The Sturdy Designer

When we were much younger people, my cousin ran into some engine problems with her car. I asked where she was going for repairs, and she said, “Oh, I’ll probably take it to the Sturdy Girls.”

The Sturdy Girls, it turned out, were a group of friends that had all, for one reason or another, learned skills we often associate with men: fixing cars, plumbing, light construction, electronics, computers. That isn’t to say that they lacked other skills; cooking, knitting, sewing, fashion, and other more “domestic” skills also thrived within the group.

The women who repaired my cousin’s car traded her the mechanical work for help identifying plants in the garden (my cousin’s a biologist). Both women learned valuable skills. What one of the Sturdy Girls lacked in knowledge another one could provide. As a group they could count on each other, and as individuals they could each hold their own.

Note that it’s different from being strong. A sturdy building may be able to withstand collapse should a car drive through its side, but the fact that a car just drove through its side tells us that its walls weren’t exactly strong. Strength can certainly aid sturdiness, but it’s not necessarily required.

A sturdy stool is one with at least three equal-length legs, so that no matter where the user positions their center of gravity over the stool, the stool doesn’t shift or collapse. Chairs and tables generally have four legs, but the same principle applies.

On the other hand, if any of these items have legs of different length, or legs that aren’t attached securely to their base, or they are resting on uneven or shifting ground, then sturdiness decreases rapidly.

I’m thinking about sturdiness a lot lately.

I’m thinking about how it pertains to the teams we build, though I have a lot more learning and thinking to do around that.

I’m thinking about how we choose which businesses we’ll work for, and how sturdiness affects those decisions. As an East Coast kid, I side-eye some of the offers I hear the West Coasters talking about; stock options instead of bonuses, shares of the ownership instead of salary. At the same time I side-eye the local businesses who churn through designers like a metal shredder at a recycling plant. Is there a difference between steady work and sturdy work? Can a job be both sturdy and high risk/reward?

I’m thinking this is going to require more than one essay.

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