Learning from Mistakes

Learning from Mistakes

Much of what we do as building professionals has to do with this month's ArchiTalk subject.  As a code/regulations and quality control person in the office, most of my personal experience as it relates to reviewing construction documents has to do with how I or someone I know may have been burned in the past.  But as an office, we have a collective experience that can surely help us make good projects even better in the future.

The Project Autopsy

Case in point, I had a meeting on my calendar today listed as "Lessons Learned on XYZ Project".  Again, this was a job that went pretty well.  But when was the last time you said, " the construction of that last job could not have gone ANY better"?  Of course you haven't.  Things can always be better.  This was a fairly small job, though complex.  It dealt with a lot of high profile areas at the main entry, and had to be completed during the summer - about two months.  So the schedule was aggressive. 

The meeting consisted of the quality control personnel, the construction administrator, the design team (project architect, interior designer and Revit drafter), interiors partner and the specifications writer.  A total of eight people in a room discussed what could have been done differently to have been more successful than the project already had been.  That is a fair investment of staff hours on a pretty small job that for the most part went pretty well.

Some of the topics discussed included:

• Long Lead Items on Short Schedules
• Specific Details on One of a Kind Details
• Demolition Notes
• Existing Conditions
• Door Hardware on Aluminum Storefront
• Utilizing Technical Representatives from Manufacturers
• Specifying Finishes in Publicly Bid Work

Some of these topics are so specific, that they may never be applicable to any other job we do.  However, a few of the items will go on the Quality Control Checklist that we maintain.  There are a few items that are already on the checklist that will be repeated for the benefit of the staff's memory.

Regardless of the size of one's practice, having a procedure to do a postmortem on even successful jobs is a great way to strive for improvement for your next challenge.  While most projects are unique, there are often opportunists to apply what you've learned to other situations.

This post is part of the ArchiTalks series where a group of us (architects who also blog) all post on the same day and promote each other’s blogs. This month’s theme is "Learning from Mistakes" and was led by Steve Ramos.  A lot of other talented writers who also are architects are listed below and are worth checking out:

Lee Calisti, AIA - Think Architect (@LeeCalisti)
some kind of mistake
Lora Teagarden - L² Design, LLC (@L2DesignLLC)
Learning from mistakes in architecture
Eric T. Faulkner - Rock Talk (@wishingrockhome)
Archi-scar - That Will Leave a Mark!
Michele Grace Hottel - Michele Grace Hottel, Architect (@mghottel)
"Learning from Mistakes..."
Brian Paletz - The Emerging Architect (@bpaletz)
Forgotten Mistakes
Jeffrey Pelletier - Board & Vellum (@boardandvellum)
Are Architects Experts?
Keith Palma - Architect's Trace (@cogitatedesign)
A, B, C, D, E...
Mark Stephens - Mark Stephens Architects (@architectmark)
Learning from mistakes
Steve Mouzon - The Original Green Blog (@stevemouzon)
How Living Traditions Learn From Mistakes