The Beauty in Bricklaying

Annette Simmons has a great story explaining this, involving bricklayers.

Three masons were working on a project. I approached the unhappiest one and asked him about his anguish, and he said “I’m stuck here mortaring bricks.”

The second one was in better spirits, and I asked what he was up to. “I’m building a wall.”

Before I got close to the third, I heard him humming an inspirational melody. I asked what had him so excited, and he said “I’m building a cathedral!”
———————-
Physical
Mental
Spiritual

We exist on all three planes, but we don’t have to cement ourselves to the most banal. Reminders of grand vision and the big picture can attach a greater purpose to the mundane tasks.

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Amber, this is such a wonderful and timely post. One of the gifts of the present economic crisis is that the people who are hanging on to their jobs are the ones whose work is truly necessary.

So idea people and bricklayers who offer real value are in demand. Perhaps this is the beginning of a shift in how we as a society assess worth in the workplace.

As skilled tradespeople retire in droves, they are becoming hard to replace, and this drives up their wages. Being a bricklayer may not be for everyone, but when the profession is respected and paid accordingly, it will attract young people who feel called to the work.

Perhaps we can open a larger conversation about the value of doing what you love, whether that’s generating ideas or implementing them.

The measure of work is ultimately the contribution you make to your community and to your world. It also lies in the satisfaction and joy you experience in the work you do, and the its ability to support you in living a balanced and meaningful life.

So motivation, in that sense, requires a rethinking of our national priorities–focusing on what truly matters, and letting go of the rest.

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That’s a great question and one that I’ve thought about too. There’s an embedded assumption there that “architect” os universally seen as cooler than “bricklayer.” I think it’s worth testing that assumption.

I am a big proponent of the Myers Briggs framework for understanding personality types and one thing that is clear from that is that some people are most comfortable in the bricklayer role. The fun abstraction of architecture (you can tell I like that) actually makes them anxious and is not seen as “fun” but rather “mushy.” (See my video here on Myers Briggs. http://tr.im/i69M And no I don’t always wear a t-shirt.)

So the trick is to get the right person in the right role.

So . . . what to do if you look around your organization and there aren’t any bricklayer types? That’s a recruitment issue, not a “motivate people to do the unglamorous jobs” issue.

Does that make sense?

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Thanks for opening up this conversation! It’s especially important for the GenY’ers who are entering the work force and are so strongly independent they all want to be in charge, rise to the top, have all the ideas, then “let someone else make it happen.”

Actually, there’s a neat correlation to this in the Bible. If I could paraphrase it, I would, but I wouldn’t do it justice. So I’ll let Eugene Peterson do it for me (1 Corinthians 12:12,14-26 Taken from The Message) Here it’s talking about the church but could easily reference business too.

“You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church[or group or team or business]: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.”

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This is a terrific topic and so current – as Hiro Boga notes.

We just aren’t in a time where we’re honoring the craftsmanship of being the “details person who actually does the work” in many aspects of our society. And this is truly sad because we love to complain when the details aren’t handled well, whether it’s at a local fastfood join, restaurant, hotel, our computer store, or our financial adviser.

I’m not sure how to slow us down enough to value the skills everyone can bring to the table, but I do know that in any kind of crisis, financial or otherwise, we want a bricklayer to fix it.

And who do you want cooking your souffle’ an idea person or a chef who can actually make one rise?

Personally, I’m an idea person, who also worries over all the details, sometimes finding myself busing tables at an event just to make sure the guests are happy.

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It’s kind of like Richard St. John’s talk at TED: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success.html

@Ike He cites Annette Simmons’ anecdote you mentioned – but with a different take away point.

Cheers. Thorsten.

Ok, Ike’s comment was beautiful and I think incredibly accurate. The idea people get to see the big picture and promote it. Their focus is always on the greatest of the great, the most glamorous of the glamorous.

But the responsibility of the bricklayers lies in, well, laying bricks, the nitty gritty, the stuff that doesn’t seem at all glamorous. Reminding the bricklayers of the big picture and how their role is integral to even beginning to get there is a place to start.

I don’t think we’re doing a good job communicating to our teams or sharing our successes AND failures or pointing to collaborative results. All of those factors need to be upped exponentially to get bricklayers back on the map, and I feel like it has to start at the top, with the top acting less like the top and more like the foundation below.

Great post, Amber!

