> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.howardgray.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Adventures... #56: 6 out of 10 - URL: https://www.howardgray.net/6-out-of-10/ - Published: 2021-08-05T15:07:44.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-06T10:05:30.000Z - Author: Howard Gray - Tags: Adventures **How Quentin Tarantino turned average into exceptional** *Hello. I’m [Howard Gray](https://www.howardgray.net/about), and this is Adventures… : a monthly email digest of alternative inspiration and ideas for creative and entrepreneurial humans. You can find the full archive* [*here*](https://www.howardgray.net/adventures)*.* *If you’d like to unsubscribe, just click the link at the bottom. One and done, I’ll be out of your inbox forever.* *Still here? Lovely. Let’s get into it…* --- A 6/10 rating doesn’t usually feel too good. Whether it’s a movie review or the score we get in a peer review, 6/10 isn't much to get excited about. It's passable. Unremarkable. It’s kinda… meh. Scoring 6 out of 10 usually comes about in three ways: First, there’s the 6 when all best efforts are invested, but the knowledge, expertise, or mental models aren’t yet in place to go beyond it. The second kind occurs under impairment. We could be fatigued, injured, or on the end of an injustice. While in normal circumstances we could probably push beyond, 6 is the furthest we can realistically go. And this 6 needs to stay at 6 - aiming any higher will cause us damage. Third, there’s the 6/10 that’s delivered by a [hack](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/hack-taxi-cab-driver-or-lousy-writer?ref=howardgray.net). They’re the disengaged professionals who tend to phone it in - just checking the boxes, always unexceptional, never sharpening their saw. They serve up plenty of [Stringer Bell’s 40 degree days](https://www.howardgray.net/stage-left/30-degree-days/). But there’s one other type of 6/10 - and it produces something very different. --- ## From Austria to Oscar Quentin Tarantino was having a hard time casting a key role for his latest movie. The part in question required a blend of menace, ruthlessness, and charisma - plus fluency in multiple languages. Eventually he and his production partner believed they’d found the perfect actor to appear in *Inglorious Basterds* as Nazi officer Hans Landa. One problem was that Christoph Waltz had zero Hollywood cred. The Austrian actor was largely a journeyman of little-known European TV shows, and his few US appearances had been in some of the worst-rated movies of the past three decades (we’re talking iMDB ratings of 3/10 rather than 6/10). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d8/1a/d81abdb4-b001-4d5e-9a22-7d2a3d72df17/content/images/2021/08/Screen-Shot-2021-08-05-at-10.22.27-AM.png) For Waltz this was a pivotal role in a high-profile movie, working with arguably the most celebrated director of the past twenty years. It was unequivocally a game-changer for his career. So when it came to the table read with the other actors, you’d expect Waltz to give it everything he had, right? Instead, as Tarantino recounts on Brian Koppelman’s ‘The Moment’ podcast, he told Waltz to hold back: > *“Give ‘em a 6 out of 10\. Be good enough - but just good enough.”* When you’ve got the likes of Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender around the table, this sounds ludicrous. Furthermore, for the next 2 weeks Waltz didn’t rehearse at all with the other actors. They only needed to get halfway through the table read, when his production partner said “seems like a bit of an off-day for Christoph...?”, that Tarantino knew things were going exactly to plan. Because when the cameras started rolling, Hans Landa appeared in terrifying, conniving technicolor. The extra 4 out of 10 was unleashed and gave the movie an electricity that just wouldn’t have been present if Waltz had started out higher than 6\. The formerly little-known Austrian actor wound up collecting an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his performance. ## Two to tango This deliberate 6/10 is not the same as that of the hack. It’s about being willing - and able - to give a 6 when every fibre of your being wants you to go full throttle. And it’s also about knowing *when* to roll the 6. Would Waltz have gone to 6 on his own? Probably not. He needed Tarantino’s vision as both a director and a talent curator (this latter skill of his is highly underrated). Could Tarantino have got every actor to go to 6/10? Unlikely, even for a director at his calibre. He needed to work with someone who possessed the right combination of humility, confidence, and appetite. We don't need to be Oscar-winning movie makers to bring this into our work. It's worth recognising which type of 6/10 we're dealing with. Trusted partners can help us see when it's time to stretch or instead leave something in the tank. And just like Christoph Waltz, we may have to deal with a few 3/10's along the way. Thanks for reading, and as always I'd love to hear what's got your attention right now. Just hit reply. Howard --- ## From one 6 to another In a bid to channel just a tiny bit of Waltz & Tarantino, the rest of this edition is deliberately coming in at a 6/10\. No links this time, just some music for you to check out. That’s because next month brings about much change: a renewed focus, a refreshed look and feel, plus opportunities to connect with fellow subscribers. I’m excited to share it all with you. Hopefully Quentin would approve. --- ## Jukebox ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d8/1a/d81abdb4-b001-4d5e-9a22-7d2a3d72df17/content/images/2021/08/a1130089476_16.jpg) ### Front: [Farhot: Kabul Fire Vol. 2](https://farhot.bandcamp.com/album/kabul-fire-vol-2?ref=howardgray.net) This has been out a few months, but hey, I’m slow on the uptake. Here’s Hamburg hiphop producer Farhot’s latest album, an homage to his birth home of Afghanistan. ### Middle: [Tale of Us, RA podcast](https://soundcloud.com/resident-advisor/ra283-tale-of-us?ref=howardgray.net) I can’t believe this home listening mix from Italian techno duo Tale of Us is almost a decade old. It soundtracked my so far only trip to Florianopolis in Brazil, where I stayed at a random person’s house using a new app I’d heard about called Airbnb. ### Back: [Simply Red: Something Got Me Started](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld9Bx64sKUs&ref=howardgray.net) Yes you read that correctly. Jacinta put a 90s playlist on in the car, and this suddenly came on. At first I cringed. Then I became convinced there must be some amazing Andrew Weatherall-esque underground remixes in existence (there were not). I later discovered this much-maligned Manchester band sold 60m albums and played 131 shows on their ‘Stars’ tour alone. They may not be cool, but it’s worth remembering the middle of the road is much wider than you think. --- ## Footnotes Other things I’ve been up to this month: - **Watching**: Clarkson’s Farm (surprisingly good), Roadrunner (very well woven, and highly resonated with me), The White Lotus (a beautiful skewering of the 1%) - **Refreshing**: my website with new layouts, tags, and guides - **Preparing**: for the unpreparable that is a baby human --- **Thanks for reading...** If you want to support what I’m doing, I’d be delighted for you to join the conversation. Reply to the e-mail, or ping me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/howardgray?ref=howardgray.net) or [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardgray83?ref=howardgray.net) and tell me what resonated or what you’d add/remove/modify.