The Judgment Call

Sometimes there is a perfect solution.

Sometimes there are ten thousand things flying through your head, you're missing calls because you can't get off the one you're already on, and that project that's gone perfectly up until now finally brings you back to reality.

Sometimes there is no "this is the way" decision.

Sometimes there is only:

Make a decision. Sooner rather than later.

And your day is filled with these decisions without you even realizing it.

More often than not, they're simple things that add up and evolve as the day goes on.

The Good News: The hardware showed up.

The Bad News: But counting and double checking are difficult.

Last week, I needed twelve pieces of hardware before we could set some girder trusses.

I had five other things planned for the day.

Two had already gone sideways that morning.

Then, around 10:00 AM, my framer called.

He was only counting ten pieces of hardware.

That's a problem.

I called the delivery company.

First, to explain in detail how to count to twelve.

Second, to get the other two pieces to the job as soon as possible.

My framer had eight guys on site waiting on the crane they'd scheduled.

They couldn't afford to sit around waiting on two pieces of hardware.

And these weren't optional pieces.

We needed them before setting the girders.

The delivery company got back with me.

'I'll make sure it's there sometime this afternoon.'

I appreciated the effort.

But "afternoon" isn't an exact time.

Now I had a decision to make.

The hardware was over an hour away. One way.

I had an inspection to get to.

I had four other things on my list.

And I had a framer standing there with eight guys and a crane truck waiting on an answer.

There wasn't a perfect solution.

There was just a judgment call.

My call was to keep moving.

We were going to set the girder and figure out the hardware afterward.

I wasn't stopping an entire house because two pieces of hardware didn't make the truck.

Did that create another problem?

No, actually, I lucked out.

My framer stiff-kneed that girder up just enough to fit the hardware in afterward.

A little more effort and annoyance, but he saved an even bigger potential headache to deal with after the fact.

It's impressive what tradesmen figure out when they need to think outside the box.

You rarely get all the information you want before you have to make a decision.

Sometimes you have five hours.

Sometimes five minutes.

The goal isn't always to make the perfect decision.

Sometimes it's to make the best decision you can with the information you have, then keep the job moving.

It's the judgment of time and money.

Sometimes it makes much more sense to spend the time rather than the money.

And sometimes that logic is flipped.

That's the nuance that comes with the job.

Every project is different.

Doesn't matter if it's spec, or a custom build that will only ever be built once.

There will always be something different on every job, requiring different thought and different solutions to problems.

You don't always get a perfect solution.

You get a decision.

Make it.

Then deal with what comes next.

See you next Friday.

Somebody has to make the call.

— David