1: Yesterday, we analyzed the path Michelangelo took to create and sell his first sculpture, the Hercules.
Doing so “left him a qualitatively different person from his former 17-year-old self who began the project,” Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy write in 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less.
“After selling the Hercules, he was now mentally and emotionally a different person, with radically extended skills and more confidence than his former self.”
His transformation doesn’t stop there.
“Professionally, he was positioned far differently than his former self,” the authors write. “He now had the reputation of having done something significant, which led people to become more interested in him as a person, but also led to others wanting to commission more of his work.”
2: Michelangelo’s radically reshaped who he was. How did he do this? He made what the authors call “a 10x jump.”
“He set out to do something far beyond anything he’d ever done, and also something innovative and non-linear to the pre-established standard or norm of his field.
“To complete the project at the level he desired,” they write, “required a full-on transformation of not only his skills and creativity, but also his commitment, convictions, and identity.”
To achieve his goal, he acquired specific knowledge of anatomy and the ability to create a life-sized, authentic-looking human statue.
But he didn’t stop with the Hercules.
“Leaving Florence, where he’d grown up and spent his entire life, Michelangelo arrived in Rome on June 25, 1496, at the age of 21,” Dan and Ben write.
“He quickly located a large piece of marble and began his most ambitious project yet. By the spring of 1497—eight or nine months later—the artist completed a life-sized statue of the Roman wine god, Bacchus, holding a vine of grapes at his side with a small child-satyr eating the grapes from behind.”
This piece was purchased by a banker, Jacopo Galli. Who then helped Michelangelo earn a commission to carve a Pieta statue for St. Peter’s Cathedrale.
“A sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary grieving over the body of Jesus, the Pietà took two years to complete,” the authors write. “Michelangelo wanted this piece to be perfect, and he pushed his creative and sculpting abilities to otherworldly heights.
“Unlike any of the many other Pietàs at the time, he wanted Mary, not Jesus, to be the central figure. Rather than the middle-aged mother of a man in his 30s, Michelangelo reflected Mary as she would have looked as a young and radiant virgin mother.
“She holds and mourns over her now dead Savior-son. The beautiful body of Christ, mostly exposed, displays Michelangelo’s hard-earned mastery of human anatomy. . .
“To this day, the Pietà is considered one of the greatest artistic masterpieces of all time.”
This achievement represents another 10x jump for Michelangelo.
“Now 24, when he returned to live in Florence, he was not the same man who had left his hometown three years earlier,” the authors observe. “He’d lived abroad, met influential people, and completed two next-level projects—the Bacchus and Pietà.
“Michelangelo’s skills, creativity, and confidence following the completion of the Pietà,” they note, “were incomparably beyond where he was after his Hercules.
“It would almost be insulting to compare the two statues—they are in different stratospheres of quality, depth, and impact.”
3: The time had come for yet another 10x jump.
In early 1501, Michelangelo learned that the Overseers of the Office of Works of Florence Cathedral were seeking a sculptor to complete a giant David statue.
“The 17-foot piece of marble had been sitting in the Florence Duomo courtyard incomplete and baking in the Mediterranean sun for more than 40 years,” Dan and Ben note. “It had been abandoned and damaged by two separate sculptors decades earlier.”
Michelangelo was fervent in his desire to take on this project. “He saw it as a huge opportunity—a 10x opportunity,” the authors reflect.
At age 26, Michelangelo persuaded the Operai to allow him to complete the David.
“Unlike the many other David sculptures of his era—including Donatello‘s—Michelangelo chose not to depict David standing victorious over Goliath’s severed head,” Dan and Ben relate.
“Michelangelo would depict David just before the courageous encounter,” they write. “His left hand over his shoulder holding his sling and right hand down by his side holding a stone, David’s face would express apprehension yet resolution.”
For three years, Michelangelo labored over the creation of the David.
“And David transformed Michelangelo—completely,” Dan and Ben observe.
Upon its completion, the sculpture “was immediately recognized as a masterpiece,” the authors note. “Michelangelo was paid 400 florins for the David statue, his biggest fee up until that point.
“A council of the most influential artists and politicians of the time came together to decide where the David would stand. It was placed in front of the Palazzo Vecchio—the town hall of Florence.
“David became the symbol of Florentine independence and liberty. Literally a turning point for the entire city, David renewed Florence’s courage and pride, and the people and the city began prospering greatly.”
What can we learn from this incredible artist about the power of 10x?
“Throughout his life, Michelangelo continued to take on projects far beyond—impossibly beyond—his skill level,” Dan and Ben write. “Most people are afraid to commit fully to the 10x process because it inevitably requires letting go of your current identity, circumstances, and comfort zone.”
More tomorrow!
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Reflection: Do I want to go 10x? Am I willing to let go of my current identity, circumstances, and comfort zone?
Action: Discuss with a family member, friend, or colleague.
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