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Boundaries. The Artisan’s Secret Weapon.
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Boundaries. The Artisan’s Secret Weapon.

Richard Merrick's avatar
Richard Merrick
Jan 18, 2021
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Outside the Walls
Boundaries. The Artisan’s Secret Weapon.
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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

We make progress by pushing boundaries. Without boundaries, we don't learn, we just do more of the same.

When we look out there, we can see people for whom "enough" is not a concept. They have a process that they follow, and the more they work, the more money comes in and they end up with more money than they can reasonably use, and in the end they are owned by the money. In my experience, when I used to work with people like that and was at one point in danger of joining them, I learned that it's not a good place to be. Money is a great servant but an unforgiving master.

Artisans are different. They need boundaries to push against, They need to find new ways of thinking and doing that lets them discover new ways of creating, new areas to conquer, and new contributions to make. For artists, it might be an idea, for makers it might be a technique, or a new raw material. In business, it might be a new way to solve an old problem, or understanding a new one. W…

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