I was talking to the installer about unexpected issues he ran into when he was installing my doors and windows.
- The trim boards he was replacing were not standard width or depth.
- His 3rd crew member had called off sick 3 days in a row.
- Some of the materials he was supplied with for the job wouldn’t work.
I asked what he would do. He replied,
“I’ll figure it out. It’s like working on a puzzle. There’s more than one way to solve every problem.”
As I watched him and his assistant work over the next 3 days, I saw them do the same thing I would do when working on a project. They went in with a plan and then made adjustments when faced with unforeseen obstacles.
I used to think that skilled tradesman went in with the perfect plan and executed it flawlessly.
- Painters never had drips.
- Plumbers made pipes leak proof with their first attempt.
- Mechanics could identify the problem accurately and repair it unerringly.
It turns out that skilled tradesman run into the same problems that I run into. The difference is that painters expect there will be paint drips and lines that need to be touched up. Plumbers check for leaks after assembly because they accept that not every repair will be perfect the first time. Mechanics sometimes diagnose and fix problems using their best guess to reduce some of the trial and error efforts.
When I was a kid, I loved math because there was one right answer. You either got it right or wrong. My math teachers taught us one way to get the right answer too. We had to show our work when solving math problem to demonstrate we did it “the right way”.
As I approach 60, with decades of experience behind me, I’ve learned that there are often many ways to get something done “right”.
In fact, I’ve learned to look for alternate solutions when I run into a roadblock. The roadblocks are coming – I’m certain of that.
When I keep my mind open to finding different ways to solve the puzzle, life goes much smoother.