I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi for the third-time last night. I couldn’t help but think about my old branding teacher that told the class to watch it. During my first watch, I just thought she liked sushi. It made me crave sushi for a month after that. A few years later I realized what the documentary was showing was the fact that he did the same simple product, but the fact that he did it repeatedly is what made him remarkable. He practiced making sushi every day for over 50 years before he earned a Michelin Star (in 2008). This was after the second time watching it. I could learn that with design, the lesson to be learned was that iteration makes a better product.
He made the same sushi thousands upon thousands of times before 2008. He probably did millions of iterations of slicing the fish. Countless of batches of rice. hours upon hours of just doing the work to get a consistent result, in doing so, the consistent result would become better each time. It was probably because every time he made a slightly better piece of sushi, it pushes his standard of quality up a tiny bit. Like the hedonistic adaptation you always want more, but also like the taste gap you get better, and wonder why you aren’t better.
In my most recent viewing I discovered another layer to the message of this documentary. While iteration is a huge part of his work, and the work of designers, it’s only part of what makes a great designer. The next part is hard work. There are many good designers out there, but to become a better designer, I must start working harder. make more stuff. Practice my craft every day. If I don’t, I’ll allow the taste gap to expand to the point where I can’t see the other side anymore. The hard work is more important than being good, or talented. Working hard will make you good, it will grow the talent. Design isn’t a purely talent based practice. It’s a practice that requires the discipline to work hard.
I’ll watch it again in a year, and I’m sure I’ll learn something more. It’s amazing that a documentary about a Itamae (sushi chef), isn’t about sushi, the film is about iteration, and discipline; and I’m sure there are even more layers, I’ll leave it at that for now though.