One of the big summer hits this year is the Netflix series Stranger Things. Set in Indiana in the early 1980s, it is redolent with nostalgia for an earlier time. Nobody carries cell phones. Kids roam the neighborhood without parents watching their every move or organizing every activity. Smoking is everywhere and not confined to small, outdoor spaces more than 15 feet from building entrances.
Some of what we had in the past is better and some of it worse, and I feel the same way about job sites these days. One of the biggest trends in building materials over the last few decades is a drive to simplify the installation of materials. When building products fail, the reason is nearly always due to installation error. Because of the heavy liability of product failure, we have to make the products-to put a blunt edge on it- idiot proof. If we could construct buildings like Legos, snapping together the pieces, I think we would.
So, when I hear people ask with a nostalgic tone of voice, “Where have all the craftsmen gone?” I can’t help but wonder if we haven’t driven them off the site by taking away the craft of building. I say that hesitantly though, because I know there is still plenty of craft left in the construction industry, and one of the biggest problems we face these days is a shortage of skilled labor. We need more craftsmen.
But one can’t help wonder if the two trends aren’t related. We require less of our craftsmen at the same time we see less interest among young people in pursuing craft positions.
The truth is this genie isn’t going back in the bottle. We’re not suddenly going to go back to a method of construction that is more difficult, time consuming and labor intensive. At the same time that I lament the fading away of our craftsmanship, I also ardently disagree with the sentiment expressed by those who believe “we don’t build them like we used to.” My response to that is flatly, “Thank goodness.”
The buildings we used to construct were drafty, prone to collapse in earthquakes, inefficient and likely to run out of service in a shorter period than our current edifices. We build them so much better now, it’s not even comparable.
Which brings me back to craftsmanship. Do we need to redefine what craftsmanship is? I think so. Where we used to admire the worker who could painstakingly fit pieces-wood, metal or whatever- together seamlessly, I think we now need to admire workers who can efficiently fit pieces together seamlessly. Efficiency in today’s craftsmanship trumps painstaking. That makes it hard to judge value, because efficient work often looks effortless, while painstaking work always looks hard. How do you measure a person’s worth as a craftsman when he or she makes it look easy?
On today’s job site, the most valuable craftspeople are the most productive. Going back to my nostalgia theme, I have to admit that there is a part of me that wants to dispute that notion. There’s a strong part of me that worries we’ve merged the art of craftsmanship with the mechanics of productivity, and we’re losing something valuable in the process.
Of course, maybe I’m just an old romantic, and I need to evolve with the changing times.
