The value of quality to a craftsman

I'm still reading "The Craftsman" by Richard Sennett.

I read this morning that a focus on people within a company can drive the craftsman away. If you want to attract and retain craftsman, a company should instead focus on quality of the product.

Sennett describes Deming as complex and cautionary. The complexity is that to arouse the aspiration for quality and make good on it, the organization itself has to be well crafted in form. It needs open immediate communication, but it needs to wait to bring its products to market until they are really good. Deming knew these aspects of organization seldom appear on management charts of who reports to whom. Deming was not, however, a simple salesman, a booster of quality; he recognized that quality-driven work, focused on achieving good concrete results, does not necessarily unify or sustain organizations.

Lacrosse Scrimmage in Knoxville, TN

We traveled to Knoxville this weekend for Adam's Lacrosse team to get three scrimmages on Saturday.

The picture to the left shows Coach Andy Tarter giving Adam (#6 Black) some tips before play was ready to start against CHS. Adam looked more comfortable today than he did last fall, but as a freshman, he still has a lot to learn about the game.

They were supposed to have a fourth scrimmage and a full game on Sunday, but the weather did not cooperate.

Adam stayed with friends at a teammate's vacation house, so Jackie and I enjoyed the weekend hanging out with some of the Lacrosse parents.

This picture was taken while Adam (#6 White) had the ball or shortly after losing it. He avoided a body check by getting a little lower than the opponent. Throughout the day, Adam consistantly was able to stay low, but needs to work on keeping his feet underneath him while attacking.

My basketball coaches always told me I was out of control, I suspect that I looked a little like Adam "falling forward" with the ball.

Tates Creek finished the day with a respectable 1-2 record considering the age of the players.

Valentines Dinner hosted by the Youth Group

The Tatesbrook youth group served twenty some tables in the basement of the church for Valentines day.

Jackie and I went out to eat on February 7th, because we knew we would be in the kitchen on February 14th.

Kelley Thomas, Matt Hind, Kim Foster, Josh Covington and Erin Markert all did a great job serving with the youth that night.

Kelley and Gadis must have worked all day getting tables and decorations into the basement. They did a great job preparing. It wasn't until we started tearing down all the decorations that I realized just how much work it was to move in the furniture and decorate it.

After they served the guests and the guests had left the building, the youth sat down for a spaghetti dinner of their own.