Work the System

From Sam Carpenter's book, "Work the System,"  

Focus on the mechanical systems that produce the results, not the other way around, and never doubt that a superb collection of subsystems will produce a superb primary system.

What I like about this is that it leaves your outcomes somewhat in your control.  Work your systems, tighten them enough and some modicum of success will be yours.  A solace somewhat like Malcolm Gladwell's concept (maybe not his) of the "10,000 hours."  Put in your time, do your work, tighten your systems, delight your customers/clients/patients, make a product they want to buy, and let the rest take care of itself.  As Carpenter says,

Forget about making mighty home-run swings that will win the game... Instead hunder down, preserve what you have, and fo for the surefire, incremental sytsm-improvement advances: the singles and doubles... Relish the small yet permanent improvements that will add up to something big down the line.  It's the little things that add up.  

As one modern band musician said, "a fan a day."