When I was a kid, I thought that being a bricklayer was the best job imaginable–it’s very hands-on, and you can see tangible results of your work. I used to read want ads for bricklaying jobs, until it occurred to me that (a) I couldn’t move a wheelbarrow full of bricks, and (b) no one was going to higher a third-grader for that job anyhow.

As it turns out, I’m good at ideas and I’m good at execution. I get a lot of satisfaction out of that combination.

What would you say we need to motivate the bricklayers to embrace and own their role as builders? Having been and supervised engineersbefore moving into sales, often it’s simply “thank you.” The most simple acknoledgement that it requires the entire “web” of support to get an idea to fruition.

We bricklayers absolutely have to be our own champions. And in community management we are often the big idea person and the one who executes it. I feel that bricklayers who can take their own ideas and those of others and turn them into something that lives and breathes are the real talent. BUT, I think we have to feel empowered and that means having areal sense of ownership over our product. I like the way you shaped this conversation and the questions you are posing. It’s also important to remember that managing up in your organization is an art and doing it successfully can really take you places and get you and your bricks noticed a lot faster.
Angela | @communitygirl

Brad made half the point I was going to, about Myers-Briggs. A framework for industry that has been widely embraced, the MBTI showed me that it was OK to be an “ideas,” “big picture” person in what seemed like a personal and professional life of bricklayers.

But I wonder, too, if it’s a liability. It’s often easy for me to say “I’m an INTJ” and think I “can’t” do something because it’s not my strength. The truth is, as both Myers and Briggs have pointed out, we ALL have elements of ALL 16 personality traits. Some are simply stronger than others, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be open to other ways of doing things.

I really think this is where communication breakdowns come from, the desire/impulse/instinct to box each other and ourselves into carefully defined roles. Outliers scare us. So the question is as much about ourselves as it is about those we manage/inspire.

Christa . . . one of the best bosses I ever had was INTJ!

Just trying to give some love to the “I’s” out there.

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Thanks Brad! I find I am easier on myself professionally than I am on myself as a mom. My (probably) ESFP mother-in-law has been living with us for a few weeks and… well… it’s been interesting. Was your boss male or female? I have struggled a bit as a female INTJ, again, mainly in my personal life. I try to make it a joke now — “I overthink everything” or some such, which I say to open the door to other thinking!

(I feel like we’re hijacking the thread, so Amber kick us off if u want!)

Christa, the boss was (is) male. As you may know, the T/F dimension is the one that most closely correlates to gender — more females are F and more males are T. Which can mean that male F’s and female T’s can arouse suspicion or resentment from their same-gender peers sometimes. (“She’s so harsh,” and “he’s so soft.”)

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I’ve often thought, actually, that the ESFP type most closely correlates with what society expects of the “ideal” mother. Outgoing, detail-oriented, feeling, go-with-the-flow.

That could, of course, be my own perception based on personal bias of everything I am not! But it goes back to my point about expecting certain people to be a certain way. And maybe that speaks to a problem with company culture in general. (See how I’m bringing the point back around? )

I worked for several years in a university setting. Highly process-oriented, so “bricklayers” were more valued than creative “ideas” people, who were seen as threats. (I think this is true of all bureaucracies.)

I suspect, however, that architecture firms expect all their employees to be more ideas-oriented. They’re likely to hire people who fit company culture, at that point, rather than those who fit the job description; they would see “bricklayers” in terms of secretaries.

Granted, HR people may not have the time to carefully consider the types who will best fit the needs behind the tasks. Sales, PR etc. should be extroverted; IT should be detail-oriented and introverted. But I suspect it’s easier, perhaps at an unconscious level, to select employees who won’t “make waves.”

And maybe, Amber, that goes back to a point you made on Twitter yesterday — about “outdated” job descriptions?

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Amazingly…I covered a very similar topic today. So here is my two cents: If you can’t implement your strategy/idea effectively, it becomes essentially worthless to a large degree. You absolutely need people to be on the ground to kick ass and take names for you. Without them…any strategy will fall apart.

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Agree with others who say a simple “thank-you” is often the missing element. Other ways, at least in my experience as a creative director at several agencies, are to let the brick layers in on the “big picture” or what you’re trying to accomplish… and then getting back to them on results.

