Construction Brothers Construction Brothers

We might be just a bit late for graduation in some parts of the country, but this week we’re awarding some senior superlatives for the construction industry.

Here are the categories. You’ll need to listen to hear the winners.

Best partner for a zombie apocalypse: We ponder who would be best able to help us survive an onslaught of the undead. We ponder weapons, transportation, and power distribution.

Most likely to do best on Naked and Afraid: We ponder (trying to keep our imaginations in check)  whether a roofer, carpenter, HVAC technician, or general laborer would do best in isolation in their birthday suit.

Most likely to be able to build a whole building by themselves: Could anyone do it? We share an opinion

Most likely to have the best hair on a jobsite: Who’s sporting the most impressive locks?

Most likely to have the most entertaining injury story: Who’s going to have us laughing and wincing?

Most likely to ramble on and on about the importance of their jobs: Who will have us rolling our eyes?

Most likely to genuinely impress potential romantic partners with their construction stories: Who’s weaving tales to make them swoon? Will they try to impress with their skill or their bravery?

Biggest prankster: Who’s looking to catch you off-guard?

Most likely to win a Nobel Prize: Who’s heading to Stockholm? (That’s where they award most of the Nobel prizes.)

Most likely to start a sentence with “Well, actually…”: Who’s going to set us straight.

The most creative in-the-moment problem-solver: Who’s the best guy to have around when the crap hits the fan?

Most likely to bring an acoustic guitar to the jobsite: Who’ll serenade the crew? (And how did Tyler not end up as an option on this one?)

Most likely to have a run-in with OSHA: Who’s breaking the rules?

Most likely to develop a work-related ulcer: Who’s sucking down the Pepto Bismol?

Most likely to cause others to develop an ulcer: Who’s sending someone else to the GI specialist?

Valedictorian: Who seems to always come out on top?

Greatest Impact: Who’s really changing things?

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Eddie’s got another quote. This one is attributed to historian Daniel J. Boorstin.

“The greatest obstacle to discovery is ignorance. It is the illusion of knowledge.”

Sound applicable? We think so.

Eddie looks back to the early days of the podcast. We thought we knew a lot.

We did not.

Fast-forward five years, we now find ourselves fully aware of our ignorance.

Our advice based on our experience? Admit that you don’t know much. Ask the stupid questions. You won’t know more unless you ask more questions.

Don’t get trapped in arrogant ignorance.  

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00:00 - Ennui and another Tyler
We know that you come here for philosophical insight and existential explanations, so today we’re discussion ennui. Tyler shares… tries to share about this state of listlss… listsles… listlessness and dissatisfaction.

After this fun, we welcome our new vocal presence, Tyler Cook. Tyler shares about the secret to connecting with Zoomers. It’s all about tier lists and brackets. So today we’re going to do a tourney bracket.

05:23 - The bracket
Today we’re exploring niches. We don’t want to share any spoilers here in the notes, but here are some opinions that are shared as we process this competition. 
Concrete is tough.Drywall corners are hard.Flooring is not comfortable work.Spending your day staring upward will do a number on your neck.We don’t want to fall off a roof.Dooky’s not fun.OSHA keeps telling us not to touch a live wire.Demolition is fun for 30 minutes.Eddie is confident that he’s done with roofing.Welding sometimes happens in really dangerous places.If you're interested in jumping straight to some specific first-round debates:

6:06 - Carpentry vs. masonry
7:40 - Drywall vs. concrete 
10:20 - Ceiling vs. flooring
16:01 - Roofing vs. HVAC
23:37 - Landscaping vs. painting
24:48 - Electrical vs. excavation 
30:44 - Glass installation vs. demolition
33:21 - Semifinals
39:15 - Finals

The takeaway from this process? Man, tradespeople do some tough stuff. 

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Tyler’s struggling today, but Eddie’s bringing the wisdom. Actually, he’s passing along wisdom from John F. Kennedy.

Here’s what JFK had to say: “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”

Eddie shares about lessons Dad passed along about how to use down time. If things are slow but you know the time is coming when they won’t be… Then use that time to do the things that you know will need to be done.

