Pre-Building The Job

Bodacious Plan

On the evening of March 5th, 1776, General George Washington and his rag-tag army of 2,000 volunteers completed staging what would turn out to be one of the most important early victories of the American Revolution-- Colonel Henry Knox had successfully transported 59 canon and ordnance 300 miles from the vacant Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, and the rebels prepared the first large-scale prefabrication in US history. That evening they moved the canon, barrels filled with sand and stone (to be used as breastworks, or to be rolled down the hill on charging Red-Coats, if it came to that . . . ), and facines (bundles of branches or logs) - creating the effect of a fortified wall atop the ridge of Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston and the British ships in Boston harbor.

General William Howe - commander of the British forces occupying Boston at the time, is reported to have remarked when he saw the fortifications the next morning-- "The Rebels have done more in one night than my whole army would have done in a month" -- The result of this effort was that the 11,000 occupying troops and 1,000 loyalists fled Boston to Nova Scotia - without a shot being fired--

Isn't It Great When A Plan Comes Together?

A lot of coincidences contributed to the success of the efforts of Washington, Knox and the Rebels-- In the end, it helped convince the British that the Americans were serious about Independence (It took another 5 years to actually achieve that goal . . . ). The fact that they had a vision, a plan and buy-in by all the participants set up the whole effort at Dorchester Heights to even have a chance to succeed.

5 Lessons from the Fortification of Dorchester Heights:

1. First Get All the Materials - Without the canon, gunpowder, ordnance, barrels/birch trees, the Rebels couldn't have even started work on the fortifications.
2. Stage Assemblies (then transport into position) - They couldn't have built the fortifications in place without risking attack. Building the facines and gabions down the hill (out of sight) and moving them into place at night was the only chance they had.
3. Plan Logistics (address site considerations) - The Rebels used straw to deaden the sound of the wagon wheels transporting the pre-fabricated fortifications and canon, to avoid calling attention to the movements.
4. Use Weather to Best Advantage (often a judgement call) - General Howe had considered retaliating, but a snowstorm dampened his confidence, and the decision was made to completely evacuate, including all ships from the Boston harbor.
5. Be Ready With Contingency Plans - Washington expected retaliation, and had planned escape routes that would have been difficult for the British to follow. The fortifications were designed as both blockades, and if worse came to worse, they could be used as weapons.

How 'bout Them Forefathers?

Thinking through how you plan to build something is as critical as the construction effort itself. The goals for any construction project should include minimizing time and resources, without anyone getting hurt--

Here is a list of 6 "Pre- Build" Considerations:

1. How Can the Project Be Accomplished Safely? - Everyone Goes Home Unhurt
2. What is the Optimal Sequence of Activities? - Critical Path
3. What Materials or Processes are Similar? - Economies of Stacking, etc.
4. Which Parts are Standard? - Can More Parts Be Standardized?
5. What Adjacencies Need to Be Considered? - Restrictions, Services, Exit Plan
6. Does Any Aspect of the project lend itself to Pre-Fabrication & Transport to Site?

Prefabrication or Modularized Assembly may not be an option for all situations, but considering aspects or portions of the project for Pre-Fab may drive better work/assembly patterns and solutions.

Related Trivia:

George Washington went on to win the revolutionary war, defeating the strongest, best-equipped, best-trained military machine in the world at the time, through leading ordinary men to extraordinary accomplishments - by sheer perseverance and belief in the goal of independence.

More information on George Washington:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington

Henry Knox went on to be Washington's first Secretary of War, found the Society of the Cincinnati (an organization of American Military officers), and Fort Knox and Knoxville, Tennessee were named in his honor.

More information on Henry Knox:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Knox

Recommended Books:

"1776" by David McCullough

http://www.amazon.com/1776-Illustrated-David-McCullough/dp/1416542108/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1286766801&sr=1-2

Right Tool For The Right Job

One of my Dad's favorite expressions when I was growing up building stuff with him was, "Use the right tool for the right job." - I'm sure he meant "get the tool that was designed for the specific need at hand." And, since he has a great tool collection, it's a matter of locating the tool in his garage or toolbox, and getting on with the job. He would proceed to show me why the tool was right for the job and how to properly use it - an extremely invaluable education that lead to my appreciation of tools, and also to notice the finer attributes of really fine craftsmanship.

Don't Have The Right Tool?

Not having the Right Tool for me (with a more pedestrian toolset than my Dad's), means a trip to Lowes for a look at the latest cool stuff -- but sometimes the "Right Tool" just isn't available or affordable. So what do you do? We all tend to improvise, but there's a reason why there is a massive tool industry that is constantly coming up with new and better tools for new, more specific uses - starting with safety. Part of proper planning should involve thinking through what tools and equipment will be needed-- but, over the course of a project if a new need arises, improvisation is at least a consideration.

