A Philosophy of Building Better: Chapter 1 - Building is the Pursuit of our Lives
Golden Gate Bridge painted by Ray Strong. Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum
Hi all 👋
In my previous post, I introduced my new writing project, Building Better. I will cross-post my first few posts here, but if you would like to subscribe to future posts, please consider subscribing to support my work!
Thanks!
Erik
“Anything that we have to learn to do we learn by the actual doing of it: people become builders by building and instrumentalists by playing instruments...
So it is a matter of no little importance what sort of habits we form from the earliest age - it makes a vast difference, or rather all the difference in the world.”
Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics
Today we begin our series outlining the Philosophy of Building Better:
Chapter 1 - Building is the Pursuit of our Lives
Chapter 2 - The Purpose of Building is to Further Human Flourishing
Chapter 3 - There is an Objectively Correct Way to Build
Chapter 4 - Building is Fundamentally Contextual
Chapter 5 - The Builder Must Learn from the Great Builders of the Past
Chapter 6 - Building Better Supports People’s Best Impulses
Chapter 7 - The Better Builder Refuses to Ethically Compromise
Chapter 8 - The Better Builder Strives to Repair
Chapter 9 - The Builder’s Oath
Chapter 10 - The Building Better Checklist
Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, whatever you do for work, you are building something.
Everyone is a builder, because everyone builds.
Today, I will try to answer what I mean when I say “building”, why I am so interested in this concept, and why I think it warrants the dedication of all this effort.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines building as: “the art or business of assembling materials into a structure.” It further describes the verb “to build” as “to form by ordering and uniting materials by gradual means into a composite whole”, “to cause to be constructed”, and “to develop according to a systematic plan, by a definite process, or on a particular base”
We often think of building as taking physical raw materials and assembling them into another physical structure. A home builder is someone who uses physical raw materials like timber, brick, and cement and uses them to assemble a home.
When we think of other examples of building, it is clear that we are not simply constrained to building material things. We often talk about a leader “building a team” or a politician “building consensus”. Just because digital products are put together with code and software doesn't mean they aren’t being built. We also frequently discuss “building one another up”. Here, “building” is used in an emotional context.
Given the broad ways in which we regularly discuss building, it is appropriate to discuss building more holistically than simply assembling physical structures.
I define building as the act of combining physical or nonphysical raw materials and, through an exercise of will, forming them into something greater than their initial state or component parts.
Let’s break this definition down a bit.
We have discussed the fact that building can be done in both a physical and less tangible context. Including the exercise of will in the definition is critical. Building is never some random accident. Building always requires an act of will and it is done in the furthering of some desire. It is important to acknowledge that this desire may be explicit or implicit. Humans are masters at doing the mental gymnastics necessary to justify their actions. All acts of building are motivated by one or many desired outcomes or products, but those desires can be healthy or destructive, greatly impacting whether what we are building ends up being good or bad.
The final part of our definition deals with the combining of our initial raw materials into some more substantial form. The word “greater” here is descriptive of the transformation from raw materials to a more refined form, but does not necessarily imply that the building process is always for the better. This new form can take its initial ingredients and create a state that is better or worse based on whether it was built well or built poorly (more to come on this concept in Chapter 3).
When observed through this lens, it is clear that we are all not only participating in one act of building, but a multitude.
For my work, I build digital products, but in my role as a Father/Husband I am also responsible for helping to build a thriving family together with my wife. Further, I am a member of the community within which I live and I play a role in building that community.
When I cook, I use ingredients to build a meal.
When I write, I use words to build an essay or story.
I am sure when you think about it, you are engaged in a variety of different acts of building every day as well.
If you are a doctor, you are attempting to build your patients towards better health.
If you are a teacher, you are helping to build the minds and character of your students.
If you are an executive, you are working to build your company/team.
My argument today is not to convince you that you should be building in a different way (that will come later).
No, my goal with this post is simply to convince you that, no matter who you are or what your profession, you are a builder.
You take the raw materials around you, whether they are physical things like pieces of brick, the thoughts bouncing around in your head, or people like your coworkers, and you exert effort in an act of will to fashion them into something greater than they are individually.
When viewed through this lens, it is clear that building is the fundamental driver of all work, cultivation, craft, or self-betterment.
You may also ask the question, if the definition of building is so broad, what is the point of defining it at all? If everything is an act of building, how can we possibly discuss it in a meaningful way?
As we continue our exploration of the philosophy of better building I think you will find that, while it does apply to a vast number of areas, this general relevancy doesn’t lead to a lack of precision or applicability.
The concepts we will grapple with in coming posts will have just as much relevance for the home builder as for the community organizer. For the product manager as for the chef. For the person trying to get into shape as for the manager trying to improve their team’s performance.
In many ways the reason I am so drawn to building, is because I believe building to be one of the fundamental acts of our lives. Nearly everything of consequence that we do during our limited time on Earth is an act of building. Yet, we act as if so many of the things we build have no consequence. As Aristotle outlines in the quote above, that could not be further from the truth. Even as we build, the things we build impact us. If we are disciplined and strive to build well, we build good things, and through that process become better builders. If we take shortcuts, the things we build become worse and worse and we become poorer builders for it.
A story from the book Chop Wood, Carry Water that I have written about before helps to drive this point home.
“One of the stories in the book is about a master architect who has made a career building some of the most beautiful houses in the world. After a long and storied career, he decides to retire but his boss asks him to build one last house. He begrudgingly agrees but he doesn’t put his usual love and care into the project. Once the house is built, he goes back to his boss to finally resign for good and his boss gives him the keys to the house he had just built as a thank you for a career of excellence. All this time the architect had been building his own house and he had no idea. If he had known he would’ve put much more effort into it than he did.
It’s easy to forget that we are building our own house. It’s so easy to get caught up in where we are going for our next move or what we will do after school.
What’s hard is to remember is that much more important than what we are doing is who we are becoming in the process.”
All too often, our building is an act of going through the motions as we allow ourselves to be dragged along by the current of our lives.
I believe there is a different way. A way of thinking about building that has nearly been lost. A timeless way that has been practiced long before there were product managers or construction workers or chefs.
In the coming posts I will explore some of what I have learned about this way of building. My goal is to help you see how you can apply it to what you build every day. For today, it’s enough for you to acknowledge that you are a builder. The next question we will explore is what the purpose of building really is.
Let’s build better ,
Erik
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