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Craft has been described as a personally meaningful orientation toward an activity – this orientation is what distinguishes craft from mere labor. This conception of craft can be traced back to the Greek poiesis, or revealing. Poiesis entails both passive and active components: passively, poiesis denotes being receptive to what is given in the world; actively, it involves the trained judgment of decision-making. Information activities can become more meaningful, then, if they are infused with this craft ethic. Fundamentally, this is a particular orientation of a person toward their world, one of the finding distinctions that matter to a person.

The purpose of this paper is to offer an appraisal of the craft metaphor in management with particular reference to authority, resistance, care and the interior landscape of the manager/crafter.

This is a conceptual essay that draws on an autoethnography.

Respect for the limits of managerial and bureaucratic authority and an appreciation of the manager/crafter's interior landscape are crucial aspects of effective craft and management practice. Insights into the practice of craft may enhance understanding of how both craft and management are a potent brew of politics, power, people, history, reason, faith and authority and just how crucial the interior landscape of the manager/crafter is.

This article offers a focus on an inadequately examined aspect of management/craft – the interior landscape of the manager – that is informed by an auto-ethnography and suggests a case for conceptualizing management as craft, with implications for management development.