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As a child, I remember watching people on TV and in real life do amazing
things and wished that I could do them too.
In high school and college, I played guitar in rock bands. Every week
we had to reverse engineer the latest hit song, figure out the cords
and lyrics and lead guitar licks. Little did I know that I was practicing
one of the key skills in life. Even the Beatles and the Rolling Stones
recorded Chuck Berry songs.
Between my junior and senior year in college, my friend Jim and I went
to Europe.. Jim dragged me into every art museum in every major city
we visited. When we visited the Louvre in Paris, I was amazed at the
art students with their easels, canvas, paints and brushes who were
patiently copying the works of masters like Picasso or Monet.
Copying Hemingway
Later in life as I returned to my interest in writing, I read everything
anyone had ever written about writing. In one of Hemingway's books on
writing I found the key to mastery. When asked how he learned to write,
Hemingway replied:
"I copied the masters."
This was somewhat startling. What did he mean? Did he read Tolstoy
and then try to write like him? No, the answer is much more obvious.
As I read other books on writing, I often found a similar statement:
I copied the masters. I began to wonder if Hemingway meant it literally…actually
copying Tolstoy word for word.
I decided to give it a try. I started with Hunter Thompson's Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas: "We were somewhere outside of Barstow when
the drugs began to take hold." Now there's an opening line to rival
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
As I discovered, reading isn't writing. You can read thousands of books
and not have any idea how to write one. Only writing is writing. And
copying the masters is the easiest way to learn. Actually sit down and
write or type out a book by a favorite author page by page. Just don't
try to resell their work as your own!
Channeling Robin Williams
As Karyn Ruth White and I were researching our new book, Your
Seventh Sense-How to Think Like a Comedian, I found similar clues
about new masters copying old masters. Robin Williams copied Jonathan
Winters. Comedy writer Gene Perret learned how to write for Bob Hope
by recording Bob's monologues off the TV and then transcribing every
joke.
Growing up I was a big fan of Groucho Marx. (As Groucho once told Dick
Cavett: "If it gets much hotter, I'll need a big fan.) I watched
all of the Marx Brothers movies and Groucho's TV show. I must have been
copying his style, because I still find myself in situations where Groucho
just pops out, cigar gesture, wit, and all.
After the end of Mork and Mindy, I bought one of Robin William's comedy
albums. I loved his humor and I wanted to learn how to be like him.
I almost wore the grooves off that album as I did the same thing I used
to do with rock songs: I learned the words and "sang" along
to get the timing and delivery to be as close to the original as possible.
Most comedians won't admit it, but they copied the style of several
comedians to learn comic timing and delivery. You can too. Get a recording
of your favorite comedian and then "sing along" with them.
Sports Performance
The best athletes in the world say the same thing about sports: I copied
the masters. Denver Broncos quarterback, John Elway, once said that
he learned golf by watching the best players in the world and then mimicking
what they were doing. (John went from zero to scratch golf in three
years.) Great athletes can see an action, try it on in their own body
using micro muscle movements, and then refine it by practice and playing.
My role models for great golf attitude and play are Fred Couples and
Annika Sorenstam. I have found it easier to watch and learn from the
LPGA players like Annika than to watch the PGA players like Tiger Woods.
The LPGA players are a little smoother in their swing while the PGA's
grip-it-and-rip-it is hard to study.
Business Performance
Toyota's lean manufacturing process is widely studied and copied as
a model for excellence. Where did the original idea come from for minimizing
inventory? Toyota copied the idea from American supermarkets. Just enough
inventory to handle the demand.
Copy the Masters
So reading Hemingway isn't writing Hemingway. Listening to Jimi Hendrix
isn't the same as playing his licks. Watching Robin Williams isn't channeling
his wit and style. And watching the pros isn't playing like the pros.
Of course the objective of copying the masters isn't to become a clone.
The goal is to get their mastery into your body, mind, and spirit so
that your own unique mastery can emerge.
Who are your "heros" in any field: business, sports, entertainment,
whatever? It could be another company. It could be a supervisor or coworker.
It could be your postal carrier. Mark Sanborn, one of Colorado's professional
speakers, developed a whole recipe for customer service called "the
Fred Factor" which he "modeled" from his postal carrier,
Fred.
How can you copy them? How can you dress like them, walk like them,
talk like them, or think like them? Success leaves clues. Read what
they've written or said. Watch their video, listen to their recordings,
go see them perform. Then, in the privacy of your own home or office,
copy their behavior as closely as possible to get it into your body,
mind, and spirit. Turn their skill into an "ability suit"
that you can put on whenever you need it.
You may never be as good as they are, but you'll be much better at
it than average. When Gary Zukov asked Al Huang, a Tai Chi master, about
mastery, Al replied: "A master is someone who started before you
did."
Isn't it time to start your quest for mastery?
© 2005 Jay Arthur, the KnowWare® Man, works with companies who want
to plug the leaks in their cash flow and people who want to master the mysteries
of the mind..
To have Jay Arthur to train your staff, contact Jay at (888) 468-1537, lifestar@rmi.net.
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© 2006 Jay Arthur (888) 468-1537
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