In many ways, we are all “ordinary people”. It is our daily choices that determine extraordinary achievements. There are 3 insights in this picture that I want to share, because they have the power to change lives: 1️⃣ Small things become big things: never dismiss the details. 2️⃣ Successful soloists are rare - if they exist at all. 3️⃣ Grit, grind and work wins over natural ability. This is my version of the story that led to this picture: 20 years ago, William Adams (will.i.am) and his friend, John Stephens -a BCG consultant and aspiring musician- were in a conversation about relationship challenges and broken hearts… As many artists do - they channeled emotions to song writing; they wrote the chorus very quickly, and the full song followed. According to Will, John’s eyes sparkled when he said “this is just two ordinary people trying to figure things out”. “That’s it!” said John, and the song title became “Ordinary People”. John Stephens -better known today as John Legend- later called Will and asked whether the Black Eyed Pees were planning to use the song - because he was working in his first ever album, and he would like to record the song and include it in it. Will - recognizing the style of the song was not a fit with the group vibe, agreed to let John use it in his album. The song “Ordinary People” became the second single of John’s debut album. Critics praised the song as lyrically reflective, with raw emotion and simplicity. At the 48th Annual Grammy Awards "Ordinary People" received three nominations for Song of the Year, Best R&B Song and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, ultimately winning the latter. The song is formally credited to both as writers and producers, as seen here: https://bit.ly/4e65FyX John Legend proceeded to become one of the most awarded artists of all times, an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winner) … and in concerts he still tells this story, and gives will.i.am credit for the above. I asked him what skills he learned as a consultant that helped him be a better artist - his answer was about the work discipline and how spreadsheets taught him to be organized 😂. To the question whether success is more about natural ability than hard work - he said hard work is at least 70%, and natural ability is at most 30% (he does have the vocal instrument 🎶 ). Therefore the 3 lessons above: a casual collaboration turned into magic, being generous instead of holding onto the song; what people think is a soloist success is actually a collaboration of many people… and there is no substitute for putting in the work. At many levels, we are all ordinary people, capable of extraordinary things.
Love this story, love this pic Jesús Mantas - and you are extraordinary 🙌🏽
Jesús, Insightful story. Is there an album in your future?
Hand on heart, you are one of the coolest people Jesús Mantas I get to say I had the pleasure of working for whilst at IBM. I look forward to all of your posts and continue to learn from you even after having moved to other careers outside IBM.
and John Legend? WOW! so COOL!
esssooo!
Great story, but it seems like consultancy doesn’t really help to be a better artist (spreadsheets? 🤔). Cue: supertramp, the logical song
Wow! An IBM celebrity hanging out with other celebrities. 🎉. Love this Jesús Mantas
Love this Jesús Mantas - you always have the ability to create insights and inspire. 🫶🏼
Very powerful story. Thank you for sharing.
Founder @ We Are All Human | co-host “A La Latina” podcast | Adviser VC @touch capital
3moLove the story- tell more!! And you always in the room where it happens, probably as key catalyst for the magic. Just like you have been for me and the We are all human foundation