Chapter 21 – Tenacity, not Talent

“I don't have talent, I have tenacity; I have discipline; I have focus. And I know without any illusion where I come from and what I can go back to.”
~ Henry Rollins

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. "
~ Calvin Coolige

You have to be talented. That’s just table steaks in the industry. If you can’t produce work that looks and works great there’s not much else you can do to survive as a designer.

But unless you are in the top 5% of all talented designers, you’ll need more than just talent to create a robust career. 

You’ll need tenacity. 

Tenacity: (perseverance) the determination to continue what you are doing.

In tenacity I believe the opportunity lies to separate yourself from other designers and always be in demand. 

Be the designer that doesn’t give up when obstacles get in the way. Be a designer that goes beyond their knowledge and finds a way to get the job done. When you are given a task, commit to getting it done and never waver. 

A designer who can create some beautiful solution among decent conditions is common, a designer who perseveres through terrible odds and scenarios to come through with a workable solution is indispensable. A designer who can be readily relied upon to extend themselves fully to find any possible fix is remarkable. 

This means producing work faster than you thought possible. This means producing more than you figured you could. This means delivering under a terrible crunch when everyone is depending on you. This means continuing to push and push and push alongside your team to achieve what couldn’t be done.

You are smart and capable and can figure it out. You can become a person that others rely upon to help with solutions to problems. Do the work and help.

Consider this thought experiment: if your life depended on a piece of work getting completed, do you not think you could come up with some sort of solution? Of course you could. This is of course extreme, but starting there at the starkest of scenarios and walking back can reveal solutions all the more possible you hadn’t previously thought of. More than an idea generator, this experiment should show you that there’s always a path if you apply deadset tenacity. 

This will become your reputation, and one that will see you being highly desired in any number of businesses. A business can always find a talented designer capable of outputting something lovely. But being a designer who dives into the trenches and doesn’t relent until they’ve helped the team throughout the impossible is hard to find.

Perhaps you’re not the most talented (which you can improve), but you can choose to be relentlessly persistent and committed to providing value. Your tenacity can carry you.

Covet tenacity over talent. 

What I’m not saying:

• Talent isn’t important
• As long as you work hard you don’t need to output beautiful solutions
• That your commitment and hard work can resolve bad business decisions

What I am saying:

• You can choose to be tenacious
• You can improve your talent
• Do the hard work
• Designers who commit and are relentless in providing a valuable solutions are rare
• You’ll be remembered more for your difficult saves than your talented beauty