At a Renaissance Festival years ago, I found myself once again drawn to the same booth I visited every year—the glassblower’s workshop. People would gather early just to watch someone work. Not because they wanted to learn how to do it, but simply to witness the transformation. From a hot, gooey mess to a delicate piece of glass art, shaped with care, precision, and experience. When people bought a piece, they weren’t just buying decor—they were buying a story.
And that got me thinking about software craftsmanship.
In a recent lightning talk, I explored the idea: What would it take for our work as software developers to be admired like that?
Are We Seen as Craftspeople?
It’s easy to think of software development as purely functional. Build the thing, ship it, move on. But there’s a deeper layer—when done well, software can be craft. The kind of work that invites admiration, pride, and storytelling.
- Do your users or clients ever talk about how you built something?
- Do they show it off?
- Do they tell others about your care, your skill, your process?
If not… what could we be doing differently?
Let Them See You Work
One lesson from the glassblower: people admire the outcome more when they see the process. As developers, we tend to hide that messy middle—the sprint planning, the modeling sessions, the back-and-forth of refining features.
But what if we invited stakeholders in?
Let them see the sketches. The domain conversations. The dead ends that turn into insights. The tools we choose, the reasons we change our minds, the care we bring to code. Show them the gooey mess and let them witness it harden into something beautiful.
Documenting the Journey
This talk also touched on a few personal milestones: launching a community magazine, writing blog posts, speaking at conferences. What all of these had in common was documentation. Writing things down as I work. Recording what I’ve learned. Reflecting on the edges of my understanding.
It’s easy to forget how much we’ve grown until we look back at our own words. Sometimes I reread an old post and think, “Oh yeah—I struggled with that too.” That forgotten knowledge can become a lifeline for someone else, or a reminder for future you.
Two Roads to Craftsmanship
Some developers start with soft skills and grow their technical chops over time. Others start deeply technical and gradually develop the empathy, communication, and leadership that make them truly impactful. I was in the latter camp.
The point isn’t which path you start on. It’s that both are valid routes to craftsmanship.
When Software Sparks Stories
The talk ends with a reminder: the most important thing isn’t the tech, the tooling, or the documentation. It’s how the user feels.
If someone loves using your software, they’ll tell others. Not just about what it does—but about how it was made, and who made it. That’s the moment when your work stops being a commodity and starts becoming something more.
Software worth talking about.
🎥 Watch the full talk here:
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