Getting crafty
There's crafts to every single thing that you're doing.
Even when it comes to engineering, I always tell the engineers on my team: right now, if we're saying coding has been solved, what makes you a better engineer is not the fact that you can code well. It has to be more than that.
As I'm looking at my engineers, I'm looking at how close are you to my bottom line. Because right now, building the thing is not the greatest thing anymore. What's the next thing after that?
Technology is changing things drastically. Getting curious, and getting crafty about the things that you do. Beyond just "I need to do A to get B", but wondering what happens in the transition. Carpentry: the joints and nails, what you paint over.
Maybe I'm just a nerd, and I find those things cool to know and be able to execute.
Said out loud on Sensemaking with Wolé & Tobi, Episode 118, “The Case for Getting Your Hands Dirty”, released 13 April 2026. Trimmed for filler; not rewritten.