The proven way to do unique and meaningful work
In June 2004, Arno Rafael Minkkinen stepped up to the microphone at the New England School of Photography to deliver the keynote address.
As he looked at the graduate students, Minkkinen shared a simple theory that, in his opinion, made the difference between success and failure. He called it The Helsinki Bus Station Theory.
The Helsinki bus station theory
Minkkinen was born in Helsinki, Finland. In the center of the city there was a large bus station and he began his speech by describing it to the students.
"About two dozen platforms are arranged in a plaza in the heart of the city," Minkkinen said. “At the head of each platform there is a sign with the numbers of the buses that depart from that particular platform. The bus numbers can be as follows: 21, 71, 58, 33 and 19. Each bus takes the same route out of town for at least one kilometer, stopping at stop intervals along the way. "
He continued: “Now let's say, again metaphorically speaking, that each bus stop represents one year in the life of a photographer. Which means that the third bus stop would represent three years of photographic activity. Ok, you've been working for three years doing platinum nude studies. Call it bus n. 21 ".
“You take those three years of work to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the curator asks if you are familiar with the nudes of Irving Penn. His bus, the 71, was on the same line. Or you take them to a gallery in Paris and they are reminded to check out Bill Brandt, bus 58, etc. Shocked, you realize that what you've been doing for three years, others have already done. "
"So you get off the bus, take a taxi, because life is short, and you go directly to the bus station in search of another platform."
“This time,” he said, “you're going to take color 8x10 camera-vision snapshots of people lying on the beach from a cherry picking crane. You spend three years on it and three of the greats and produce a series of works that elicit the same comment. Haven't you seen Richard Misrach's work? Or, if it's 8x10 smoky black and white of palm trees swaying in front of the beach, haven't you seen Sally Mann's work? "
“So once again, you get off the bus, take the taxi, run back and find a new platform. This lasts your entire creative life, always showing new work, always being compared to others ”.
"Stay on the bus"
Minkkinen paused. He looked at the students and asked, "What to do?"
"It's simple," he said. Stay on the bus. Stay on the damn bus. Because if you do, over time, you will start to see a difference. "
“The buses leaving Helsinki stay on the same line, but only for a while, maybe a kilometer or two. Then they start to separate, each number heading to its own unique destination. Bus 33 is suddenly heading north. Bus 19 southwest. For a time, maybe 21 and 71 fit together, but soon they also parted ways. Irving Penn is heading elsewhere. "
"It is the separation that makes the difference," Minkkinen said. “And once you start to see that difference between your work and the work that you admire so much, that's why you chose that platform after all, it's time to look for your advancement. Suddenly, your work starts to get noticed. Now you are working more on your own, making more of the difference between your work and what influenced it. Your vision takes off. And as the years go by and his work begins to pile up, it won't be long before critics are very intrigued, not just by what separates his work from a Sally Mann or a Ralph Gibson, but what he did. When he did it. I started for the first time! "
“You actually get the entire bus route back. Old prints made twenty years ago are suddenly reassessed and for what it's worth they start to sell at a higher price. At the end of the line, where the bus stops and the driver can go out for a smoke or better yet a cup of coffee, is when work is done. It could be the end of your career as an artist or the end of your life, but your total production is now before you, the first (supposed) imitations, the previews, the peaks and valleys, the closing masterpieces, all with the stamp of his unique vision ".
"Why? Because you stayed on the bus."
Does consistency lead to success?
I write frequently about how mastery requires consistency. That includes ideas like doing reps, improving average speed, and falling in love with boredom. These ideas are fundamental, but the Helsinki bus station theory helps clarify and distinguish some important details that are often overlooked.
Does consistency lead to success?
Think of a college student. You have likely spent more than 10,000 hours in a classroom at this point in your life. Are they adept at learning all the information that is offered to them? Not at all. Most of what we hear in class is forgotten soon after.
Think of someone who works on a computer every day at work. If you've been at your job for years, chances are you've spent more than 10,000 hours writing and answering emails. Given all this writing, do you have the skills to write the next great novel? Probably not.
Consider the average person who goes to the gym each week. Many people have been doing this for years or even decades. Are they built like elite athletes? Do they possess elite level strength? Unlikely.
The key feature of the Helsinki bus station theory is that it urges you to not just do more work, but do more reworking.
It's not the work, it's the rework
Average college students learn ideas once. The best college students re-learn ideas over and over again. Average employees write emails once. Elite novelists rewrite chapters over and over again. Average fitness enthusiasts still don't think about the same workout routine every week. The best athletes actively critique each rep and constantly improve their technique. It is the review that matters the most.
To continue the bus metaphor, photographers who get off the bus after a few stops and then get on a new bus line keep working all the time. They are putting in their 10,000 hours. However, what they are not doing is going back to work. They are so busy jumping from line to line in hopes of finding a route that no one has traveled before that they don't spend the time reworking their old ideas. And this, as the Helsinki bus station theory makes clear, is the key to producing something unique and wonderful.
By staying on the bus, you give yourself time to get back to work and review until you produce something unique, inspiring, and cool. Only by staying on board is dominance revealed. Introduce yourself enough times to get the ideas average and every now and then the genius will reveal itself.
Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers popularized The 10,000 Hour Rule, which states that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become an expert in a particular field. I think what we often overlook is that deliberate practice is review. If you are not paying enough attention to review, then you are not being deliberate.
Many people invested 10,000 hours. Very few people spend 10,000 review hours. The only way to do this is to stay on the bus.
What bus will you travel?
We are all creators in some way. The manager fighting for a new initiative. The accountant that creates a faster process for managing tax returns. The nurse who thinks of a better way to treat her patients. And of course the writer, designer, painter, and musician strive to share their work with the world. They are all creators.
Any creator who tries to advance society will experience failure. Too often, we respond to these failures by calling a taxi and taking another bus line. Perhaps the journey will be smoother there.
Instead, we must stay on the bus and commit to the hard work of reviewing, rethinking, and revising our ideas.
However, to do that, you must answer the hardest decision of all. What bus will you travel? What story do you want to tell with your life? What trade would you like to spend your years reviewing and improving?
How do you know the correct answer? It is not like this. Nobody knows the best bus, but if you want to develop your potential you must choose one. This is one of the central stresses of life. It is your choice, but you must choose.
And once you do, stay on the bus.
Comments