"My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure." -- Abraham Lincoln
There are many reasons for construction project failures. There will be many more after the recent Texas and Florida hurricane events. Some are caused by unscrupulous contractors and scammers. Others are caused by reckless leaders who cannot get the process right. However, humans create much failure through lack of coordination and missed or delayed communications. These should be fixable, but human behaviors such as working together, personnel constraints and caring for fellow employees will continue to be issues for as long as we build.
Project changes
Every customer wants his or her project completed on schedule, within the budget and with no long-term quality issues. It seldom happens. Scope creep, unforeseen environmental conditions and design changes are problematic. What is a prudent contractor to do when the customer has such changes and it rains for weeks? None of this basically changes the completion date. So, as contractors, failure is eminent unless the dancers can get through the hoops time and time again.
A project in the 1990s was in poor condition. Even with a cost plus reimbursable contract, the end date was approaching and man-hours were quickly eaten. The "A" team of contractors came together with a new plan. They vowed to catch up and get ahead of schedule, manage cost overruns, overcome material delivery problems and eventually control the outcome to satisfy the customer. Workaround activities, increased workforce, additional subcontractors and multiple shifts were discussed and implemented. Not only was the project a success but a follow-up project was awarded. The lesson learned was failure can be averted.
Contentment
My company's fast-pitch softball team lost the first few games, and failure was the mindset. It appeared that losing was a given regardless of talent. Before the next game, our leader gave a pep talk. He said, "A happy loser is a consistent loser." Right on. We had become content with losing. That game ended with a big win, and we were undefeated for the rest of the season. That outstanding pep talk inspired us to win. A team or a person cannot be content with failure or else failure is the achievement. In my graduate studies, a real estate lawyer taught one of our courses. He not only had the attitude and appearance of a loser but his business was also a loser. He was a product of his own teachings. Failure can become systemic and take over one's whole character and environment. He was challenged multiple times by my classmates demonstrating you are what you proclaim. Out of the inner person comes what is in the person. None of us learned much in that class although we had to sit through it for the semester.
Environment
A Canadian project brought me new sights, sounds and construction practices. It was consistently below freezing, hovering around 10 degrees. I learned about real working conditions there. What was done up north in the cold is similar to what we do in the south. With extreme temperatures, you limit exposure as you add or take off clothing to stay functional. Of course, my task was indoors, but the workers in the cold were required to only work for minutes at a time. I've been asked if the project failed. No, because the work was well planned. It took more workers, but efficiency prevailed and the project was a success.
Doing what's right and doing it as a team generally leads to success. There are many examples in our country, in my companies, and in our industry of successful people overcoming adversity and ultimately becoming successful. Accepting failure has never been an option for the construction teams I've been associated with. Was a project ever completed late? Yes. Did some projects have safety, quality, cost and schedule problems? Yes. Did some of the projects have some customer dissatisfaction? Yes. Were any projects considered a failure? No, not by our teams. And since none of us was content with failure, we know Mr. Lincoln would be pleased.
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