Tyler recounts examples of times when he’s experienced this phenomenon. The bros talk through the questions you should ask yourself when you have the time to examine your process. These questions will help you to identify areas of weakness that you can fix before harm comes to you and your team.

See the future. Fix the problem before it arrives. 

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He brought us coffee.

00:00 - Introduction
Today we welcome Jay Jenkins. Jay is Principal in charge of Higher Education and Operations at May Architecture. We invited him to the studio to learn about building a team that’s equipped to handle the unique challenges of college and university construction.

Jay points out that colleges and universities are little cities unto themselves. Eddie brings up the fact that Jay’s teams have worked on projects at the University of Georgia and at Georgia Tech. Jay explains that each educational institution has its own culture.

Jay says his job is making sure his team of architects and designers have the tools they need. Then he just stays out of their way.

06:46 - Principles of success
Tyler asks Jay to share what owners and their teams do to position Jay and his people for success. Jay says that honesty is frankly the most helpful thing.

Jay shares about the complications involved in communicating to all of the relevant parties on college projects when construction projects affect groups that might not usually need to communicate with each other. It always starts with listening closely and thoughtfully. Then it’s often necessary to filter and reframe–to see if you’re properly understanding what’s being said.

Tyler asks Jay to expand upon the importance of listening. Jay emphasizes the need for objectivity and making an honest effort to grasp the needs of the other party. If you can’t truly grasp that need, you can’t communicate it to the team with the means to solve it.

Tyler points out that we’re all pretty good at talking, but we’re not always great at presenting prompts.

Eddie asks about the give and take between Jay and Gil, an architect he has worked with in the past. Jay shares about how the availability of a long-term conversation partner has been helpful.

This openness led to the development of 3 guiding questions within their firm:
1) Are you committed to letting the best idea win?
2) Are you passionate about what you do?
3) Are you building expertise within your team?

16:40 - Looking back
Eddie asks Jay to share about times when the challenges became greater than usual. Jay explains that sometimes the university’s team’s goal was actually to keep architects from being brought into a project because of the concern that things would become more complicated than necessary. Jay’s job was to ensure that the job was done right–in a manner that would take liabilities into consideration and similar concerns.

Jay talks about the options that are provided by architects and responses given by the owners. Eddie shares his appreciation for Jay’s role as communication facilitator–a person who comes between two parties to ensure that messages are making it back and forth.    

24:15 - The greatest challenges
Eddie asks about factors that complicate college projects–students, donors, etc. Jay says that the hardest thing is actually when the owner doesn’t know what they want. Building consensus with end users is also a challenge, though.

Jay gives examples of the diverse end-user-groups involved in a sample building: IT, health care, instructors, administrators, etc. Politics sometimes come into play.

Eddie asks about the importance of long-term, multiple-project relationships with owners and contractors. Jay says they are simply huge. Over 95% of their work is repeat work with clients. Growth comes from providing exceptional experiences for everyone involved.

It’s about creating great experiences. Jay says you’d be surprised at how far a simple thank-you goes.

37:04 - Finding good help
Eddie asks Jay to share about the challenges of finding reliable, high-quality people as his team grows. Jay explains that...

Can you think of a more difficult decision than the one that President Truman had to make in 1945? We can’t

Sometimes sitting still and not doing anything is the riskiest thing to do. Tyler recalls a conversation with friend of the show Henry Nutt III. Henry recounted a situation where his boss left him in a room and told him to sit tight until the boss returned. Henry sat around for a while and then decided to go ahead and do what it was that he thought had to be done in this room. His boss returned and decided that Henry had leadership skills.

Entrepreneurship involves risk. It requires initiative and a willing to act when others might be unwilling to do so.

Eddie encourages us to ask ourselves honestly what we could change about ourselves in order to improve our productivity or some other form of success. Chances are that we know what needs to be done and we’re simply not acting on that knowledge.

Inaction often makes failure more likely that action.

Here’s the whole quote as attributed to Harry S. Truman: “There is some risk involved in action, there always is. But there is far more risk in failure to act.”

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If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening!