I update this blog daily, and for the past couple of weeks have been focussing on the backlog of Best Construction Blog 2014 entries.Today is the final nomination date, and (if all goes well) the voting links should be set up in time for voting to begin tomorrow morning. Then, I should have a tabulation of the total number of nominees, which I believe will be at record-breaking volume. The blog reviews will continue most days until they are complete, to allow enough time for me to stand back from commenting about individual blogs as the March 31 voting deadline approaches.
This stuff is the blog, but our own business has experienced some dramatic challenges and surprises in the past couple of weeks. Some stories are too close to discuss externally, at least in real-time, though I expect the current experience (and lessons learned) will join other tales in our corporate storybook. In truly thankful that staff and key contractors rallied behind the business when they were caught in circumstances not of their making (and for which I accept complete responsibility.)
As we worked through the week, we discovered how a set of mistakes could compound into a jarring (and rather unwelcome) surprise, resulting in the need for extreme crisis management responses. These sorts of surprises shouldn’t occur in well-managed businesses, with proper reporting, review, management and record-keeping systems. The experience has reminded me of the dangers of careless assumptions and the absolute importance of competence in key responsibilities/jobs.
I can’t say I’m catching my breath now — there is a huge workload (and now backlog) ahead. And there will be plenty of stress. This is good, of course, because it means things will get better. We’ll pull the threads together to improve our reporting tools and discipline, hopefully avoiding the need for the sort of shock therapy we experienced in the past few days.
It’s been a humbling, and heartening, week. In the meantime, if you haven’t nominated your favourite blog, today is your last chance to let us know.
