Scarce and underappreciated

Artisans are not made overnight. It may seem simple, building and maintaining everyday items like pumps or motors. Changing oil. Replacing spark plugs. Installing a kitchen cabinet. Taking flanges apart and put them back together.

I once worked on an oil tanker during summer vacation. I had to drill holes and weld stuff. I had to connect things, like compression air pipes and make brackets. Sounds simple enough and I had been trained on all these skills. But I didn’t do these things aside from weekly 4 hour labs during school.

During those 3 months, I drilled and welded. I got better and faster but I was still a novice. I know how to do it, and what good looks like, but I don’t have the practical expertise to call myself an artisan.

Artisans take a different route from traditional university degreed professionals. They have to get their hands dirty. They must invest in quality tools. They go through apprenticeships to hone in their skillset.

We need more artisans to build quality products and buildings. It is a dying skill that require investment.

I have been fortunate to be exposed to both theory (strategy) and execution (build, operate, and maintain). The biggest gap in this world is with the execution…how do we get better, I wonder.