Sign Your Work

A craftsman signs his work because his name means something and he will not attach it to garbage. You should live the same way. Everything you produce carries your signature whether you write it there or not.

Stand behind it, or do not ship it.

If you cannot do it right, do not do it. That is not permission to quit — it is a demand for full commitment before you start. Half-in is worse than out. The job done halfway still has your name on it, and now your name means halfway (or half-ass).

And once you start, you finish.

Not started. Not almost. Not "I got most of the way there." Finished. And it is only finished after it is done right — the two are the same thing. Done and done-right are not different stages. There is no version of finished that is also sloppy.

This applies everywhere, not just where anyone is watching.

The chores at home carry your name. Your career carries your name. Every project, every promise, every small thing you said you would handle. And the two signatures that matter most — the work you do as a husband, and the work you do as a father — those carry your name longer than anything else you will ever make.

So sign it all like you mean it.

Do the work to a standard you would put your name under without flinching.

Then step back, look at it, and earn the only review that counts.

“Another perfect job." — Dave Keck