On Craftsmanship

The concept of "craftsmanship" or being a craftsman (or an "artist") has been a strong recurring theme for me this year. Godin talks about it in Linchpin. Pressfield talks about being a "professional" or "artist". Graeme pointed me to an article from Robin Sharma ("60 Tips for a Stunningly Great Life") where number 3 is "see your work as a craft. And today I just caught up on a posting from Josh Kaufman of Personal MBA fame that provides his take on being a craftsman ("The Craftsman Creed")

Josh leads off with a great explanation - it's not about money or a promotion. It is about:

"... the joy of developing yourself and mastering new skills that you can use to live a productive and satisfying life. Perfecting the art, and improving the quality of your life as you pursue it, in an end in itself. In short, we’re craftsmen."

Craftsmanship for Godin, Sharma, Kaufman, Pressfield and yes, even Tom Peters is about continuous improvement. A craftsman knows what she is the best at doing. They hone their skills. They learn. There is always more to learn. They practice. They demand value for their skill-set.

It keeps slapping me in the face.

What is my craft?

I think we will save that for next time.