Best laid plans

We're at the tail end of a construction project at the office. Getting to the point of signing on the dotted line involved fifteen different scenarios, ranging from minimal changes to one that had nearly all 35 staff moving to a different office or area. Because this falls under my responsibility there were a couple of weeks when I fell asleep thinking about walls coming down or going up and wishing someone would invent bunk desks.  

This remodeling has reinforced the reuse, recycle, repurpose model. Staff who won tables, chairs, desks or bookcases in our office lottery now have 'new' furniture. Our large conference room has been split in two, thereby creating space for 4 cubicles and a smaller gathering area we're calling the Huddle Room for spontaneous meetings. Three conference tables are in a different configuration in a new space on a different floor, representing the biggest change of all, that is having rooms downstairs. That has resulted in creating new processes and procedures besides decorating new spaces.

Like all such projects with many moving parts, the timing has slipped for a variety of reasons. Painters couldn't paint because the drywall wasn't dry. A new office space isn't completed because the glass transom arrived in pieces. The board room remains empty because the tables and chairs weren't shipped on time.

You've done such projects in your life, projects that need linear thinking and an 'if...then' approach. These types of projects make me think of dominoes that are lined up ready to be knocked over. When one domino is placed incorrectly, standing too far away from its neighbors, then the line comes to a halt. Each time the line stopped this past week I've tried to get across to the contractor that I'm not angry, just frustrated because he isn't keeping me informed. I can deal with the delays as long as I know about them. 

Perhaps you too are in the middle of some project. Whether it is a remodel, going through those boxes of flotsam and jetsam that have accumulated in the basement or settling in to retirement, should your best laid plans go awry, may you quickly find another way to arrange the dominoes so you can continue to move forward. My fingers are crossed that the delivery truck is at the door at 7am this morning. Otherwise those best laid plans will have hit another snag and I'll be looking for a new domino.

Marilyn