Nobody Cares, Work Harder
This morning I passed a man wearing a shirt that read “Nobody Cares, Work Harder.” I’ve seen this on the internet before and I always look at it and nod internally. Anyone who has truly worked hard and accomplished something knows that the world is not interested in our excuses, it simply asks that we do the work required.
We are all thrilled that the DCI season is underway, and drum corps is a prime example of a lot of dedicated people working very hard over a long time. Last night I watched the broadcast of the Carolina Crown performance and it was impossible not to swell at the incredible virtuosity and display of effort and work. Congrats to everyone at Crown for this remarkable gift you gave to all of those students…and to all of us! (Be inspired by watching the 2021 DCI interviews!)
After over 1000 podcasts and hundreds of hours of webinars, I can confidently assure you that the groups that achieve at the highest level spend more time working that you know. Listen to any conversation with a top designer in our activity and they always explain the hours and hours of time spent researching and listening and talking and arguing and reading and studying and attending performances and going to art museums and researching some more. If you’re someone who is sometimes disappointed in the outcome of your group’s show, I ask you to consider the amount of effort you and your team are putting in. A highly detailed show that moves us is not an accident, but is the outcome of hours of toil and dedication.
Having said this, it certainly IS possible to work smarter and use your time more efficiently. Almost every group I’m interviewing for the DCI 2021 podcast series has mentioned that virtual events and shorted time frames have taught them to use time more wisely and get more done with less. And these are new tools they will keep using!
The other way to be more successful is to learn from those who are at the top of our activity. This is the very concept behind the Marching Roundtable and Marching Arts Education. Take the time to learn how the best are getting their results, and then incorporate these ideas into your own work.
So Nobody Cares, Work Harder. And work smarter! And learn some more things to do better. We’re here to help, but you have to do the work!
Tim Hinton
July 11, 2021
