Absorb the Master’s Power: The Three Stages of the Apprenticeship Process
“Mastery" by Robert Greene. Part 3: The Master Apprentice Relationship
“The relationship between apprentice and mentor is one of the most beautiful and most sacred relationships. In sharing (their) wisdom with (their) apprentice, the mentor discovers even more wisdom to share.”
― Charbel Tadros
“The goal of an apprenticeship is not money, a good position, a title, or a diploma, but rather the transformation of your mind and character—the first transformation on the way to mastery.”
― Robert Greene
Every master was once a student. As Robert Greene states in Mastery every master served an extensive apprenticeship. Even those historical figures we think of as inherently gifted and destined for greatness (Mozart, Da Vinci, Einstein) all had extensive periods of time in which they absorbed the wisdom of multiple mentors.
No one gets to shortcut this process. The Apprenticeship stage is essential to true mastery.
The last three weeks we have been covering the idea of Mastery by Robert Greene.
The first article was the introduction, in which I argue why mastery is the most powerful goal to direct your life.
The second article discusses the importance of finding your calling or Life’s Task.
The third article presents the importance of apprenticeship and Submitting to Reality.
These are linked in the notes.
This week we are building on the theme of the apprenticeship process, on the journey to mastery. Specifically, the student mentor dynamic, and the critical steps of a healthy apprenticeship. How to find your mentor(s) and engage in the apprenticeship process.
Next week we will conclude the mentor apprentice dynamic by discussing when it is time for the apprentice to move on. The ultimate sign of a successful apprenticeship is to transcend the master. To make your unique mark on the universe, and help mentor others to do the same.
The Three Stages of the Apprenticeship Process
As the saying goes, “we all stand on the shoulders of giants.” Every master who has found and dedicated themselves to their unique Life’s Task, must learn from those who have come before.
Greene breaks the apprentice process into 3 stages. These steps are: Deep Observation (The Passive Mode), Skills Acquisition (The Practice Mode), and Experimentation (The Active Mode).
Deep Observation (The Passive Mode)
During the first stage, Deep Observation, we study the masters of our field, past and present. We follow our curiosity and learn to ask better, more meaningful, questions. We learn the fundamentals of our skill.
It is important to note, however, a mentor doesn’t have to be someone you personally know or work directly with. This is a big hang up with a lot of people: “I haven’t found a mentor, so I won’t take my study too seriously until I do.” This is the worst excuse and form of procrastination.
As the saying goes, “When the student is ready the master appears.” This is both metaphorically true, but practically true as well. We must put in the work and study. Pay our dues. To earn the right and respect of a mentor's time and attention.
Masters have dedicated their lives to their given field. They are deeply serious about their craft. Their time is valuable. A master only wants to invest their time into someone who they believe is equality committed to the craft.
The proper attitude is to dedicate yourself deeply to following your curiosity. Study everything you can get your hand on. Put in the work. The master will see this and know you are serious and worth their time and attention.
Furthermore, we don’t have to pigeonhole ourselves into having just one mentor. In many cases we will have multiple mentors over our apprenticeship, probably at the same time. And we don't even have to know them personally.
As Austin Kleon says in his book, Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, “The great thing about remote or dead masters is that they can't refuse you as an apprentice. You can learn whatever you want from them. They left their lesson plans in their work.”
Skills Acquisition (The Practice Mode)
In the second stage, Skills Acquisition, we begin to put in our repetitions of that skill. If we want to be a writer, we write a million words. If we want to be a painter, we paint a couple hundred paintings. If we want to be a musician, we practice scales or songs, hundreds of times until we are sick of them.
All of these will probably take several years. This is the point. There is no true short cut. However, if we passively practice, or phone it in, we will be garenting we will not move forward to mastery. One must prioritize this work of skill acquisition with deliberate, focused, practice. This is why it is critical to get feedback and training from mentors to improve and sharpen their skills.
Experimentation (The Active Mode)
Finally, one earns the right to enter the experimenting stage. Now, you know the fundamentals, and have put in the reps to be decent at your skill. It’s time to run your own experiment with the field.
Metaphorically, the mentor can now loosen the leash more. The Apprentice is still under their watch, but allowed to try their own style more. A good mentor will give them both honest encouragement and criticism, as they inevitably fail, grow, and learn from this process.
Robert Greene talks about “Submitting to Reality.” A helpful example of this would be a gardener. If someone wanted to experiment with unique or novel ways of planting something, the reality of the outcome will be undeniable. We can theorize about a gardening technique producing better flowers, but we must run the experience in real life, and learn from the results.
The same is obviously true for work in science or engineering. We must learn to accept the objective results of the experiment we run. Not bullshit ourselves into blaming outside forces, if things don't work out the way we had hoped.
Evaluating Experiments in Creative Work
In creative work this dynamic can be harder to pin down. What constitutes a successful piece of art? It is how much it sells for? Or the critical acclaim? Or is it something we are personally proud of, or our mentors are proud of?
There is no easy answer to this. But we must do the work and reflect on what is most important to us. What game are we playing?
Ryan Holiday, who apprenticed under Robert Greene as his reschear assistant, is now a wildly successful, bestselling author. Holiday addresses this question of success in writing by what he calls “The outer scorecard vs. the inner scorecard.”
The outer scorecard is the score the world gives. The one everyone sees. In sports it’s literally the score on the scoreboard. In writing it could be the number of books sold. In school it would be your grade on a report card. In the corporate business world it would be your annual review or bonus.
The inner scorecard is what we decide is most important. It’s personal. The outside world can’t see it. In a basketball game the outer scorecard may read (Home) 100 (Away) 90, but what if the (Away) team is significantly younger, shorter, and less experienced? Imagine the (Away) team played their absolute best game of the year, played their hardest and executed their plays the best. Even those they didn’t literally win, they had a moral victory. On the inner scorecard, they are winners.
This same philosophy can be applied to creative work. One’s first published book may or may not sell well (outer scorecard). But if one knows they gave it their best, and are proud of the book they wrote, the inner scorecard can show a victory. Same with art, music, programing, content creation, design, dance, or any other form of creative expression.
Yes the world will receive our work, the way it does. This is not in our full control. What is in our full control is setting the inner scorecard and honestly evaluating how successful our work is. This is not an easy process. This is why we need mentors to help us learn to both decide what we truly want out of our creative life. As well as, learning to honestly evaluate how successful our creative experiences turn out.
Conclusion
In this series on Robert Greene Mastery I am attempting to argue the most important message of the book is this:
Mastery is not reserved for the genetically fortunate or lucky. Not for those born genius, or inherently gifted. But it is for those who engage in a process. The two most important pieces of that process are: focus and time.
This is what the three stages of the apprenticeship journey: Deep Observation (The Passive Mode), Skills Acquisition (The Practice Mode), and Experimentation (The Active Mode), boil down to. Focusing our attention on a particular set of skills and abilities. Practicing these skills, under the supervision of a mentor, over and over. Getting in our reps. Improving and sharpening out technique, observational ability, and earning a trustworthy intuition.
If we can dedicate ourselves to our Life’s Task, humbly follow the guidance of our mentors, and put in the focused work for the appropriate amount of time, we can find something which only a rare, fortunate, few find in life. Mastery. The actualization of their soul’s journey. And the position to help others do the same.
Notes: