It’s not about slick, it’s about craftsmanship

Seth Godin wrote a blog post today about being slick. He claims the way people judged high quality was the degree of “slickness” that was put into a piece, like a business card, website, brochure, etc. I think he is wrong.

I think it is and always will be about craftsmanship, i.e., how “tight” the piece is. Was the logo crafted or was it grabbed from a clip art book and had some extrusion slapped on it? Does the brochure tell a story or is it merely a collection of color photos with a bunch of words wrapped up in a glossy cover? Are the lyrics tight (American Pie) or are they sloppy and lazy (Tik Tok)? Do the blog posts contain typos, split infinitives, jargon, tense shifts, subject-verb disagreements, unnecessary words and half-developed ideas or are they edited and tight? Is the CEO always on time for meetings, does he always knows the numbers and can he clearly articulate the vision?

A good plumber will be proud of his solder joints. Rarely will you see uneven globs of solder or drips on the pipes. A painter will practice for years to be able to cut in on a corner and make a straight freehand edge. Mike Holmes is very proud of his ability to caulk even as he runs a contracting empire because he knows that a straight, even caulk line is the crafted touch that points to everything else he does as solid. I’m certain you can find all sorts of “caulk lines” in companies you’ve done business with. Most were probably uneven. Most were abutted to expensive slick tile or trim.

We’re not now seeking “transparency and reputation and guts” as a replacement cue for slick as we have always been seeking craftsmanship. Poor craftsmen will always wrap bad work up in slick packaging just as they will attempt to pervert and subvert “transparency, reputation and guts.”

But you can’t fake craftsmanship.