Art critic
Recorded · The Observer · 2010
For me, no word comes without prior thought. No sentence is generated without effort. No formulation is made automatically.
Professional practice
Skilled trades & repair
How trained eyes judge quality, precision, tools, safety, apprenticeship, and repairability.
12 questions, 162 quoted from what public figures said elsewhere, each with its source. Every question is asked in FLAPSS wording — nobody answers as anybody else.
Worth reading
What is the biggest professional obstacle you have faced?
Co-founder and chief executive of Apple; co-founder of NeXT; chief executive of Pixar
Recorded · Fortune · 2008
At Pixar when we were making Toy Story, there came a time when we were forced to admit that the story wasn't great. It just wasn't great. We stopped production for five months....
Biochemist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2023
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2023
Adam, if you know about 10 years ago, I was here in October because I was kicked out, from Penn, was forced to retire.
Every question in this questionnaire
- What signs tell an experienced eye that a job was done well? —
- What are you best at that nobody watching would notice? 26
- Where does precision matter most in your trade, and where is perfection wasteful? —
- Which tool most changed how you work, and which skill must remain even when the tool improves? —
- What makes you want to keep learning? 9
- Which tempting shortcut is never worth the safety risk? —
- What bad recommendations do people in your field repeat too often? 32
- What should an apprentice be allowed to struggle with before somebody steps in? —
- Who makes your work possible behind the scenes? 2
- What is the biggest professional obstacle you have faced? 24
- How do you decide whether something should be repaired, rebuilt, or replaced? —
- How has a setback or failure set you up for later success? 69
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