The Way of Excellence – Brad Stulberg

Announcing RPA Member Brad Stulberg’s New Book: “The Way of Excellence” which is to be published on January 27th, 2026.

“An absolutely beautiful book.”
Steve Kerr, nine-time NBA Champion;
Coach of the Golden State Warriors and Team USA

Many in the Pirsig community will recognize in Brad’s work a living continuation of the themes Robert Pirsig cared most about: attention, care, craft, and the pursuit of Quality. Brad is an author, professor, and co-founder of The Growth Equation. His writing explores how to live well, strive well, and pursue excellence without losing oneself. He teaches at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, writes widely in major publications, and often shares reflections on Substack and Twitter/X.

Pirsig’s influence on Brad is deep and personal. In his Medium essay, Zen and the Art of Quality, he recalls reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as an undergraduate and feeling a kind of complete absorption that changed the trajectory of his life. That encounter led him not only to philosophy and writing, but to a lifelong relationship with Pirsig’s idea of Quality—the living event between subject and object, where care and attention give rise to meaning.

His more recent reflection, Remembering Robert Pirsig on the 8th Anniversary of His Death, offers an intimate picture: the books he has returned to many times, the note-card writing method he learned from Pirsig (Ed – the creative process described by Pirsig here), the special edition of Zen on his desk, even the way these ideas have shaped his family and daily habits. Brad describes Pirsig as the person who opened him to a new way of being, where excellence, meaning, and love are inseparable from the care we bring to our work.

Brad’s earlier books – Peak Performance, The Passion Paradox, The Practice of Groundedness, and Master of Change – all explore elements of this same terrain. Though rooted in psychology and behavioral science, they echo Pirsig’s themes: deep attention, values-driven action, patience, humility, and the quiet moral dimension of striving well. His forthcoming book, The Way of Excellence, continues this lineage. In it, Brad weaves modern science, timeless philosophy, and simple daily practice into a clear path: live from your values, attend to what matters, cultivate consistency, and treat excellence as a way of being rather than a goal. Readers familiar with Pirsig’s work will likely feel a strong resonance with his idea of Quality as the place where care, meaning, and good work come together. His new book will feel like a contemporary companion to the journey Pirsig began.

We wish Brad every success with his latest book.
“The Way of Excellence” arrives January 27, 2026, and can be pre-ordered here.
The RPA would love to hear from anyone reading it and willing to write a review for us.
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