Put Your Energy to its Best Use

The Tree Is Gonna Fall

This summer in Maine a 60-foot-tall pine tree whose base had rotted, partially fell perilously close to the cabin my wife and I were staying in - it didn't fall all the way down (which was good). It got hung up in the upper limbs of two adjacent trees at an angle between 60 and 70 degrees to the ground (if 12 o'clock is 90 degrees straight up - about 1:00). The tree branches holding it up were cracking about every 30 minutes or so - without intervention, the tree's natural path was going to be to fall on the roof and cause lots of damage (Google "cutting down a tree the wrong way" and you will find many humorous videos of what might have happened . . ).

Just So You Know - We Survived . . .

Well, we tried to shove it over, push it over with a ladder, climb on the roof - tie a rope as high up as we could and pull it over --- No good. So, a wise friend who came over to help stepped in and said quietly, "You're trying too hard." He went to his truck, got out a pulley, a yellow nylon strap and a rope with a hook on one end. In about 20 minutes, we strapped the pulley to a tree about 25ft back, tied the base of the tree with the hook to the rope, and looped the other end through the pulley and back to one of the hooks on the front of his truck. Again he said quietly, "You're gonna want to step back." He backed up and the base was pulled back from the front of the cabin, the top fell away and the tree fell down with a boom - safely away from the cabin (and any people) ---

Timmmmberrrrrr!!!!!

Two things: 1. When you know what you're doing, the flow of work goes easier and faster (including set-up and clean-up) - sometimes it pays to have someone around who knows where the stones are in the stream. And 2. Mechanical advantage is a beautiful thing to watch in action. If you want to make things easier for yourself in the woods, on a lake, at home or on a project - consider using pulleys. Each pulley, properly sequenced, significantly reduces the amount of effort needed to pull or lift a load.

Natural Tendency is a very important aspect to consider in solving a problem, or pursuing any goal or endeavor - Which way is the river running? Which way is the traffic flowing? What force is pulling?-- and, in what direction?

I believe that thinking through what is driving an issue, a problem, a point of view or a process (natural or man-made) - will lead most often to the solution or resolution. A person's incentives and strengths will usually determine their most likely actions. If you have a list of activities to do and you're going to get rewarded for one of them, you tend to do that first. Similarly, if you are good at some activity, the natural tendency is to do that first and leave the stuff you don't like to do until later - it's human nature. Keeping this in mind can prove very useful in project assignments with a team, relationship building and in negotiations.

Stomach Grumbling or Losing Track of Time?

There is a lot written about the concept of behavioral tendencies, with one area being Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (diagram below) - where the bottom of the triangle is self-preservation, leading to the top which is self-actualization.

According to Maslow, the level at which a person stands on this diagram will determine to large degree how they will behave. The specific levels are not as widely accepted as the concept of behavior being directed by what's on a person's subconscious mind--

So You Know the Motivation - Then What?

Jujutsu or Jiu-Jitsu is a Japanese martial art style based on the the principle of using an attacker's energy against him, rather than directly opposing it. In translation, Jujutsu means "way of yielding". Jujutsu techniques redirect physical motion to gain advantage. Stopping motion takes a lot more energy than redirecting it. Finding ways to use the other person's passion and energy as part of the solution leads to win-win successes. Identifying incentives and strengths (or pulling and pushing forces), defining wants/needs and expectations, will set you up for what is coming at you - Then, adeptness at using virtual leverage, mechanical advantage, or Jujutsu in issue resolution will determine how you handle it--

Next time you find yourself stuck in a seemingly insurmountable problem - step back and consider the Natural Tendency - maybe you are trying too hard.

Related Information on the Web:

Rescuing a Canoe Caught In Rapids:

http://www.brrr.ws/docs/Boat_Rescue_Haul_Systems.htm

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs further discussed:

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html

Jiu-Jitsu Demonstration In Los Angeles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHINjQh8e-U&feature=related

Recommended Books:

Flow - Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Mihaly-Csikszentmihalyi/dp/0060920432

Now, Discover Your Strengths - by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton

http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Your-Strengths-Marcus-Buckingham/dp/0743201140

And, a Comic:

Hit It On The Head

Take A Shot

When I was a freshman at Michigan, I lived across the hall in the dorm from Mike McGee, who was at the time one of the most promising high school basketball recruits in the country - even more so than Earvin "Magic" Johnson who was a freshman at Michigan State. I remember watching Mike on TV in a game at halftime, when a reporter asked him what he was going to do in the second half to secure the win, Mike said: "I'm gonna work a little on the 'O' and a little on the 'D' . . . " -- thanks for that insight Mike, back to you in the booth . . .

OK, Pick One

I read recently that research proved that people can't truly focus on two things at the same time --Multi-tasking is really working on several things in a routine that allows progress to occur simultaneously. The act of juggling actually proves this point - an accomplished juggler is only able to keep multiple objects in the air through a patten of rehearsed movements. The focus is not on the individual objects or separate movements, but on the routine. If the juggler were to focus on the shape, color or even number of objects, rather than the rhythm or 'feel' of the pattern, everything would fall to the ground.

