November 17, 2025
Craft
"A master of his craft." A phrase often uttered but apparently little understood—or, at least, little appreciated.
It is often associated negatively—things can seem “too crafty”—or sheerly as the mundane steps from concept to creation. But it is much more than that. It is the deep knowledge of why something is done in such a way. It is the art of perfection through understanding. It is the best knife for a particular purpose. It is the relentless obsession with learning, iterating, and improving without forgiveness for others. It is the desire to create something unequalled for its purpose.
I recently visited a coffee shop called Sump Coffee. Their mission statement, taken directly from their website:
The primary pursuit at Sump is the perfect handcrafted cup of coffee –regardless of the brewing method.
As I entered the café, located in a quiet St. Louis neighborhood, I was reminded of what it means to be truly obsessed with your craft. While busy, it was quiet—like a hallowed wooden hall designed for one purpose and one purpose alone: to create the perfect coffee.
Scott, the proprietor, spends an extensive amount of time trying new methods, tools, beans—anything that he thinks with drive him in the right direction. However, as you sit in the café, you can tell that this is not something done in a hurry. He is in no rush. Each day is a step forward, but the goal is not getting further away. The perfect cup of coffee is a pursuit, whether or not it is acheivable is beyond the point.
Sump even admits this themselves:
Now can we guarantee that you will find no equal to our coffee? No. Each palate is different and comes with its own context and history. Neither do I know that we will find this ‘grail’ or that it is something other than myth –like a unicorn or chupacabra. But, most of the interesting stuff in life happens in the doing, in the questing.
Ultimately, to many, this obsession feels like a form of consumerism. An unnecessary obession over a singular product. As a society, we settle for “okay” and “good enough.” Our stores stocked with cheaply built and poorly-designed wares and temporary solutions to problems—both ongoing and temporary. As developers and entrepreneurs, we “move fast,” “break things,” “iterate,” “pivot.”
But this is not craft. This is “good enough.” Craft is a balance of the act of creation, interluded gracefully with pauses for consideration, learning, experimentation, and discovery. More often than not, it feels as though these interludes are considered a loss of steam or a step in the wrong direction.
Good enough is, well, good enough. It solves the problem. But let’s not forget that it’s okay to obsess. Pursue perfection, even if it seems unachievable.
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