Recently, my article, “An Attitude of Craftsmanship,” was published in the PDMA (www.pdma.org) Visions Q2 issue. Read it here!
Key points:
- In order to do craftsman level work, you must have great knowledge of the work to be done, more than just a feel or even just experience.
- Your brain makes habits, often bad, as soon as you attempt to perform work
- Focus allows you to spend the time necessary to complete the work
- Focus facilitates ‘progress.’ Progress is the main motivational factor in knowledge worker morale and motivation
- The point of focus is not to hurry, but to spend the right amount of time doing the work well.
I hope you enjoy it and I would welcome your comments on any of the following thoughts (or any other!):
- Do you and your colleagues really “know the work” that do on a daily basis?
- If you have a “method” to getting things done well, could you actually write it down?
- Do you feel that are able, in your work environment, perform the work you are asked to do at a level of quality approaching “craftsmanship” or excellence?
- If not, what impedes that ability?
- Can organizations develop the elements of craftsmanship in a similar manner as an individual? Can they create ‘habits’ within the employee base that strongly support true excellence in products/services?
- Do you feel like you have the opportunity to focus?
- Do you have the internal discipline to focus when afforded the opportunity?
