The difference between a fifty-year-old carpenter and a novice

The difference between the novice and the master is simply that the novice has not learnt, yet, how to do things in such a way that he can afford to make small mistakes. The master knows that the sequence of his actions will always allow him to cover his mistakes a little further down the line. It is this simple but essential knowledge which gives the work of a master carpenter its wonderful, smooth, relaxed, and almost unconcerned simplicity.

Via 37signals and quoted from 'A Pattern Language'.

Published: May. 29th, 2008. Categorized: Text. Tagged: Craftsman, Expertise, Simplicity