Neil Denny explores how to see business through the lens of an artisan or craftsman. In his post on dealing with rejection he has some great perspectives weaving together ideas from Daniel Kahnemann and Richard Sennett. I resonated with his description of the pain of rejection and laugned in recognition of the inner voices that get fired off in the head when it happens. And I love the idea of seeing it as part of the craft. Here’s a tiny snippet, but I really recommend the whole thing, it’s beautiful stuff.
In claiming autonomy for yourself and your work you are going to meet immense resistance. You see those noes in your inbox? Those are the knots in the wood you are trying to carve. Amongst the noes lie your opportunities to be excellent, to refine your skill in handling your tools, whether they are marketing, creating content, connecting, whatever it might be.
Some improviser somewhere (it might even have been me) said, “No is an offer”. It doesn’t always feel that way, but I guess like reluctance (see previous post) the sense of rejection is something we can play with. And by playing with it, we might craft something out of it.
