Get It Done and It's Finished

Just get it done in one shot and it's finished!

Too many things can happen if you leave loose strings. Too many compromises come into play. The joy of victory is sweeter when it can be savored after the fact as opposed to being dragged out to die as a long-awaited "finally."

Last night the A's, my baseball team, clinched their division. They have been in the position to do it since Saturday. It's now Wednesday. They were at the brink of getting it done and then just holding. It's so frustrating! Had they won it a week ago, confidence would have been higher, fear instilled in their opponents would have been heightened, and the focus of the team would have been sharpened towards the next goal- getting to the American League Championship Series. Instead, weakness was shown, focus was lost and in general, the over-all impression of the team was questioned. Why couldn't they just get it done? Can they survive a play-off series? Don't get me wrong, I'm still with them and rooting all the way, I just think they missed a valuable opportunity.

Construction jobs are another good and actual "real world" example. There is always a big push to get the project started, the rush of getting into it and often a monumental effort to get it "finished". And then comes the punch list time.

Punch lists are generated by walking through the 99% finished project and noting all the problems, issues, or changes needed to satisfy the client or owner before they take possession of the project. A list is made of the items and as they are completed, the contractor can punch them as finished. Once all completed, the ownership of the project is transferred to the owner and the contractor is released from the project and all final bills paid. Project complete.

Unfortunately, the punch list lives a life of its own. Many times, subcontractors have to be called back to fix or install the required things from the punch list. This could be additional caulking, equipment that does not run properly, paint that has been scratched or scuffed during the construction, wrong fixtures, poor workmanship, etc.

In most cases, sub-contractors have already been paid at this point so any additional trips to the site are at his cost. Regardless of the fact that he was paid to do it right the first time or the fact that the damage is not his fault, it is expected that the sub contractor will come out and repair the disputed issue. They are not always readily available to stop a new "paying" job to go back to a past "already paid, non-paying" job.

Sometimes the general just skips the hassle and does the repairs himself. It's never as good. What happens in large projects is a slow grueling process where things get repaired very slowly as the General tries to wear down the client to the point that the client just gives up and takes ownership under the name of "Substantial Completion". This process can last over a year on projects I have worked on. It's tiring and disappointing and really takes the joy out of a new building.

If the job is done right the first time and the doer is dedicated not to stop until the job is finished, what happens is...the job actually gets finished!
And the satisfaction of all is actually satisfying.