I cleaned my
oven today.
And started thinking about hiring.
Walk me
through your
toolbox.
I'll tell you who you are.
The glass had turned opaque—
slowly, over months.
The warm oven light made it feel normal.
You look through it every day. You adapt.
One day you realize you've been
peering through dirty glass for a year.
We use the German word
Handwerk
/ˈhantvɛʁk/
Literally: **"hand-work"**
Craftsmanship.
>
Coding is Handwerk. Sales is Handwerk.
Documentation is Handwerk—if you do it well.
Tools are
signals.
THREE TYPES
The Job Doers
Tools don't matter. Default settings. Gets work done.
The Craftspeople
Tools are cared for. Customized. Intention in their setup.
The Tool Lovers
Only work ON their toolbox, never WITH it. Form over function.
A RECRUITING SIGNAL
I ask candidates:
→ What tools do you use?
→ Walk me through your setup.
→ Why this and not that?
→ Do you actually produce with those tools?
The way they answer tells me everything.
All preparation,
no production.
The most elaborate setup, the most pristine tooling—
but no shipped work? That's a tool lover.
THE PATTERN
Neglected tools → Job doer
Gets things done, doesn't care how.
Maintained tools → Craftsperson
Cares about the work and what enables it.
Perfect tools → Tool collector
Loves optimization more than playing.
None are wrong. But they tell you what to expect.