The 5% That Makes the Difference

I was thinking about this while watching my daughter play sport on the weekend: the team that wins isn’t usually the flashiest or from the fanciest school. It’s often the one that just tries 5% harder on the day.

That 5% might be running a bit faster to chase down a loose ball, reaching a bit further for an intercept or digging a bit deeper in the final minutes. The same applies in professional life, especially in creative teams.

I came up in the ’90s when pulling all-nighters was a badge of honour. Working sick with a box of Kleenex at your desk meant you were committed. Thankfully, those days are mostly behind us. A sustainable industry needs work-life balance. You shouldn’t have to put your job before your wellbeing.

But the artists who stand out—the ones who get noticed, trusted and relied upon—are the ones who try that 5% harder than they have to: 5% harder to clarify a brief, get a shot into a review before the cutoff or sanity-check work before it goes to the next department.

It’s not about staying late. It’s about care, ownership and pride in the work. It doesn’t take huge hours to make a huge difference. It just takes a little more than you could get away with, and over time, people notice.