52 sats \ 5 replies \ @Undisciplined 10 Mar \ on: On the Subject of Mastery and Achieving Mastery mostly_harmless
I'm not entirely sure what my craft is, but I'm definitely not a master of anything. I don't even like being thought of as an expert, although my credentials make that difficult to escape.
I do feel like part of mastery is having that deep understanding of your craft. It's not just knowing how to do everything, but also why. There's always more for everyone to learn, so I don't think that should count against you.
Do people come seeking your insights or trying to learn your technique? I think that might be the tipping point to mastery.
Do people come seeking your insights or trying to learn your technique?
I think at around my 8th or 9th year doing this, I begin to be able to see and catch potential problems that could arise in later stages of construction, mostly positioning issues that may arise later. So many customers who know me well would usually do a walk through with me after framing and rough-in is complete, but before drywall, so I can tell them about potential problems.
I'm also the fixer, where when there is something out of place or something that doesn't look nice needed to be covered, I'm usually the guy making the boxes to cover the deficiencies.
I also get asked to design carpentry related work for people a lot. Customers would have an idea of what they want, they would tell me what they want, and I would come up with a design and put the design into reality once it gets approved by the customer.
I do get ask by other carpenters when they have questions, a lot of time regarding technique or how to solve a problem, and I usually am able to help them with their questions. But I think that's just sharing experience, from someone with more experience to someone with less of it.
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It sounds like you're close to mastery, if not there already.
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I agree. My skill isn’t carpentry but if I took this comment and applied it to my craft, it would be a master
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It can be any craft or anything that you do. Just want to discuss the idea of mastery in general, be it programming, knife sharpening, architectural design, cooking, or whatever it is that you do.
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I hope so.
I forgot to mention a comment from another friend of mine when I talked to him regarding this. He said that it doesn't matter if I'm a master or not a master. I'm still going to do things the same way and have the same attitude towards my work one way or the other. So why waste time thinking about this crap? If I do good work, customers will appreciate it and keep coming back; if I do bad work, customers will leave and not use me again. Just focus on doing a good work and the rest will sort itself out.
I think I should take his advice.
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