Candle to Bulb
Sometimes you have to invent the bulb, not just improve the candle.
So often in life we are stuck thinking, how do I improve this, how do I improve that, but aren't able to quite figure it out yet. But are we sure we're working on the right path?
Consider running a 10k: just trying to run fast may not always yield better times. In fact, it could lead to injuries and force you to stop running completely. Meanwhile, there are techniques like zone 2 running that help increase your pace over 3-5-10 year horizons. There's relative strength training that builds power in your legs. There are specific exercises to increase stamina. There are energy gels to maintain fuel during runs.
Another example comes from the recent AI race. While ChatGPT and Claude were focused on improving their models and optimizing computing power, DeepSeek came up with a different approach entirely: distillation, which in laymen's terms means training on the output of tools like ChatGPT and Claude. This led to significant reductions in training costs, and later Claude and ChatGPT adopted this technique as well.
So in life, all these factors contribute to improvement, yet we often fixate on just one approach—usually the most obvious and direct one. Real progress frequently comes not from pushing harder in the same direction but from expanding our understanding of what truly drives results in any endeavor.
The path to improvement requires asking better questions about our fundamental approach, not just how to do more of what we're already doing. After all, if we just improved candles, we would never have had the light bulb.