On Praise and Criticism
When someone shows you their woodworking project and ssks,"What do you think?", there is only one thing to do. Lie like you've never lied before. Lie knowing that the lie is better for them than the truth. I learned this a long time ago. As a paint chemist, I have spend innumerable, fascinating hours watching paint being applied to cars in factories. I have also spent many hours in the company of automotive engineers explaining to me in colorful detail exactly what is wrong with my paint. (Yes, my job is literally watching paint dry.) As a result, I can go around most cars and find five things wrong with a paint job without even looking hard.
Once upon a time, a long time ago, a friend asked me what I thought of the paint job on his brand new car. I critiqued it much as I would on an inspection in a plant. I showed him the low paint areas, the areas with too much orange peel, the sealer runouts, and the swirl marks. When I was done, he was never satisfied with that car again. After seeing what I had done, I vowed that I would never make a person unhappy with their car again.
This all came flooding back to me over the weekend. A friend of mine showed me a book case he had put together using dimensional lumber. He hadn't sanded it enough to eliminate the planer marks, he hadn't rabbeted the back panel, glue run out had not been wiped from several joints, nor had the edges been sanded to take the curse off them. Finally, the whole unit listed slightly to the right.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"Looks like a darn good job to me." I replied as sincerely as I could. The result was that he was happy. He wasn't asking for how he could improve the next time he builds one. He was asking for reassurance that all the time and effort he had put into this project had resulted in something he could be proud of. The best I could do for this budding woodworker was to reassure him that this first effort was good enough, and start him down the road to becomming a better woodworker.
By the way, if I ever show you my stuff, I would appreciate it if you lied.
Once upon a time, a long time ago, a friend asked me what I thought of the paint job on his brand new car. I critiqued it much as I would on an inspection in a plant. I showed him the low paint areas, the areas with too much orange peel, the sealer runouts, and the swirl marks. When I was done, he was never satisfied with that car again. After seeing what I had done, I vowed that I would never make a person unhappy with their car again.
This all came flooding back to me over the weekend. A friend of mine showed me a book case he had put together using dimensional lumber. He hadn't sanded it enough to eliminate the planer marks, he hadn't rabbeted the back panel, glue run out had not been wiped from several joints, nor had the edges been sanded to take the curse off them. Finally, the whole unit listed slightly to the right.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"Looks like a darn good job to me." I replied as sincerely as I could. The result was that he was happy. He wasn't asking for how he could improve the next time he builds one. He was asking for reassurance that all the time and effort he had put into this project had resulted in something he could be proud of. The best I could do for this budding woodworker was to reassure him that this first effort was good enough, and start him down the road to becomming a better woodworker.
By the way, if I ever show you my stuff, I would appreciate it if you lied.
posted by Greg the woodworker | 9:54 AM
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