By Rob Cooney (@EMEducation)
The Way of Excellence
by: Brad Stulberg
Brad Stulberg’s The Way of Excellence is a DENSE, thoughtful, and deeply practical book about what it means to pursue meaningful growth. Unlike many tomes on the market, this is not a book about hacks, relentless productivity, or turning yourself into some idealized version of yourself. An additional strength of the book is that it separates excellence from its kin: perfectionism, optimization, obsession, happiness, and flow. Excellence, as Stulberg frames it, is something more durable: the ongoing pursuit of growth in work that matters to you.
As medical educators, that distinction is especially useful. Academic medicine often rewards visible productivity: publications (Gotta get those metrics folks!), promotions, invited talks, leadership titles, grant funding, etc, etc, etc… Those things matter, but they can also tempt us to chase achievement instead of excellence. Stulberg’s framing brings us back to a more grounded question: Am I developing mastery in something that matters to me, and am I doing it in a way that is aligned with my values?
That question applies across the full spectrum of our work. Teaching excellence is not simply a set of techniques to acquire. It is a situated practice that requires us to sense, respond, adapt, and stay connected to the learner, the patient, the environment, and the purpose of the moment. The best educators do not just “deliver content.” They read the room, notice what is happening, adjust in real time, and help learners move forward. In that sense, excellence in teaching is not a fixed destination. It is an evolving relationship between the educator, the learner, the work, and the context.
The book also offers a helpful corrective to the culture of intensity that often surrounds academic medicine. Excellence does not come from occasional heroic effort so much as from consistency. Stulberg’s emphasis on “raising the floor:” what we do when the going gets difficult, has obvious relevance for educators. We do not transform ourselves through quick fixes. We improve through repeated attention to our “craft” and engaging in the the hard work of academics: preparing to teach more intentionally, asking better questions, observing learners more closely, giving feedback with more intentionality, and returning to the work even after the bad days.
Finally, Stulberg does not present excellence and an endurance effort. The second half of the book’s table of contents looks like a list of important nouns: Renewal, patience, confidence, curiosity, community, and joy. Each chapter covers the concept in depth and explains how each supports the pursuit of excellence. We cannot build excellent programs through heroic efforts and subsequent burnout. Nor can we sustain meaningful teaching if we lose connection with the parts of the work that first drew us in. Rest is not a reward for finishing the work; it is part of how we remain capable of doing the work well. Community is not a nice to have but one of the conditions that helps us keep going. Joy is not some administrative jargon; it is a source of endurance.
The appendix offers so many simple (yet not necessarily easy) lessons that we can apply to our academic lives: Set goals, but do not become trapped by outcomes. Build routines, but keep them flexible. Choose simplicity when the work becomes too complicated. Protect focus. Make room for recovery. Find others who are walking a similar path. Create rituals that mark progress before rushing on to the next thing.
The Way of Excellence is a valuable read for medical educators who are questioning the “why” of their career or who feel stretched, discouraged, or in need of recalibration. It does not offer a quick fix, which is part of its value. It examines what we each can do to take control of our personal pursuit of excellence by continuing to become more skillful, grounded, attentive, and aligned with what matters most to each of us as unique humans.
Perhaps that is the best invitation this book offers to educators: do not chase excellence for the sake of status. Practice it as a way of being.
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