THE OPERATING CODE | 007 | EXPLORE FURTHER

WHAT SUCCESSFUL RESULTS CAN HIDE

The project may be finished, but that doesn't always mean the organization was prepared to deliver it.

I've seen projects finish successfully that required a lot more effort behind the scenes than anybody expected.

Sometimes that's just construction. Things happen that nobody could have predicted, and somebody has to step up and take care of them.

But sometimes the problems weren't unexpected at all.

The material wasn't ready. Engineering wasn't finished. The schedule was built around assumptions that nobody verified. Or there simply weren't enough qualified people available to do everything the organization had committed to.

And somehow, the job still got done.

That's where I think leadership needs to look beyond the finished project and understand what actually happened.

CAPABILITY DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN CAPACITY

There's a difference between having somebody who knows how to do something and having an organization that's properly equipped to keep doing it.

You might have a superintendent who can handle a complicated project, a project manager who knows how to work through difficult customer issues, or one person everybody calls when something goes wrong.

Those are valuable people to have.

But if the organization depends on those same individuals every time a problem comes up, what happens when they're unavailable? What happens when they're already committed to another project?

Having one capable person doesn't necessarily mean you have the capacity to take on more work.

Before making those commitments, I believe leadership needs to understand whether the organization has enough qualified people, the necessary equipment and material, and the support to do the work consistently.

Otherwise, we're making promises based on what our strongest people might be able to overcome rather than what the organization is actually prepared to deliver.

WHAT DOES THE SUCCESS REALLY COST?

A project can finish on time and still create problems somewhere else in the operation.

I've experienced situations where a superintendent who should have been managing crews was instead working as another crew member because there weren't enough people available.

Sometimes that's necessary. I've never believed a title should prevent somebody from helping when help is needed.

But there's a cost to it.

While that superintendent is doing the work of a technician, who is coordinating the other crews? Who is reviewing upcoming schedules, checking material, handling customer questions, or preparing the next job?

The work they're helping with may get finished, but their other responsibilities don't disappear.

The same thing happens when a project manager spends hours tracking down material that should have been verified before the job started.

They may solve the immediate problem, but that time had to come from somewhere.

And when those situations happen repeatedly, the organization may be paying a much higher price than the project report suggests.

LOOK FOR THE PATTERN

One difficult project doesn't necessarily mean there's something wrong with the organization.

But when the same problems keep showing up across different projects, different crews, and different supervisors, I think leadership has a responsibility to find out why.

If material is consistently missing, examine how it's being ordered, received, and verified.

If engineering is repeatedly holding up construction, look at when the work is being scheduled and whether the required approvals are actually in place.

If the same superintendent keeps getting pulled away to rescue other jobs, determine whether the organization needs additional training, better staffing, or a different distribution of responsibilities.

The point isn't to find somebody to blame. It's to understand what's allowing the same problem to happen again.

And once you understand it, do something about it.

DON'T CONFUSE COMMITMENT WITH UNLIMITED CAPACITY

I value people who are willing to step up when something needs to be done.

I've worked with people who would stay late, make another trip, take a call on the weekend, or help somebody else finish a difficult job without being asked twice.

Those are the people you want on your team.

But I don't believe their willingness to help should become an excuse to continually give them more than they can reasonably handle.

There's a difference between asking somebody to step up during an unusual situation and building a schedule that only works if that person keeps making personal sacrifices.

Eventually, that catches up with the individual, the operation, or both.

Good leadership should recognize commitment, but it should also protect the organization's ability to keep delivering without depending on extraordinary effort every time.

WHAT I WOULD WANT TO KNOW

If I were responsible for a larger operation, I wouldn't want to judge its performance solely by how many projects finished on time or whether we met our financial targets.

Those things matter, but they don't tell the whole story.

I'd also want to understand whether the projects were properly staffed, whether the material and information were available when needed, and how often people had to step outside their normal responsibilities to keep things moving.

And when a project went particularly well, I'd want to understand why.

Was it because the preparation was good, the team had what it needed, and the work went according to plan?

Or was it because somebody worked nights and weekends, made a dozen extra trips, and refused to let the project fail?

Both deserve recognition. But they tell us very different things about the organization.

I don't expect construction to ever be free of surprises, and I don't believe we can eliminate every situation that requires somebody to go above and beyond.

What I do believe is that we should learn from those situations and make sure we're not asking the same people to overcome the same preventable problems on every project.

A successful result tells you what was accomplished. Understanding what it took to get there tells you how strong the operation really is.