towards leadership and culture

This is a response to a post by Donald Miller that can be found here.

The consumer is wholly moved by a creation. The creator who works with emotion is an artisan driven by skill and beauty. The creator who works without emotion is a simple drone. They have used half of themselves to make half of a thing. Feelings are not fleeting because they are always present. The pain of commitment is as powerful as the pain of love. You cannot kill your emotions without killing yourself. Use your whole self to create.

The artisan trusts emotion because it causes them to question. A maker who reflects upon their work will create something more meaningful than accurate. This process may be slow, conflicted and imprecise. However, precision is meaningless if pointing in the wrong direction. Don’t be accountable to the feelings of others but always remain aligned to the calling of your heart.

Stir up emotion before you work; it is the only thing that adds meaning to your labor. You can produce cogs for someone else’s machine most effectively when you do not feel. If this is your path, do not invest your whole self into the work; you will become a sniffling pre-teen swung by the emotions of others. You are meant to reflect your creator. Demonstrate His excellence with every swing of the hammer, every mixing of ingredients and every calculation of numbers. Create with skill and wonder in the same way He created you because you are wonderfully made.

Clear day in Poulsbo