
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
2| MARK ASPLIN WHITELEY
Craft
Craft requires a state of mind that
is fully attentive; it requires, so to
speak, being ‘in the flow’. If you have
ever watched a craftsperson, there is
a certain peace about them: a total
psychological unity with their work.
Being reactive and responsive to the
material, while also having thought
through the construction, based on
previous experience, is what craft is
all about. It requires continuous and
considered sensing of the form and of
the design.
Culture
For a craftsperson to thrive, the culture
in the workshop must support the
maker to achieve his or her potential.
When one has twenty to thirty makers,
each with different levels of experience
and ability doing bespoke unique
pieces, the style of management
must fit this mix. The culture of
the workshop is about creating an
environment that celebrates quality
through creativity.
Climate
My management style is collaborative
and intuitive. I work from the premise
that it is impossible to micro-manage
everything with bespoke work. It is not
enough to trust them; I also have to
demonstrate that trust clearly to my
makers. Ex-joiners or makers straight
from college need basic experience.
To that end, I assign them to a team
leader who assesses them by gradually
giving them ever more complicated
tasks until they reach their limit of
comfort and competence.
Competence
Trusting the team leaders and
junior makers to make a myriad of
choices, with periodic checking by
management, instills a strong sense of
ownership. Competence throughout
the workshop rises as each maker
observes others’ work, others’
processes and the other makers striving
for quality. It is a self-improving and
self-perpetuating system that requires
little management intervention.
Confidence
Confidence comes to the makers by:
allowing them to progress; trusting
them with arm’s length control;
adjusting their process through initial
discussion prior to making; and by
offering them the freedom to find their
own pace. Confidence comes as each
piece of work passes Quality Check.
Quality checking is the feedback
moment, before and after lacquering,
that elevates quality and allows the
opportunity for refinement and
improvement.
Calibre
The workshop is now only populated
by makers who are all working to the
same MAW ‘house’ standard. This is
why we have regular clients who can
then offer this assuredness of quality
to their own clients. Some businesses
claim to possess utmost quality, but
their standards of excellence may not
live up to this standard. At Mark Asplin
Whiteley’s, we only work at the luxury
end of the market which naturally
requires a constant adherence to very
high standards of quality.
Contemporary bar,
Scotland.
The culture of
the workshop
is about
creating an
environment
that celebrates
quality
through
creativity
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