A programmer's review of Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Last night, I saw Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It is a beautiful documentary about Jiro, possibly the best sushi chef in the world. I'd recommend this movie to anyone, especially if you are looking to be inspired.

Naturally, I compared Jiro's life as a chef with my life as a programmer. Here are some of my takeaway thoughts.

What's love got to do with it? More than love, I think effort, practice and reflection are the important inputs to Jiro's success. Some people may hear this line from Jiro, "You have to fall in love with your work", and think he is talking about the cliche, "You should find a job that you love". It may be a bad translation, but I think these are vastly different statements.

Finding (and looking for) a job that you love is nearly impossible. Love takes time to develop. How can you love being a chef or a programmer after one day or one hour? It takes a long time to understand something to know it enough to fall in love with it. The effort and associated pain of learning then mastering a skill creates a love.

Natural talent is very important, but you can still succeed with hard work. Jiro talks about another famous chef who has a better sense of smell and taste than he has. With better natural skills, Jiro believes that he might have been a better chef. Nonetheless, because of his incredible work ethic, he is still the greatest sushi chef in the world.

I know there are blogs and studies about people who can program and those who simply cannot. Maybe it is a case of Impostor Syndrome, but I often feel like I am one of those who cannot. And yet, somehow, I am a professional programmer. If you work hard, you can accomplish something.

Think about the client. There is a scene where Jiro is serving sushi. A food critic notes that Jiro watches his clients eat. If a diner is left handed, Jiro will place the next piece of sushi on the left side of the plate to make it slightly easier to eat. Does the client notice or care? Probably not. The important bit is that Jiro is always trying to improve the dining experience.

Practice, practice and practice. There are many more gems that you can take away from this movie, but this is my favorite. Whatever you do, practice it. You should improve, and that improvement is very rewarding. Of course, you need to practice smartly. Every night, Jiro reflects on the day and thinks about ways to improve. What a great lesson. Even the best chef in the world, at over 80 years old, is trying to improve.