ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the organizational structures and processes of craft through the concept of contingency. Contingency in organizations involves a multiplicity of views, each different and neither necessary nor arbitrary. The workshop is a place of carefully managed predicaments, where the optimal course of action is dependent on internal and external situations, and as Niklas Luhmann suggests, neither necessary nor impossible, always potentially otherwise. In the cordwainer's workshop, pushing the limits on experimentation can have a detrimental outcome. The maker must attach the sole to the upper and prepare for finishing by cutting off excess material from the sole and heel before using an electric sander to smooth the edges. Fashion is a powerful medium in marrying the product and the aspirational expectations of the consumer, leading to accelerated changes in the choices of product offered and the element of surprise in how the product is offered.
