Great thinkers like to take pride in the high quality of their ideas, and rightly so, after all… certain quarters claim ideas rule the world. However, we know that even though generating good ideas or great once-in-a-lifetime ideas could be a lot of mental work, none of it counts if there is no excellence in execution. Getting the idea is like ten percent of the work, excellent execution is what counts and most of the time, there is a tendency to underestimate just how much effort one needs to invest. A mediocre idea with excellent execution will always win over an excellent idea with mediocre execution.
I grew up in a culture that did not encourage craftsmanship or taking pride in one’s work. It was always about the minimum effort required to get paid or achieve some result etc. This culture is responsible for many brilliant minds of my generation achieving mediocre results overall. This is due to the fact that despite receiving ideas from God that could transform their world, they lack the work ethic and craftsmanship required to truly make a difference. A watchman must understand that nothing happens unless someone gets to work, and that a lot of time, we underestimate just how hard the work is.
While we love to hate on people more successful than us and ascribe their success to privileges or luck, a lot of the time, if we keep a cool head, we can see clearly how their work ethic and craftsmanship towers over our own. Anyone who out-works the other will eventually win over time, and the serious minded watchman must see the wisdom in choosing to put in the work over discrediting the work of others. We must understand that people more successful than you are working harder than you.