters and to not trust Hollywood, but this isn’t Hollywood. This is something totally different. I made this on my own, and I’m going to offer you a deal. How about I write the screenplay, and
it will be unremarkable, because I’m going to copy it right out of your books. It’s November. I’ll have the screenplay by December. We’ll go shoot a test in January. I’ll have some actor friends come down. We’ll shoot [the opening scene], I’ll cut it. You’ll be there, you’ll direct with me. I’ll do the effects, I’ll do the score, I’ll do the fake title sequence with all the actors we want to be in it [e.g., Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke]. . . . And if you like what you see, we’ll make a deal for the rights, and then we’ll make the movie. If you don’t like it, you keep it as a short film you can show your friends.’”
Funny Quote from His Kids
“That’s what my kids always say, ‘Dad’s not cheating. It’s just creative sportsmanship,’ when I beat them at a game because I bent some rule in my favor. They’re entertained by that. They don’t feel bad. They actually look forward to how I’m going to bend the rules.”
Start with Why
Robert’s most-gifted book is Start with Why by Simon Sinek.
“I realized better what I was doing when I read that book, and I gave it to people to show them how to clarify what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong.
“It’s a very simple approach that they should take every day. [For instance] if you go to an actor and say, ‘Hey, I’m a filmmaker and I’m making a low-budget movie, and I kind of need your name as a marquee to help sell it. I can’t pay you very much, and it’s going to be probably a lot of work, but if you want to be in it . . .’ you’re thinking about only yourself. And [the answer will be]: ‘No, get the hell out of here’ because all you’re talking about is what you do and how you do it, which is: I make low-budget movies. Yeah, so what? It means you’ve got no money.
“Instead, I always start with a why. I go to them [and say], ‘I love what you do. I’ve always been a big fan. I’ve got a part that you would never get. I believe in creative freedom. I don’t work with the studios. I work independently. I’m the boss there. It’s just me and my crew. It’s very creative. Ask any of your actor friends. They’ll say: Go have that experience.
“‘You’re just going to feel so invigorated. I shoot very quickly. Robert De Niro did Machete in 4 days. I’m going to shoot you out in 4 days. You’ll be on your next movie for 6 months. You’re on my movie for 4 days, and it’s going to be the most fun you’ve ever had, and you’ll probably get great reviews.
“‘Your performance is going to be really free, because I’m going to give you that freedom. That’s why I do it. How do I do it? Well, I work very independently. I have very few people on my crew, we all do multiple jobs. We do it with less money, so that we have more freedom. What is it I do? I’m an independent filmmaker. Do you want to come make this movie?’ They’re like, ‘Yes.’ Because it’s all about what they can do and how it’s going to fulfill them.”
You Never Have to Be Upset About Anything
Robert recounted a conversation with his son, who was extremely upset:
“I said, ‘I’m going to tell you a secret in life: You never have to be upset about anything. Everything is for a purpose. You just failed your driver’s test, and you’re all pissed off. I couldn’t be happier. I’d rather you fail with a teacher and take it 100 more times than go fail in front of a cop, or make that same mistake and hit somebody. . . . I can’t even think of a negative reason why you failing that test is a bad thing. It’s really how you look at it, and the way you look at it is so important. If you can have a positive attitude, look at it, and say, “Let me see, what I can learn from this?” . . . Why would you ever get upset about anything?’ And he said, ‘Wow. That makes so much sense.’ You’re upset because something didn’t go according to plan? It might be for a good reason.”
“Good”
by Jocko Willink, retired Navy SEAL Commander
(Full profile on page 412.)
How do I deal with setbacks, failures, delays, defeat, or other disasters? I actually have a fairly simple way of dealing with these situations. There is one word to deal with all those situations, and that is: “good.”
This is something that one of my direct subordinates, one of the guys who worked for me, a guy who became one of my best friends, pointed out. He would call me up or pull me aside with some major problem or some issue that was going on, and he’d say, “Boss, we got this, that, or the other thing going wrong,” and I would look at him and I’d say, “Good.”
And finally, one day, he was telling me about some situation that was going off the rails, and as soon as he got done explaining it to me, he said, “I already know what you’re going to say.”
And I asked, “What am I going to say?”
He said, “You’re going to say: ‘Good.’”
