‘The Craftsman’, by Richard Sennett.
What’s it about:
Is a job worth doing for its own sake? How can the modern working world learn from the ages of workshops in the past? This book has an interesting exploration of this.
What Lynn learned:
I definitely don’t enjoy reading about history – I skipped a lot of detail in this book.
The modern world motivates people to work hard and well in two ways – through moral responsibility and competition. Both have their problems and both are different to the aspiration for quality.
The word used in learning and development ‘workshop’ probably comes from the place of building things historically – the workshop!
‘grasping something’ is linked to the operation of a hand grabbing something and something about ‘prehension’, which I think is the act of engaging your brain muscles in the activity. Not sure if I understood this but it’s something like that (p. 154)
Creating repetition in lessons for ADD-ers is achievable – keep things short and engaging.
Fave quotes:
‘Issac Stern rule: the better your technique, the more impossible your standards.’
‘To the absolutist in every craftsman, each imperfection is a failure; to the practitioner, obsession with perfection seems a perception for failure.’
‘The good teacher imparts a satisfying explanation; the great teacher… unsettles, bequeaths disquiet, invites argument’ (p. 6)
‘skill development depends on how repetition is organised’ (p. 38)
(A translation of Voltaire’s quote), ‘simple work is good medicine for those battered by life’ (p. 103)
‘easy and lean solutions often conceal complexity’ (p. 222)
Why relevant right now:
Many issues of the modern world of work are explored, such as the rise of high staff turnover, the outsourcing of work to other countries and an increased reliance on machines and AI.
Interest factor: 2/5
Coffee table cred: 2/5
Ignorance of external world while reading: 2/5
Book cover design: 3/4
Help the existential crisis: 2/5
