Clients call on us because we supposedly know what we are talking about in a very specialized field. But then a weird thing happens – 5 specialists sit in a room and no one agrees. There is no spec. no guideline, and sad to say no drawing. (in this hypothetical scenario). There’s Nothing!
Someone then draws on a white board and says big words while holding 3 different color markers. Some one else asks a weird question and two days later we are back in the meeting room, while the next guy tries his luck with the whiteboard because the ideal could not be executed for some or the other reason. Perhaps it was poor progress, flash setting, anchor testing failed, or it may even have been that bricks were cut out of tolerance or there is not enough material to fulfill the Wishlist – And then the owner says ” But aren’t you the specialist!”. That was not a question.
Let me start over: In refractories we talk about following or implementing procedures, guidelines, specifications, drawings … But, sometimes I get to site where some – or none of the above are available. Other times I get stuff before reaching site. However this is about the few times things go south.
The best I’ve ever heard was: “That guy is our walking drawing he knows everything”! True story. There was no drawing and “that guy” had it all in his head. Only problem was he changed his mind often. As result the “drawing” changed. This specific project had no refractory spec. either. All we had was material manufacturer Installation instructions, but naturally these don’t cover details. The outcome was arguments about “best practice”. Note that the OEM was not part of the project, for reasons I wont divulge here.
Perhaps worth noting is that experts are leaving town. Experienced people are retiring, and no matter how many years I, or we shadow them they will leave this industry with a wealth of knowledge. The main issue here is that things become subjective. Inspectors, supervisors, good QC’s, owners, … all have different ideas of what would be right or wrong … not best in a situation. Let me say that again. People argue about Right vs Wrong instead of focusing on what would be Best. #LIFE LESSON!!!
What is the point if this blog post. It is not about what you can do, it’s about what you can fix! We wont always have all the information. And that’s the point, work with what you have and make it work. Oh and quote the client for drawings, a spec, you know the whole shabang… and if you can’t do it, call me… wink wink.
