The Craftsman by Richard Sennett
Craftsmanship names an enduring, basic human impulse, the desire to do a job well for it’s own sake. Skills that mature and pride in one’s work lies as the heart of craftsmanship as the reward for skill and commitment.
“Craftsmanship” may suggest a way of life that waned with the advent of the industrial society – but this is misleading. Strategy, UX design, interactive design, content strategy, copywriting, software development, search, social media and marketing are all realms of modern craftspeople.
Craftwork
- focuses on objects and impersonal practices
- tempers obsession
- turns the craftsman outward
- integrates doing (how) and reflecting (why); makes and observes at the same time
- embodies repetition, slow revisions, slow learning and cultivation of habit, working memory
- connects the hand to the head
- welcomes ambiguity
- embraces curiosity, investigation, patience
- applies the principle of application of minimum force and release
- uses all available tools (e.g. Instruction through illustration, narrative and metaphors; or innovation through syllogism, intuitive leap, reframing, metaphors, integrative thinking)
- fosters the interplay of practice, imagination, and possibility
- sees resistance as opportunity for reframing, patience, and possible discovery
- improves irregularly by taking detours
- ability to localize, to question and to open up/to
A company dedicated to craftwork:
- values play and experimentation
- fosters transparency
- provides mentorship
- nurtures cooperation and open communications
- encourages training and practice
- exudes calm industry and purpose
- celebrates excellence in craft and craftsmen and craftswomen
- combines cross-domain knowledge
- values metaphors
- supports rituals of craftsmen and craftswomen
- defines objective standards comprehensible to all
A company dedicated to craftwork can sustain itself when it:
- actively pursues good clients and good work
- articulates the value of good work
- turns outwards towards professional community
- actively illuminates meta-knowledge of the craft
- routinely distills wisdom
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