IVs, Samurais and A Way of Life

I recall reading an article in HBR about how Stephen Spear went into a hospital that was experiencing 20-30 deaths per year from IV-related infections, and how, just by changing methods and procedures, as well as creating a more expository form of tracking and signaling IV usage, he reduced this number to ZERO. I was reminded of this article while watching The Last Samurai (with Tom Cruise) the other day, wherein he wrote an entry in his journal about how his 'captors' were a strange and beautiful people, and how, from morning to night, they dedicated themselves to the perfection of everything they did. In this world of bureaucracy, technology and infrastructure, I believe that one's own personal commitment to the perfection of everything they do, and the constant examination of the methods, tools and results is, indeed, the most gratifying way of life, despite the fact that, at the end of the day, in this world, it will all still be erased :-( ... though the experience of living this kind of life might very well come with us when we leave :-)