tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34011427.post5002293120634337779..comments2024-03-26T07:00:11.620-05:00Comments on Wisdom of the Hands: quality school...Doug Stowehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34011427.post-65011196598448128482015-11-09T11:57:21.470-06:002015-11-09T11:57:21.470-06:00Worth noting here that at one time one of the func...Worth noting here that at one time one of the functions of unions, inherited from the medieval guilds, was to maintain high standards of workmanship. I understand why this got dropped -- in their adversarial relationship to management, why would unions want to give their opponents another club to beat them with? But it left a void. Teaching the value and nobility of good workmanship has to be taken up elsewhere -- schools being one logical place. It's also my belief that a true craftsman is also an educator of his customers. Our standards should always be higher than those we serve. Tim Holtonhttp://www.holtonframes.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34011427.post-44266093603106163332015-11-09T09:47:30.300-06:002015-11-09T09:47:30.300-06:00Keep on preaching! I see the same attitude in foo...Keep on preaching! I see the same attitude in food preparation and photography, two of my particular interests. Your attention to real standards needs to be seen by us all.Don Boyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14439057988176850838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34011427.post-73390031354521006492015-11-08T21:00:44.992-06:002015-11-08T21:00:44.992-06:00It seems like an impossible task. You can't ma...It seems like an impossible task. You can't make someone care about his or her work. If you uphold higher standards it comes across as elitism and criticism or you are regarded as rude and overly demanding. What I end up doing is letting them slip away and then trying to redo myself to bring things up to what I expect. For instance, the panel front on the dishwasher was not properly aligned, so after the installer left, I loosened the screws and adjusted it myself. If I had insisted he fix things to my standards, he would have hated me for it, and it would not have changed his behavior on the next job.Doug Stowehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34011427.post-44381931739792417652015-11-08T14:56:52.971-06:002015-11-08T14:56:52.971-06:00Nothing's more frustrating to those of us prom...Nothing's more frustrating to those of us promoting craftsmanship than craftsmen who don't care about their work! But what else can we expect after centuries of denigration of labor and putting craftspeople in financially vulnerable conditions? Tim Holtonhttp://www.holtonframes.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34011427.post-81018028596424942562015-11-08T11:49:45.038-06:002015-11-08T11:49:45.038-06:00It can be awkward and put others in an embarrassin...It can be awkward and put others in an embarrassing position when you point out their errors, particularly those things that should be obvious to them if they cared.<br /><br />Much of this has to do with the failure to educate all people in craftsmanship. Even those who do not work as craftsmen should at least become acquainted with standards of craftsmanship, how it is attained, and the dignity of it. Instead we have a society in which folks slide by. It's odd, that while educational policy makers are concerned with standards and standardization, throughout the rest of our culture and economy we are being forced to lower our standards. Someone tell me please, that these two are unrelated. It seems that by removing craftsmanship from schooling and making the standardized test the only means of assessment, we have lowered our cultural standards.Doug Stowehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13003845322415622289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34011427.post-91719952350646026492015-11-08T10:11:09.820-06:002015-11-08T10:11:09.820-06:00well said!! in this time and age, there is a lot o...well said!! in this time and age, there is a lot of "how much money can I make in the shortest amount of time possible" before people move on to the next project/job. We helped a relative remodel a house but whenever I pointed out mistakes and really sloppy work, the contractor would yell at us and refuse to fix it. He felt he (his crew) did a great job, what can we do. Helenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08598835327352218615noreply@blogger.com