For example, in my business, designers often go from one design job to the next, without knowing the larger promotional or fundraising strategy that their work is helping to accomplish. And sometimes just saying, “that design of yours helped our test package beat a control” can be key. For creative folks, entering their work in Awards Competition can work wonders also.

I love this post and the interesting conversation that followed.

Something I have been mulling over is the role of the architect in the the selling of the vision Often times, something gets lost in translation between the visionary and the bricklayer. The bricklayer can become disillusioned with the mountain of work that is presented to them by the visionaries.

At my company I’m trying to act as a lynchpin between both groups to create the vision but also reinforce that it can be done!

I just blogged about this – great topic, Amber, but doesn’t that go without saying? – but as a car-carrying member of the Visionary Class, the dirty secret is that a lot of us envy the bricklayers. Without bricklayers, nothing we dream would come to anything. Most of us, as small businessmen, have to lay a fair number of bricks just to keep food on the table, and when we do, we discover that we truly suck at it. No, no, we can lay the bricks, but then we have to lay another one, and another one, and…hey! Isn’t that another really cool social medium!?!

See? We’re magpies. We think we’re very smart, and a lot of people spend huge bandwidth telling us so, but folks, really, just flash something shiny at us and…oops. Sorry. Got a Tweet there from Olivier.

I jest, slightly, but the sting of truth is there, for me at least. If I were as good a leader and organizer as my team’s bricklayers are at laying bricks, you’d be reading this on my blog, not Amber’s.

Those Visionaries that are still human, they’re jealous. I promise you.

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What Ike said above is critical, I think. The best visionaries are those that understand how hard it is to lay bricks, and the best bricklayers are those that have a powerful vision.

One of my mentors once told me: if you want people to build a ship, don’t tell one group to go get wood, and one group to buy some nails, and another to start with the blueprints. Teach them, instead, to yearn for the far and endless sea.

A visionary’s modus operandi.

Chris Joness last blog post..So, Do You Matter?

In another context, Amber asked why, if some people are unsuited to “vision” and are better suited to be bricklayers, do so many people end up in ill-fitting “visionary” roles for them?

My answer on Twitter was:

Biz-speak privileges “big vision” so people aspire to that even if it’s not who they are. Need new buzzword: “solid execution”

Amber asked back: So how do we create a buzz around “solid execution?”

Fair question. @AndreaJarrell answered it in another message to me: “Bricklayer can be seen as person with craft or grunt work. Seems like craft and satisfaction in that craft are key to shift.” I think that’s definitely a big start. Andrea went on to say: “Also, we might be addressing the vision/bricklayer issue from old perspective given gen shift toward collaboration not ‘me.’”

That last is definitely interesting. People who study the Millenials will tell you they don’t do ANYthing outside of groups, it seems. Scholars studying them, who ask them for their opinions, are frustrated when they huddle together as a group, spontaneously, because they all want to give the same answer. There may be an answer in there insofar as the collaborative mentality understands the need for a range of different folks.

FWIW.

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hola! Amber

I think it’s important to examine this from a psychological angle. Let’s face it, many “idea people” are a bit more egotistical than others. Idea people have this burning sensation to be “great” or create something “great” and weather we admit it or not, we want to be recognized and appreciated. “Bricklayers” (overgeneralizing here) generally don’t need the same amount of ego stroking, they have a skill, they are focused, and when they build a wall that’s part of a cathedral, they take pride in each placement of each brick.

Although, I think truly great “idea people” are also “bricklayers”. The people who have gotten down in the mud, taken risks, take the time to learn how to lay bricks, and then focus on their highest & best use.

If we can each do this: “Focus on our highest and best use” we can & will absolutely shine and WIN.

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Amber,
Great piece. At my organization, all the idea/big picture people are the supervisors and managers. The “real” work is getting done by us bricklayers.

The thing is, I’m really very happy being a bricklayer there. I get to do the work I enjoy doing – and that I’m good at. The idea people must cease any bricklaying and spend all their time planning and in meetings. For me, that’s not the way I want to spend my day.

Communication between the two roles could always be improved. I liked your analogy of the web vs. the hierarchy of roles. We need to do more work there, I think. Our organization still maintains a very vertical structure and everything is on a need to know basis.

Keep us posted on your further thoughts. This is definitely worth pursuing.

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All I know is that a mason is the only person that can do something perfect. No one else in the world can do that except me or my brothewrs. So don’t look into it so philisophical. I am a mason and I can do things no other humans can