I find myself in constant tension wondering if I should help broken processes. When asked to be a part of something, knowing it won't come to pass the way those in charge hope, I often wonder my role.
What if the design of the project is off?
What if someone is trying to build a house, and the problem isn't the tools, the equipment, even the cost, it is the blueprints? Being asked to help at that stage, where time is important and the blueprints can't/won't be redrawn, but the final product also won't meet it's goal is frustrating.
Do I just do my hammering and nailing? Do I speak up and stop the work completely, knowing nothing will be accomplished? Do I smile and hope for the best?
How can the tension be navigated so that the end result isn't as snobby as "i told you so" or the confirmation of my under-the-breath statements or unspoken thoughts? How is it addressed that doesn't make me sound like an expert (i'm not) critiquing something I don't want to be a part of (i do want to be part of it) if the successful outcome isn't even on my radar?
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
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1 comments:
...then I suggest you alter your job title so you can offer design solutions as a designer-builder rather than bite your tongue as a builder. It sounds like you want to have a hand in the design now so the group avoids problems later. In fact, the only reason they would hire you over another builder is so you can save them trouble caused by flaws in the design, flaws another designer won't catch because he never built squat. That's why you now charge $__/hr for building work + twice as much for design work, with a minimum of 10 hrs design work. Or something like that.
Your question is a bit different than I thought when I clicked. I think you wrote this article: "What if the design keeps being the problem..." This also indicates that to make the kind of step I suggest above, you will have to search your soul for the reasons why this keeps happening with yourself, since you are the common denominator in the pattern.
Not sure if it applies, but you may be interested in a meditation on design I wrote that asks a vaguely related question about the role of design per se. Maybe you would like it:
http://andrewdurham.com/just-living
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