We recently had some painting and minor trim work done at our house. When we described the new trim layout we wanted in our stairway, I could tell right away the painters were unsure and less confident than I would have liked. Despite the hesitation that I sensed, I was very busy with work and decided to simply trust them at their word when they said, “We
got this.”
Sadly, the job turned out to be less professional looking than we had wanted, but in hindsight, I suppose it was exactly what I expected.
I knew better.
I knew the job was over their head, yet I signed off on it anyway.
What I should have done was not only read the signs correctly (which I had done), but then I should have taken the correct course of action. I should have used another contractor to install the molding. I should have watched them closely and provided guidance and instruction along the way (#leadership) to help them avoid the mistakes they made. Or, I should have done it myself.
Instead, I needed to spend another weekend fixing the mistakes they made.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a homework assignment, a carpentry project, or a work assignment that may be worth 6-7 figures to your company…whatever the task, it pays to do it right the first time.