Don’t be a problem recorder

On a military site early in my career, some of the older tradesmen pulled me aside. The way to get paid properly, they told me, was to make sure the client understood how complex the job was. Spell out every difficulty. Make sure they know how hard it is.

It was well meant. And for a while, I followed it.

But the general heard about the advice. He pulled me aside, looked at me straight, and said something I have not forgotten in over over three decades. If you know how to do this, tell them how you would solve it. Don’t build up the problems. Tell people what you can fix.

That was it. Don’t be a problem recorder. Be a problem solver.

I went back in and changed my whole approach. Not just that day. Every day since.

It is easy to walk into a room and list everything wrong with a situation. Anyone can do that. What clients are actually paying for is someone who already knows the way through.

We have worked on projects where other contractors had given up. Scope gaps nobody could solve. Systems that did not talk to each other. Integration problems sitting on a punch list for months. The instinct now is never to start with what is broken. Start with what you can fix, and how you are going to fix it.

A general on a military base taught me that. I still use it every single day.