Imperfect People Build Imperfect Homes

About four years ago I had a presale on one of my houses.

It was in rough-in if I'm remembering correctly.

That's when I met John.

John was one of those buyers you actually looked forward to seeing on site.

If you've been doing this long enough, you know that isn't always the case.

Early on in the build he said something that honestly irritated me a little:

'Imperfect people build imperfect homes.'

At the time, it sounded like a trap.

Like permission.

Permission to miss things.

Permission to shrug your shoulders.

Permission to accept mediocre work and move on about your day.

Turns out I was the one misunderstanding it.

Quick question before we move forward:

If perfection isn't possible, does that mean we tear it all down and start over?

The Good News: Nobody built a perfect house this week.

The Bad News: Nobody built a perfect house this week.

Like I said, John was a great guy to build for.

He had a very distinct personality and cadence to the way he communicated.

He'd stop by every now and then to check on progress, ask how we were looking on schedule, point out the occasional punch item, and compliment the crews and trades working on his house.

And every once in a while he'd throw that line back out there with a smile:

'Imperfect people build imperfect homes.'

Being completely honest, it sounded like an excuse at first.

An excuse to let problems slide.

An excuse to lower standards.

But over time, getting to know John better and getting better at my own job, I realized what he actually meant.

Imperfect people really do build imperfect homes.

That's not a philosophy.

That's not a paradox.

That's not an excuse.

That's a fact.

The goal was never perfection.

The goal was excellence.

There's a difference.

Striving for perfection and reducing mistakes is the goal in any industry.

But understanding perfection isn't attainable somehow makes you better at chasing it.

Less emotional.

More methodical.

Less pressure.

More accountability.

John later told me this wasn't his first rodeo.

Before building with us, he and his wife had already built three custom homes over the years.

This time was different.

Different season of life.

Different priorities.

They weren't interested in spending the next year debating cabinet pulls and door hardware finishes.

They wanted a beautiful home, a simpler process, and a little less complexity in their lives.

Before retiring, John had spent decades as an executive in railroad development.

Big projects.

Big budgets.

Big teams.

The guy understood leadership and understood people.

The more I got to know him, the more I realized he wasn't really talking about houses when he said:

'Imperfect people build imperfect homes.'

He was talking about businesses.

Projects.

Teams.

People.

Homes just happened to be the version standing in front of us at the time.

Now hold on.

Let's not get carried away here.

John's quote only goes so far.

This isn't an example of imperfect people building imperfect homes.

This is an example of somebody standing back, looking at this, and saying:

'Yep.'

Those knobs are in different zip codes.

Imperfect people build imperfect homes.

That isn't permission to accept bad work.

It's permission to stop expecting perfection from yourself, your crews, and your trades.

The goal isn't perfection.

The goal is building homes so well that the imperfections don't matter.

There's a difference.

See you next Friday.

Try not to lose sleep over the things nobody else will ever notice.

— David