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43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Ze Frank: Executing and Theoretical Perfection

the show with zefrank (2007-11-06 / “washington, ideas, brain crack”)

Ze Frank, on executing ideas even, or especially, when you can’t do them perfectly. (PNSFW)

[video via Waxy Links]

As some pals and I have been banging around ideas for new projects, I’ve been thinking a lot about Ze Frank, and realizing what a talented and brave fellow he is.

I didn’t follow The Show closely during its beloved one-year run, but I’ve enjoyed several episodes quite a lot, and, in the time since The Show ended, I’ve retroactively (sporadically) been catching up on some of the little projects Ze’s pushed out over the last few years. Prolific, warm, and very engaging work.

The “brain crack” video arrived with perfect timing, because I’ve been obsessing over a similar idea. In the video above, Ze says, unblinkingly:

And the longer they wait, the more they convince themselves of how perfectly that idea should executed…But the bummer is most ideas kind of suck when you do them.

That’s inspiration that’s hard to beat.


Also, although most sports racers certainly will have seen it by now, Ze’s talk at TED from a few years back is a stitch.

[Note: This post originally appeared on our daughter site, “43 Folders Clips,” and we liked it enough to republish it here.]

About Merlin

Merlin's picture

Bio

Merlin Mann is an independent writer, speaker, and broadcaster. He’s best known for being the guy who created the website you’re reading right now. He lives in San Francisco, does lots of public speaking, and helps make cool things like You Look Nice Today, MacBreak Weekly and Kung Fu Grippe. Also? He’s writing this book, he lives with this face, he suffers from this hair, he answers these questions, and he’s had this life. So far.

Merlin’s favorite thing he’s written in the past few years is a short essay entitled, “Better.”

 
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