Beyond craftsmanship?

Regarding creative work, I hear the following term a lot: Creating something from nothing.

A musician has the silence, and fills it with sound waves. A painter has an empty canvas, and fills it with paint. A programmer has a problem, and creates a solution. It can be challenging at first to grasp, but the initial state is not nothing and we're not creating anything. We are only transforming materials. This might be easier explained if we observe other crafts like carpentry or metalwork. Carpenters and blacksmiths create solutions to their customers' problems by crafting furniture and forging weapons  amongst many other things. So why do we sense a big distinction between the so called "creative" work from "physical" work? I'll share a little secret: given that each person we observe in each field is a professional, the only difference in their way of working is the materials they use.

You want to be a pro programmer? Check these out!

So it turned out, that the list of tv shows I am interested in is finite. I had quite some fun over the past couple of months in watching tons of episodes before bedtime or over the weekends, but it is over and I'm happy about it. You can actually check out my list here.

So now that I had my fun, I started going through the on-line videos of some tech talks I've missed over the years. Currently I'm viewing the agenda of NDC Oslo, a conference I wanted to attend but couldn't. I encourage you to start digging around in the list, try to identify names you already know. Look the speakers up on Wikipedia, follow their blogs. They are not there because they can speak loud. They do know their stuff, and we all can learn from them.

So here's the link to NDC Oslo's archives, or on what I watch it: Vimeo.

Another good point of great presentations is the podcast sections of Skills Matter. You need to choose a category on the top, and at around the middle of the page, there will be a section called "Podcasts". Browse through those.

I'll leave you with these links for now. If you should need some ideas on where to start or who to listen to first, feel free to ask!

Oh, and one important thing. Don't just watch the talks. Hear them, understand them, and think about them. Try to adopt the mindset, not dogmas!