July 2024

It's a process

Many years ago, I watched a corporate training video by the actor John Cleese (Yes, really – the Monty Python guy).  The topic was the “value” of making mistakes.  Essentially, he said that learning from mistakes was a valuable element of the process of finding good results.  I can tell you that I find this to be an especially true experience in one of my side gigs.  Making furniture is that gig, and I have innumerable mistakes buried in the work.  If Cleese’s advice is sound, I might be getting better.  Honestly, though, it’s sometimes hard to tell.

Examples:

The Sculpture Case

Squareness is Sometimes Critical
Although this piece was separable into sections so it could be moved, each section was bigger than any of my clamping devices could manage as the glue-ups cured.  I thought I could get by with spot checks on individual areas.  That was a mistake.  When finally fully assembled, I found that it was out of square by a fraction of a degree.  The center chest purchased in Thailand just barely fit into place.  I won’t make that mistake again.

The "Simple" Desk

Pay Attention to the Instructions

Most of the desktop consists of glue-ups of 1x4 cherry boards.  After laying out the first section, I cut multiple slots to insert biscuits, which would be used to maintain alignment of the clamped boards as the glue cured.  All advice tells you that the typical biscuit of compressed beech will expand slightly from the moisture of the glue.  This is actually intentional.  However, with 9 boards and multiple biscuits per board, there was so much expansion that no matter how hard I screwed down the clamps I couldn’t get the joints to close.  As the glue was drying in front I me, I had to take out all the biscuits; and clamped things together with the inevitable unevenness.  I didn’t make that mistake again, and did the other glue-ups with no biscuits.

Be Cautious with "Experiments"

At 12 feet long, the desk could not easily be moved in one piece.  Since I wanted the appearance of it being a single piece, I designed a joinery detail that interlocked the adjoining sections with a “sawtooth” arrangement of the boards – much like the coursing of running bond brickwork.  What I did not account for was the minuscule differences in the boards and their slightly differing expansion rates.  After glue-up they simply would not link together.  This brought on many days of sanding, modifications, and swearing as I finally got things to go together.  It was not pretty, and I knew it had to be done all over again after finishing and relocation to the office. I won’t make that mistake again.

Outdoor Furniture

Saving Money Takes Effort

Watch Out for Unintended Consequences

Aside from the compromise of cedar selection, I made the choice to experiment.  (See caution noted above.)  The colored material is not wood.  Its High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) – the same material commonly used for cutting boards.  Touted for its low maintenance and integral color, I thought it was a reasonable choice in lieu of anything that was painted.  Was this a mistake?  Time will tell.

OK, What's My Point?

Getting back to John Cleese’s advice – mistakes have value.  Fear of making mistakes is an inhibitor of innovation and progress.  Whether it’s in the application of a new business practice, the use of a material, the encouragement of young talent – or experiments in furniture construction.  They all (as well as the many likely to arise) should be embraced.

But that acceptance, should not be without guardrails.  Group acknowledgment of the approach, knowing there could be unintended consequences is critical.  A willingness to retrench if things do not go as planned or hoped is useful.  And especially important is a positive attitude in the times of almost predictable adversity.

I think I’m a better woodworker than I was a year ago.  I’ll wager you could have better business results if mistakes were part of the approach.  Ask John Cleese.

PS, Some online resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_RUg4jvCXE

https://www.openculture.com/2016/01/john-cleese-on-the-importance-of-making-and-embracing-mistakes.html

PPS, Ignore any of Cleese's recent politics.  They're dubious.

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September 2022  “ The New Normal"
March 2022  “ Facilities Management – My Way"
January 2022  “Report Writing for Dummies"
October 2021  “Writer's Block and Other Musings"
May 2021  “Lower Ed?”
September 2020  “Just Stylin'”
July 2020  “Reflections on Our Covid Times”
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September 2019  “OPM Cheerleader”
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November 2016  “The Owner as CM?”
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October 2011  “I Want What I Want”
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