Ouch!

Ever hit your finger trying to pound

in a nail? I can tell you, for me, it happened when it was getting dark (or the light was poor), when I should have been wearing glasses, or when I was tired.

Boo Hoo - Focus Better

Hitting a nail squarely on the head, and the rhythm of sending a 16-penny nail home in 2 swings, with a 22oz framing hammer is one of the more satisfying feelings of focus for me (and one that probably contributed to my passion for playing drums). You can force a bent nail in by adjusting the angle and speed of the hammer - which sometimes feels like bending the nail straight by pure willpower.

OK Now I Use A Nailgun

Most construction tools and equipment use ancient "Egyptian" levers, pulleys, hydraulics, etc to focus increased power or pressure on a particular task - to help make the task easier, or simpler. I am sure new tools are developed as a result of someone examining a difficult or repetitive task (routine) and asking if it could be done a different way, with a bigger lever or pulley, or with help of water, wind, etc. -- Too often, I notice that routines may start out working well, but when they lose the original focus (the "why"), they become mundane or perfunctory. This results in wasted or superfluous effort, which is the exact opposite of what the original routine was designed to do.

Continuous Improvement guru's tell us that we should constantly be looking at 4 things:

1. Purpose of the Activity

2. Available Resources (Tools, Equipment & Manpower)

3. History, Competitors and New Developments

4. Leaner Processes

And I would add:

5. Rhythm of the Activity

Basketball Again?

The first drum lesson I ever took, the teacher got me to think of hitting the drum like dribbling a basketball - striking the drumhead is important, but to get an even pattern, you need to work on the feeling of strike and bounce-back. I believe that true focus is a rhythm: Push, then pull back. Work hard on a puzzle or problem, then do something else for a few minutes and the solution comes easier. There are numerous examples of this concept - "work hard, play hard", "flex-release", "heave (then) ho", etc . . .

After all, you can't push a nail into the wood, you have to pull back and swing in a controlled motion - golf is another example (and I certainly need a lot more work on that), and there are hundreds of swing coaches who help get your game together, as long as you can keep your focus and routine simple - Pull back, swing . . . pull back, swing. Focus on the target and the rhythm of the motion.

Take A Break & Come Back 110%

It can be the same with any endeavor - if you keep it simple, with the proper routine of focus, your work will be much more satisfying, and successful.

Related Trivia:

Mike McGee and Magic Johnson both went on to play for the LA Lakers. Magic Johnson was one of the most successful, smooth-passers ever to play the game, and he was a great example of a rhythm-focused player. Mike McGee (whose notoriety will surely return after this blog) was perhaps every bit as gifted a shooter as Magic, but he did not achieve anywhere near the same level of success, perhaps because he did not have the focus he had in high school, in the pros.

Recommended Rhythm-Focus Links:

1. Steve Gadd (one of the greatest drummers of all time) demonstrating the Mozambique at a clinic - notice his focus, and ability to quickly adjust to a fast tempo with the same complicated beat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCdeKmHwK30

2. Chris Bliss performing an amazing juggling routine: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4776181634656145640#

3. Michael Moschen (the father of Contact Juggling) puts on a quietly mesmerizing show of juggling in a TED presentation: http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_moschen_juggles_rhythm_and_motion.html

How to Juggle poster:

http://www.curtiszimmerman.com/en/docs/CZG%20Website%20-%20Juggling%20Instructions.jpg

Scope First, Then Price

Steve Martin used to have a bit in his routine where he tells a joke, supposedly to an audience of plumbers, delivering an esoteric punch line that only plumbers would appreciate -- the rediculousness (?) was even funnier than the actual joke (I highly recommend Steve Martin's autobiographical "Born Standing Up"). In the same vein, when I was working in estimating, we used to have Steve Martin-like jokes - Jokes funny only to estimators. As an example, a number that was way-off due to a typo, like "$10,000/cy for concrete material - aaaaggghhhh, that's hilarious!" (Estimators rolling on the floor laughing) - we would call that an "Estimating Joke".

OK, back in your chairs, both of you.

Estimate vs Budget

It is useful to think of a "Budget" as what you have to spend, and an "Estimate" as what the specific scope of work should cost. In the Design & Construction industry, it has been my experience that these terms are pretty much interchangeably used - but the distinction is an important one. Before you give a reasonable estimate, negotiate a price, or even take a scientific wild @$$ guess (SWAG) at a budget, it is wise to clarify the scope first. A price without an accompanying scope is a problem waiting to explode.

This probably sounds like common sense, but budget-and-scope or estimate-and-scope mismatches happen all the time. I would bet that more change orders, disputes and claims on projects come from "missed scope", "misunderstanding of what was included", or "apples-and-oranges" mismatches than any other recurring project problem.

Who's To Blame?