He continued, “That’s what you always say. When something is wrong or going bad, you just look at me and say, ‘Good.’”
And I said, “Well, I mean it. Because that is how I operate.” So I explained to him that when things are going bad, there’s going to be some good that will come from it.
Oh, mission got cancelled? Good. We can focus on another one.
Didn’t get the new high-speed gear we wanted? Good. We can keep it simple.
Didn’t get promoted? Good. More time to get better.
Didn’t get funded? Good. We own more of the company.
Didn’t get the job you wanted? Good. Go out, gain more experience, and build a better résumé.
Got injured? Good. Needed a break from training.
Got tapped out? Good. It’s better to tap out in training than to tap out on the street.
Got beat? Good. We learned.
Unexpected problems? Good. We have the opportunity to figure out a solution.
That’s it. When things are going bad, don’t get all bummed out, don’t get startled, don’t get frustrated. No. Just look at the issue and say: “Good.”
Now. I don’t mean to say something clichéd. I’m not trying to sound like Mr. Smiley Positive Guy. That guy ignores the hard truth. That guy thinks a positive attitude will solve problems. It won’t. But neither will dwelling on the problem. No. Accept reality, but focus on the solution. Take that issue, take that setback, take that problem, and turn it into something good. Go forward. And, if you are part of a team, that attitude will spread throughout.
Finally, to close this up: If you can say the word “good,” guess what? It means you’re still alive. It means you’re still breathing.
And if you’re still breathing, that means you’ve still got some fight left in you. So get up, dust off, reload, recalibrate, re-engage, and go out on the attack.
And that, right there, is about as good as it gets.
Spirit animal: Black panther
* * *
Sekou Andrews
Sekou Andrews (TW: @SekouAndrews, sekouandrews.com) is the most impressive poetic voice I’ve ever heard. I first saw him perform at TED, where he amazed me. Sekou is a schoolteacher turned two-time National Poetry Slam champion. He has presented privately for Barack Obama, Bono, Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, and for many Fortune 500 companies.
TF: Since we’re getting to the end (or is it the beginning?), my friends, this profile is short, sweet, and to the point. Here is just one line from Sekou’s art to set the tone:
“You must want to be a butterfly so badly, you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”
Conclusion
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
—Pablo Picasso
“Enjoy it.”
—the best answer I’ve heard to what I always ask close friends: “What should I do with my life?”
During the writing of this book, I would sit in the sauna for 20 to 30 minutes late at night to decompress, then lie in the pool on my back, looking at the stars through the silhouetted branches of the trees. Under the light of a single bulb inside th
e barrel sauna, I would read something poetic to wind down my brain, such as Leaves of Grass or, as I began at one point on a recommendation, Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel.
I had just started the practice of archery, and my routine was to take two or three breaks per day for 18 arrows each. I had textbooks and a coach on the practical side. Zen in the Art of Archery, on the other hand, appeared to be 80% nonsense riddle-talk and 20% genius philosophical insight.* But it provided a welcome break, a little mental stretching, and that was enough.
One morning, my researcher, who I’d brought from Canada to work on the book in person, stopped me at the refrigerator, where I was grabbing some food and cold water:
“You’re so calm. How are you so calm when you have a million things flying around?”
I thought about it, and he was right. There was a lot up in the air. I was on the final sprint of my book deadline, there were perhaps a dozen unexpected business fires to manage, my dog had just been badly injured, our car had died, and I had various family members and houseguests coming and going. It was a three-ring circus, and I was the plate spinner.
Historically, I’d been an anxious, short-fused mess on book deadlines. I was extremely unpleasant to be around. So what was different?
I then realized and explained to him: In the process of reading and rereading the lessons in this book, I’d absorbed much more than I’d realized. On autopilot, I was using “good” from Jocko, inviting Mara to tea like Tara Brach, looking at the stars as BJ Miller and Ed Cooke would, and putting fear in line, just as Caroline Paul did atop the Golden Gate Bridge.
I’m a list maker. It’s how I keep my life in order, my world organized. What most surprised me about my calmness was that there was no list involved. I’d simply tested one or two titan one-liners or tools in my head every day, and—as Cal Fussman told me—“the good shit sticks.” The things I needed at any given time kept coming to mind. The more I reread and pondered them, the more I saw the impact.
Tools of Titans Page 64
