On Craft
drcathicks.com
On Craft
1–10 of 34 posts
Re: On Craft
#2This speaks to me on many levels, thanks for posting.
Re: On Craft
#3That was a beautiful read. Well said.
Re: On Craft
#4Very nice remembrance of a grandfather. Grandfathers can be silent mentors and role models. Mine certainly was. I miss him very much.
Re: On Craft
#5I can relate to her grandpa.
However, it doesn't win me much support, these days.
People like us aren't really what the tech industry is about. I'm not sure that it ever was about it (which was why I didn't append "any more").
There was a fairly decent book, called Software Craftsmanship[0], that I read, many moons ago. I found it comforting. At least I wasn't a complete outlier, even if I was routinely treated with scorn for my approach.
Re: On Craft
#6who did her website? a more glorious, beautiful light-filled site I haven't seen.
Re: On Craft
#7I don't like this much - somewhat vague romantic sentimentalism under a heading of "craft".
I don't consider recognising trees as craft... or ride-on mowers as blue-collar... or being afraid of someone on the street at night as recognising the "soon to be broken"... or that "cadence" is a safety measure. It's often the reverse, cadence suggests not stopping when safety/quality is often about anyone being able to stop the line.
As for the "family fixer"... I've known a few and the motivation has not been craft but as an emotional escape. Sit down and talk to your family? Nope, time to rehang all the pictures on the wall. I can recognise their panicked scan of their environment, desperately looking for something that could need attention. I think we often see "craft" type justifications for unnecessary work in software teams that are really avoidance of something more aversive.
Where I find the "fixer" perspective interesting, it's understanding that the world is mutable and that you have the power to change it. It's a more natural human instinct to accept things that are causing a problem. It's not even lazinesses holding people back, it's not seeing the possibilities.
Re: On Craft
#8I don't like this much - somewhat vague romantic sentimentalism under a heading of "craft". I don't consider recognising trees as craft... or ride-on mowers as blue-collar... or being afraid of someone on the street at night as recognising the "soon to be broken"... or that "cadence" is a safety measure. It's often the reverse, cadence suggests not stopping when safety/quality is often about anyone being able to stop…
Fixing the loose leg of a table at a restaurant using a coin is definitely not craft.
Re: On Craft
#9The author doesn't use words like "pragmatic", which embody this essay a lot more than "craft", IMO.
Craft to me implies design, which this essay doesn't touch on much.
Re: On Craft
#10A sweet article, thanks.
In trying to make my pizzas round, I realize that there's a craft to it. It can't be all that hard since so many people do it, but I haven't got it yet.
Also, cooking is a craft. That's why a restaurant interview for a cook is often "make me an omelet." There are, indeed, some foods you can make strictly by following the recipe, but others take craft.