There is a certain amount of anxiety on projects (more on larger projects) when it comes to being "on-budget", depending on what commitments are made, and at what point you are in the scope definition and price-assignment process. The ramifications and repercussions of being "off", or "over-budget" can be severe. Imagine the Red Queen in Alice and Wonderland: "Off with their heads!"

There is definitely an art to leveraging past experience and assigning an accurate number to a sparsely-defined scope -- This skill is something professionals work hard to refine, based on experience, past project cost histories and "tweaking" to match special considerations of the project at hand (read, for large projects: "don't do this at home, or without supervision"). I would be delighted to provide assistance or make a referral - however, at any level of endeavor, a price without a scope is comical. That would be like going to the store and saying to the clerk, "I'm hungry, how much will my groceries cost?" ---aaaagggghhh, that's hilarious!

No Kidding

OK, so what do you do? Here is a 5-step formula:
1. Agree on the Major Scope items (80-20 rule) - once you establish the major items, including labor, materials, equipment, professional fees and incidental costs, it's kind of like "The Price Is Right" - But you don't need to guess, there are many ways to get to a reasonable price once the Major Scope items are set.
2. Agree on a "Go-By" - establish quality and quantity standards for these major items. Using what has been done before as a guide "tweaks" or further refines the cost level, and helps confirm expectations.
3. Identify Unknowns - Agree on a place-holder for what isn't quantifiable or decided, but will be required. This is typically a range, and will be the variable cost within a budget or estimate.
4. Look for Unusual Aspects - Usually, estimates and budgets are based on educated extrapolations of previous experience, but miscalculations happen when they don't take enough into account what is different about THIS project.
5. Review, Reflect and Adjust - Estimate/Budget/Scope-Matching is an ITERATIVE process, it needs to be reviewed and tweaked (with input from team members and affected constituents) to be most effective.

If It's That Easy . . . .

There are all kinds of stumbling blocks involved in this process - including political, personal, tactical, avaricious, evil (?), etc . . . But just starting with agreement on scope can lead to more successful negotiations, happier clients and fewer disputes.

As an exercise, don't just get a receipt, but take a minute to review it and make sure the scope is right BEFORE you agree to pay.

An Estimating Joke where you pay the consequences isn't funny.





Here's another joke:

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--

Done? What Would Smokey Say?

The Production Crew

Early in my construction career I was responsible for the interior build-out of the Headquarters office of the mall developer, Taubman Company, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The drywall contractor had begun falling behind - the steel studs had been installed on time but the wallboard had not started as scheduled. The drywall contractor's superintendent assured me that he would be "done" in two weeks (heard that before?). He said his "production crew" was coming off another job and they were going to "knock it out in no time"-- Sure enough, within a week, the job looked completely different. Upon closer inspection, the crew had installed all the full-sheets of wallboard, and had left uncompleted the cut-outs at the top of the wall, where the structure above and the above-ceiling services intersected the wall. The crew was packing up when I asked them when they planned to finish -- they said they were "done" - another crew did the cut-out work.

The Last 5%

It ended up taking another two weeks to get the last 5% of the wallboard installed---- and the lesson I learned from that experience has become vivid in my mind - There is a natural tendancy on any job to accomplish the high-productivity work (the big pieces, the repetitive work that makes the most money per amount-of-time-spent) FIRST, and leave the rest to be done "all at the same time", "when we come back to finish-up", etc.---

Allowing that to happen adversely affects the attitude and overall quality on the job. If one trade sees another trade's work left incomplete or with significant corrections to be made, they are less inclined to raise the standard themselves. It is best for the project NOT to allow the work to be "finished later" -- the goal should be, to add-on to the Nike ad: Just Do It --NOW!

Done? or Smoldering?

Another lesson from the "production crew" that I have learned over the years is the concept of what "done" means. "Done" should mean "done", but often it means, "complete, EXCEPT for a few things that in my mind are insignificant compared to the overall amount of work I have done, but probably did not bring up . . . "

Many years ago, the US Forest Service had a problem with people leaving campfires "mostly extinguished", and major forest fires starting hours later from the smoldering ashes left by well-meaning campers. They created an ad campaign with Smokey The Bear, where he would urge people to make sure their fires were "out -- dead out". This may be a good image when you think of "mostly complete" work or issues -- similar to a fire that could flare-up unless extra attention or efforts are paid to make SURE.

Smokey would say: DONE = Dead Out.

I hope this is helpful when working with construction teams or in everyday communication--



Answer to the Trivia Question:
President who could write Latin with one hand while writing Greek in the other:
James A. Garfield (20th president), who unfortunately died in office from an assassin's bullet that was never found. They later concluded from an autopsy that he would have lived if the doctors had not tried to find it (!!).

Latest Construction Trends Update

Please send me an e-mail if you are interested in receiving information from the AGC, Bureau of labor Statistics and AIA on the latest Construction Industry Trends. Things are improving for the single family market, Stimulus money is getting to Construction projects, employment is up and AIA work on the boards is on the rise.

Hopefully these trends solidify and continue---