Craft Information Systems: Forget what you think you know. A year ago I started to learn about culinary art, the art of cooking. The first thing to do was to forget everything I thought I knew about food. So, what does food have to do with Craft Information Systems? I am glad you asked that question; because, the Art of Cooking food has everything to do with how you think about things. How clever you are helps determine how long you last in this industry. To be in this Craft, you have to be clever. Didn’t I just say that? If you are dimwitted, you had better unbutton your ability to think or you will not get very far. Whit buttoned too tight is uncomfortable. So, let’s begin again, shall we? Forget what you think you know. Start over. Master basics of what you should know, CIS Rule #7. If you have to ask yourself, “Is this really worth it?” Then you are not fully committed and you will fail. You do not want to be there when a belly full of doubt buttoned too tightly becomes unsure of itself. It has a tendency to empty itself… and that is just a big mess. It is assumed that the Apprentice knows how to turn on a light switch. However, what is more important at this point is the reason why the light switch was turned on. If it is bright outside and a window is open and the room is filled with light, it makes no sense to turn on the light switch. The process of thinking pragmatically should be what you are trying to develop first. It is a basic skill of getting perspective and applying resource to need. If you lack skill in this area and are not in this Craft, no worries; you can practice in all areas of your life. If you are already in this Craft and need the practice, people depend on you: I recommend you start right now. Why you should learn all over again, the very basics is in this allegorical example: There was once a professional Chef who advised an amateur cook’s question about cooking a lot of chicken legs. Several other people were in the conversation and made recommendations. One person said to boil the legs to remove the meat and make a chicken stock. Another said to add a bundle or little bag with aromatic vegetables and herbs like carrots, celery, and thyme, black pepper, and garlic to the stock. Another person said to cut the meat from the bones, break the bones, and put them into the stock. Another said that grinding the bones to make chicken broth is a part of how a large well-known chicken processing company makes their chicken broth. Another said that white wine can make the chicken taste more like chicken, giving is a more rounded flavor profile. The professional Chef advised the Amateur chef that the others were wrong, stated reasons why they were wrong, and then offered no solution of his own, expecting the amateur to figure things out on his own. When we seek to understand classic methods , we go to people or books of other media that have that information. We study the old ways and practice them. Then we experiment and learn from others in the Art to help us synthesize knowledge. When the time comes for you to ask the right questions, then you reach into the body of your knowledge and the knowledge of others for a solution. Primarily, it starts with you. Sure, you remember what you practice… that is the role of practice, to remember how to do things. But, the knowledge of knowing a thing is different from the experience of doing a thing. So, when you forget what you think you know, it opens you to listening and observing. You are able to gain new information by not thinking that you know everything. So, a Master Craftsman is pretty close to knowing all there is to know about a Craft, from the point of view of the apprentice or the Amateur. But, never underestimate the skills and experience of Amateurs. They do parts of the Craft because they love it. Because they specialize in their personal areas of interest, they become pseudo-experts. Combined with training and Master Craftsman judgment of their works, they become informal experts. In the world of cooking, there are Amateur Chefs. They self-study, practice, and participate in the areas of cooking in which they enjoy most. Some take up bread, some take up meats, some take up veggies, while others may take to making wine or beer or both. But, the field is huge. There is a great big world out there waiting to be discovered. When people assemble to discuss the Craft, they have backgrounds as varied as the directions of the wind. Sometimes the wind blows one way in one place and another direction in another place. The professional Chef in the example learned something. He learned it wrong. And, what little advice he gave was bad advice, according to the current body of knowledge in the Art of Cooking, by some of its renowned Master Craftsmen, a current culinary textbook, and a for profit large scale organization. Why was one of the Amateurs able to make this determination of the professional’s advice, because an Amateur threw out everything he thought he knew and began to learn. After a year, that amateur had learned and practiced enough to answer simple questions. Still learning the basics, the Amateur makes time to Master them. A professional, on the other hand, has to Master the same basics, but operates in less time and in greater quantities. There is a great difference between the professional and the amateur. The pressure and environment of the professional chef is as varied as the same of a Computer Man. Yet, it is from the current body of knowledge trained to the newest computer people and the knowledge of Amateur experts that we gain betterment and more rounded education within the Craft. By listening and observing and practice, we become better chefs and computer men. So, whatever other craft you choose to learn, find something you enjoy. Learn it anew. Use that as an opportunity to change your thinking to be more pragmatic in your quest to be a better computer man. Craft Information Systems is an Art meant to be practiced. So, what is it going to be? A know it all who makes an ass of himself by tearing down others? Or, are you going to be the kind of person who intelligently dominates himself and builds other people up through careful guidance to the right answers? Suppose the light in that room was for a Dentist? See what I mean about listening and observing? Didn’t have all the facts, did you? Feed your brain.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:07:10 +0000