Yes, you can use a small flat-head screwdriver to drive in a Phillips-head screw, when a Phillips isn't available (same with thousands of like-tool substitutes)-- and usually, a beefier or higher-quality tool will work better than a cheaper one -- but aside from Safety and Common Sense, there is no good way to get around the "Right Tool" rule. Along these lines, there are a number of humorous pictures being sent around of people working in ridiculously contrived "Rube Goldberg" contraptions*. You may have seen the one with the guy working under his car on the side of the road while it is propped up by two boards - looks like the guy has his life in his hands.

When No One's Looking

The best advice I heard about considering contriving something to substitute for the "Right Tool" - Think about what the headlines would say in the paper the next day after your accident - then, a more conservative approach (maybe even hiring a professional) may be the answer. Most people who get hurt using the wrong tool were really just trying to "get 'er done" - think again, maybe there's a more reasonable way . . .

Related Trivia:
*Rube Goldberg - actually Reuben Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970) was a Jewish American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for a series of popular cartoons he created depicting complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways – now known as Rube Goldberg machines. In the construction industry, we often refer to an improvised plan to accomplish a task as a "Rube Goldberg".
A commonly known Rube Goldberg Machine is the game "Mouse Trap".

There is a really great Rube-Goldberg-inspired video of the band OK Go, that I recommend, even if you don't like the music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

As-Planned vs Pure Luck

A Goal is Not a Plan

As Zig Ziglar would say, "You gotta have Goals!!"-- Ideally, goals are realistic, written down, and with some timeframe. Goals are important, there is a ton of stuff written about them, and that's not what this article is going to discuss further--

OK, so having a goal is a big step, but you can't just do that and go to lunch. I would say the hard part is the execution-- the subsequent actions that lead to the achievement of the goal. There is an excellent book by David Allen - "Getting Things Done" -- one of the best take-aways I learned from that was the concept of the NEXT STEP. If you think about it, most of the anxiety people have (and the resulting procrastination) in going about a task, a project or a goal, is "How the heck am I going to accomplish this?" --Allen says that you can get anything off dead-center by making a note, right on it, saying what the next actionable step needs to be. As an example, you may have an in-basket with a pile of mail, reports, etc., that need your inspection, approval, review or other action. If you were to set aside an hour or so, and go through each item and, if the action would take less than a few minutes, then act immediately (like "throw in trash")-- if not, then make a note as to what the VERY NEXT STEP needs to be. You should find this very satisfying and feel a great sense of accomplishment when you finish. I don't do that nearly as much as I should - but every time I do, that is how I feel.

Luck Isn't a Plan Either

When it comes to project planning, everyone probably can agree that the GOAL is to complete the project on time, within budget and to the expected level of quality--- but the PLAN (the steps toward reaching the goal) is the most significant contributor to SUCCESS --with LUCK, being the other contributing factor. Most projects get completed, but there is a wide-range of degrees of success (good vs bad), with the more successful projects being on the better-planned end of the spectrum.

You may be thinking "That's just Common Sense" - OK, how many times do we all jump in to an activity, saying to ourselves "I can just wing this", or "I have an idea of what to do in my head" - and the task may be so simple that it works out, or if it is complicated, luck plays a role - and success results. But more often than not, action involving multiple parts or team members, or communication (even between a client and builder), to achieve success REQUIRES a PLAN. The PLAN that is more thought-through, and communicated with the team, the better.

What's The PLAN?

The PLAN I'm taking about should have:
1. Clear Completion Expectations (including Drawings, Specifications or other Scope Clarifiers) - What will it look like when it's done?
2. Sequence & Logistics of Assembly (pre-building the project) - How will the parts come together? Where do the parts get placed prior to assembly? What equipment will be needed?
3. Time Frame (Schedule & Milestones) - What will happen first, second, etc? How long will each (and the total) activity take? What are the activities that will affect other activities (critical path)?
4. Special Considerations (Safety, Access, Adjacency, Noise, Weather Protection, Utilities Service) - What is unusual about this project? What assistance is needed?
5. Estimate of Cost (Sum of all the anticipated labor, materials, equipment, utilities, and other stuff that will be needed to complete the project - plus an appropriate allowance for unknowns and inexperience) matching Budget (How much available for the project) - Is there enough money to do the project? - DON'T START if there is a question about this.

No Egg On Your Face

I could go on about planning, and there are thousands of resources available that provide much more detail about planning - and, in fact, I would be delighted to assist with specific project needs by providing a professional consultation or referral - but the intent of this is to outline a simplified way of thinking about projects, from constructing large commercial buildings, to making furniture, assembling a child's toy or building a tree fort.

So hopefully, you are already doing these things, and this is just a reminder for those times when you may think you have everything set in your mind - But, when starting a new project, I would ask you to think to yourself: "Is this something I do all the time, every day?" if not, it may be more like building your first tree fort, but now you're older - if you're not lucky, someone might get hurt.

This cracked me up when I was a kid:

Shemp is flipping eggs a couple of times, when they don't come down, he turns around, shocked to see Moe who just walked through the door--

Shemp: "Hey Moe, where'd you get the sunglasses?"

From: Hokus Pokus 1949



Keep smilin'!
Happy Memorial Weekend--