Episode 095: The Foundations of Craftsmanship

Finding Your Groove With Kathleen Thompson

We’ve spent some time talking about what it means to be an Artisan. To make it easy to understand, I told you there were three C’s that marked an Artisan: craftsmanship, creativity, and community. Today we’ll dig deeper into Craftsmanship. You’ll learn that there are three support structures upon which craftsmanship is built. Not only that, but I’ll talk about picking raspberries, seeing, and CCO. (You’ll find out what that is when you listen.)

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On This Episode

Rhythm of Life – What Picking Raspberries Taught Me About Seeing
Random Riffs – CCO What?
Feature Segment – The Artisan Life: Foundations of Craftsmanship

Today’s Quote

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others. –Jonathan Swift

Rhythm of Life – What Picking Raspberries Taught Me About Seeing

I was picking raspberries at a friend’s house. It was a bit of a jungle. I was trying to make sure I got every ripe berry so they wouldn’t rot on the bush. I thought I had them.

But, it turned out I didn’t. When I went back in the other direction, I saw many I had missed.

That happens in other places too. Ever notice how you can drive somewhere and notice how it looks. And then it looks completely different on the way back?

A change in perspective changes what and how we see.

Random Riffs – A Silly Kid’s Song and Perspective

You know how your mind can make huge leaps from one thing to another? That happened to me today as I outline the previous segment. Listen to hear what I mean.

Feature Segment – The Artisan Life: Foundations of Craftsmanship

I was stuck. Hunched over my computer trying to build a website, and couldn’t get a button to show up on screen.

I tried everything I knew. Nope.

Then asked myself – “I wonder what would happen if I tried it this way?” Eventually the button appeared.

What is that? It’s called curiosity. One of the foundations of craftsmanship. A large part of curiosity is asking the question, “I wonder what would happen if I did…this?”

Last episode: constraints contribute to creativity – “What does this make possible?”

Curiosity leads us somewhere – somewhere often unexpected.

To build craftsmanship, it helps to work directly on your skills. But you can also grow by working around the edges, so to speak. Curiosity, also known as looking at things from a different perspective, causes experimentation. This helps you grow too. Even if you end up throwing away a lot of what you do.

The second building block for your craftsmanship foundation? Change. Always testing all the time.

We used to joke at work that we never finished a project. Sure, it was officially closed. But there was always something to tweak. Fix. Test. Improve.

Don’t do this before you deliver your work. Deliver, or ship. And then keep making it better. Iterating. What builds craftsmanship is the discipline of delivering as is, and then continuing to improve as you get

Change fueled by your curiosity. Both are cornerstones of the foundation to build craftsmanship. What’s the third one? Commitment

Commitment to continue the work. Improve. Grow. Learn. Stretch. Even when it’s hard.

You don’t have to necessarily commit to one course of action – though that may be necessary. It’s more about commitment to the process, and the WHY behind what you do. Commitment to grow in craftsmanship, for as long as it takes. Commitment to the purpose to which you're called – even if you don’t see results.

Commitment shows you stand for something. You can be trusted. It gets you through times when you’ve got no inspiration, creativity, or enthusiasm.

Now here’s the thing: practicing curiosity isn’t that hard. It can even be fun. Practicing change can be hard. It feels uncomfortable. But you can get used to that.

Practicing commitment is the hardest of all. There aren’t any shortcuts.

Where do you stand right now? Check yourself on the 3 C’s of Craftsmanship. Curiosity, change, and commitment. Do those and you will see growth.

Want to be a craftsperson? Build the foundation first. Then watch the rest grow. Feel free to leave a comment about the commitment you're making to yourself and your craftsmanship.

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What builds craftsmanship? Curiosity, change, and commitment.
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Artisan Series

090: Why You Should Be an Artisan at Work
091: The Three C's of Artisanship
092: Are You a Creator, Consumer, or Critic?
093: Where to Start as an Artisan? With a MAP.
094: What's Your Signature Scent?

The post Episode 095: The Foundations of Craftsmanship first appeared on Kathleen Ann Thompson.