Bringing my son into the business showed me why nepotism hurts craftsmanship

I think passing the trade to family first can ignore better talent waiting outside.

3 comments

3 Comments

Something I've seen is that when family gets promoted without earning it, they sometimes stop trying to get better. Like, if you know you can't get fired, why bother mastering the finer details of the work? It slowly lowers the standard everyone expects. I've watched shops where the owner's kid half-asses projects because there's no real pressure to excel.

martin.nora3d ago

You mention "no real pressure to excel," but sometimes that family name is the biggest pressure of all. I've seen kids work twice as hard to prove they belong. It doesn't always lower the standard, sometimes it just changes the reason for the work.

wells.vera3d ago

In my town, the hardware store's display windows have been crooked for five years now. Turns out the owner's son is in charge of installations.