The Journey of a New Artisan
Starting a New Chapter
Why does modern life revolve around objectives? From how science is funded, to how our children are educated, and nearly everything in between, our society has become obsessed with a seductive idea that greatness results from doggedly measuring improvement in the relentless pursuit of an ambitious goal.
When we combine an obsession with measurable objectives, with an equal obsession with short-term financial performance, we are sacrificing imagination and human ambition for the miserable incrementalism of financial growth that disproportionately favours a few. When the vast majority of our capital is represented by an infinite supply of intangibles (or, more realistically, stories) rather than finite tangible assets, shocks to the system are absorbed by the characters in the story (the rest of us) rather than the authors.
My recent exploration of "Navigating Spaces" led me to a significant personal insight. It’s time to move my thinking and writing into a new rhythm, because overthinking is just underdoing with better vocabulary - analysis paralysis disguised as intellectual rigour.
As individuals and societies, we cannot solve the challenges we face through objectives or what we know, no matter how well-organised or efficiently automated. We have been here before, but because the cycles are longer than life spans, we think it’s never felt like this before. I think we can be confident that for those who preceded us, as writing, agriculture, science, industrialisation and then knowledge, left them feeling as bewildered as we are by AGI, even if we express it less poetically than Gutenberg did in articulating his ambitions for the printing press:
God suffers in the multitude of souls whom His word can not reach. Religious truth is imprisoned in a small number of manuscript books, which confine instead of spread the public treasure. Let us break the seal which seals up holy things and give wings to Truth in order that she may win every soul that comes into the world by her word no longer written at great expense by hands easily palsied, but multiplied like the wind by an untiring machine.
Johannes Gutenberg
Throughout history, artisans, practitioners who work creatively, marrying old crafts with new technologies, have been the real architects of social change. We may be overwhelmed by AI hype and investor froth, but that's not where power lies. The reality of technology's impact lies in the hands, hearts and brains of those who do the work to understand, adapt and use it.
Technology is a multiplier, not an author.
If Artisans are authors of what happens next, how do we go about it?
To move from Observation to Orientation
I’ve brought together my reading, writing and conversations of the last two years into a framework. It is, of course, imperfect and incomplete.
My intention is not to provide answers. It is to ask questions that start conversations that lead to actions that work for individuals. (My focus is deliberately not on organisations. The ones we have are built on old paradigms, and they are not what we need.)
It’s about observation and orientation - decisions and actions are highly individualised; the time for conventional leadership books and courses is long past.
So, with more than a nod to John Boyd's OODA loop, and extensive work with professionals discovering their artisan capabilities - analysing their work archaeology, mapping their influence patterns, and connecting their values to their craft. I've put together the NOTICE framework.
None of this is simple. Moving from external validation to internal navigation, from analysis to care, from plans to experiments, these shifts require genuine courage and patience. However, for those who are ready to make them, the rewards extend far beyond professional success to fundamental questions of how we want to live and work.
The NOTICE Framework
Navigate by internal reference points. Peter Korn, in his book “Why We Make Things and Why It Matters”, navigates via “Integrity, Simplicity and Grace”. John Boyd via "People, Ideas, Machines - in that order” and Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Engineering, had “First Simplify and then add Lightness”. You will have, or develop, your own.
Orienting using values asks different things of us. Quality, not predetermined objectives and timescales. Kairos timing, more than Chronos’ drumbeat. It involves experiments and building capabilities rather than executing plans, and asks us to look for the “adjacent possible” - being aware of what’s emerging for “head, heart and hand” as well as what’s in front of us.
Observe through care more than analysis. Craft involves a dialogue with the material we work with, and a sensitivity to what it is trying to tell us. It is why skill with a lathe is different to a CNC machine, and why a conversation with an accountant is different to an accounting app.
Orienting demands that we develop what Robert Pirsig, in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, described thus: “Care and quality are internal and external aspects of the same thing. A person who sees quality and feels it as they work is a person who cares.” Too much reliance on AI can render us blind and deaf to the nuance that data alone cannot measure.
Trust the rhythm. Craft involves being present and alive in the moment. Being able to read the map, not just follow the GPS, and what Boyd termed “Fingerspitzengefühl” or “fingertip feeling”. An exquisite understanding of our relationship with the system we are part of.
