The master watchmaker

18th century Switzerland:

A customer comes into a master watchmaker's shop asking to clean a watch he had bought. As the watchmaker takes the fabulous watch apart, the customer notices an engraving on the back side of one of the balance wheels

"Why did you put something there that no one will ever see?" the costumer asks.

The watchmaker turns around and says, "God can see it."

How did that last line make you feel? What do you think about the quality of the watchmaker's work? The value of his creation?

For me, the takeaway isn't about good mechanics or faith - it's about the master's choice of words. His reply wasn't 'fact based' or even 'rational' yet it packed the strongest punch.

Here's the thing

'Communication' is not the same thing as 'explanation'. It's about cutting through the complexity, in whatever way that does it best - even if it means that logic has to take the back seat.

​* The story was told by designer Richard Seymour in his 2011 TED talk 'How beauty feels' - well worth the watch.