People. People, including, ourselves are the hardest part of our business and the world in general. Most people know this but we still struggle to lead, manage, develop, position, etc. the right ones. We often like to point fingers but the most difficult person to control or change is usually ourselves. It's hard to confront our own realities and make the difficult decisions and put in the hard work to be our best. For me personally, this has been challenging. For every success I might have had, there's often been a growing moment or something humbling that immediately preceded or succeeded that accomplishment. The more honest I am with myself and the more I hold myself accountable, the less likely I am to be humbled or suffer a setback. It's a bit of a nasty cycle that I have gotten better with over time but still have to work hard to avoid repeating it.
I know I'm not alone. Even with all of the new tools and technologies that are designed to make our jobs easier, we still put in a ton of hours and productivity has stagnated when compared to other industries. We have tons of training available to us and all kinds of tools when we need them but we often continue to struggle. This struggle can be seen with safety incidents were many are driven by mistakes people make in spite of all the training and tools we have. Equipped right, people still have to make the right decisions and carry out the necessary steps to stay safe.
Human error still exists and will always exist no matter the resources available. It is a good thing to continue to train our people to work right and stay safe but we should take a more in depth look at just developing people. I know that when my mind is right, there aren't many obstacles or challenges I can't overcome. The right amount of training, intelligence, skill and will power (hard work and ability to suffer) leads to success. It is hard to identify these traits in people and even harder grow them in ourselves and others. The selection process for "special forces" in each branch of the US military usually qualifies people based on a base level of skill and intelligence and then puts them in a selection course where their ability to work hard and suffer to achieve goals is tested. It would be impossible for us to do with large numbers of construction pros but if we could evaluate and test people on the job with quantitative measures, we might be able to develop people and teams better. With the right people, mission (project) failure would be rare.
This process of people improvement begins with ourselves. This can be daunting but as Socrates noted, "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom." With this quote in mind, even young construction pros can start on the path to wisdom by undertaking honest introspection. We must know ourselves to gain wisdom needed to lead and manager others.
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