Orientation asks that we exercise agency, that we are prepared to make “unplanned detours” when our instincts dictate, and that we focus on learning velocity as we gain insights and experience in emerging systems and are prepared to let go of what no longer works, letting direction be informed by what we learn rather than externally directed predetermined instruction.
Iterate with material feedback.Robert Pirsig noted that craft involves making decisions as we go along, because the nature of the material at hand determines our thoughts and motions. Similarly, Peter Korn writes of having “the creative effort to challenge embedded narratives of belief in order to think the world into being for oneself.”
Orientation also asks us to take responsibility, starting manually and automating later, so that we develop a direct relationship with the material. (It’s why I read books in full, rather than summaries.) Acting at first with a small audience, so that we develop intimacy with whatever problem or opportunity we are part of solving.
Curate character through craft. Allowing our commitment to our work to shape who we become. Character and Craft develop in tandem, as the work we do impacts those we serve (and in turn, those they serve). When markets are changing, it’s not just about what we do; it’s about becoming someone whose judgment people trust because of the quality of attention we bring to our work.
Orientation involves being willing to start small, with a narrow, limited base, and working out if our work is truly for them. We build engagement through the depth of our engagement with our craft, rather than being guided by protocols, processes, and dogma determined by others.
Embrace Quality as a unifying force. Quality has a metaphysical aspect to it - an understanding that excellence emerges not from controlling outcomes, but from the integrity of our engagement with the materials and people we work with.
Orientation requires understanding that quality cannot be measured, only experienced in what we make. Nothing ever got better because it met requirements, only when those making it moved their curiosity and imagination to encompass more than can be measured.
Because shit that moves at the speed of light is still shit. (HT NoTosh)
Why Does This Matter Now?
Because we're entering an era where human judgment, craft, and curation will be the primary differentiators. AI can optimise, but it cannot orient. It can analyse, but it cannot care. It can execute, but it cannot navigate by internal principles.
This framework isn't just theory - it's a foundation for practice. Starting this week, I'm reorganising everything around supporting others in developing their artisan capabilities...
Changes…
This Substack, and Outside the Walls will continue to run in parallel.
OTW will look at broader changes as things around us rearrange themselves, while New Artisans will sharpen its focus on what we might do in response, moving from observation to orientation so we can all decide and act in ways that work for us, individually and together.
The NOTICE framework is where I am starting as a way of turning New Artisan Principles into something more tangible.
Choose a domain to be Master of. Something that involves creation, rather than the smoke and mirrors of rentier business models. Make something that matters, that makes a contribution to others, and that you would be happy to explain to your grandchildren.
Choose the company you keep, the people and information that will shape your practice in the years to come, those you can trust and support and who will return that with generosity.
Don’t rush. Craft takes time. It is clear already that working with AI, and eventually AGI, will be a craft for the next era.
Seek and provide Curation. Be a source of wisdom and authority for those you serve, and find those who you can trust to curate for you.
Choose who to Serve. They will amplify the work you do
It will likely change as we progress and learn more, but starting feels important.
It will change the rhythm of my work. Every week, on a Tuesday, I will publish a free Post summarising what I am learning and noticing, but will also publish more material two or three times a week for paid subscribers.
In summary
Free weekly posts (Tuesdays): What I'm learning, noticing and doing.
Additional Weekly Paid Subscriber Posts: Deep dives into each NOTICE element, including materials and community access.
Subjects will include:
Communities of Practice
I have in mind two forms of practice - individual and group, and will test this through the Wednesday conversation group, and with paid subscribers to this Substack.
Framework
I will also expand on each aspect of the NOTICE framework, starting this week with Navigation.
Zoom Conversations.
Weekly conversations at 5:00 pm UK time, as well as other times if required for other time zones.
Materials.
I read extensively as part of my work, and will curate and share my best sources.
Working with Constraints.
Becoming an artisan is a journey we set out on at different times in our lives. Starting means working with constraints, and this feels like an important topic in its own right, so I intend to develop that as a thread in its own right.
Thanks Richard. I am pleased to see the flow - opening the water gate - and cheering you on from over here🌿
Superb!