48
Geotechnical News March 2011
ASFE NEWS
or ahead of schedule’ on budget or be-
low?”
“Well,” Bubba began, “there really
ain’t no secret to it at all; just common
sense. I been doin’ this for a while,
so when you bring your truck in and
I check it out, I get a pretty good feel
for what it’s gonna’ need and the other
work I got goin’, and I set a schedule I
know I can meet. Now, I’ll always try
to do better’n that if I can, because that
always comes as a pleasant surprise,
givin’ the customer more’n they bar-
gained for.”
“Like having my truck washed and
vacuumed before you return it to me.”
“Sure. It’s a sign of respect. Show’s
I appreciate you and your business.”
“And the same with money?”
“Of course. You gotta talk about
money. I’m in business. Business is all
about money. Ain’t nothtin’ to be em-
barrassed about. I sure don’t want to
tell you less’n it’s gonna be,
‘cause then you’ll think I was tryin’
to cheat you.”
“What about the unexpected? How
do you handle that?”
“Well, you got two kinds of unex-
pecteds: your expected unexpecteds
and your unexpected unexpecteds. The
expected unexpecteds I can tell you
about up front, and that accounts for
about 90% of the unexpecteds. The un-
expected unexpecteds take you by
surprise, and I always let you know
that that might happen, and if it does, I
get on the phone right away.”
“Where did you learn that?”
“From my daddy. He told me, ‘Son,
no matter what you decide to be in life,
the one thing you always want to be,
no matter what, is a man of your word.
One of the best feelings in life is to be
trusted, and if you’re not a man of your
word, you’ll never get there. People
may have no idea at all of how you
do what you do, but if you’re a man
of your word, they’ll trust you to do it
right for them.’”
“In other words, keep your prom-
ises.”
“That, and bein’ careful to only
promise what you know you can deliv-
er. If you can do better’n that from time
to time, people will love you for it. If
you break your promises, you just ain’t
a professional. Tell your friends that.”
“I promise I will.”
Letter to the Editor
Dear John:
I enjoyed the interview reprint in
the September/October 2010 ASFE
NewsLog
and the letter to the editor
sent in from the ADSC member. The
issues presented are forefront in my
mind daily, because I practice pre-
dominately in the underworld of de-
sign-build retaining-wall construction.
For ASFE’s and the geoprofessional
community’s consideration, maybe it
would be worthwhile for some action in
the arena of geotechnical design-build
practices. More and more GC’s and
owners are finding the market willing
to accept their risks in the development
of biddable, preliminary designs. I
have talked to other civil-engineering
professionals about their experiences
working on design-build projects with
GC’s, developers, etc. In line with
ASFE’s new marching orders, it harms
the geoprofessional community when
any of us agree to give our engineering
work to an owner or contractor in hopes
that it will result in a contract later.
Here’s the pitch I like to give to pro-
spective clients who want my engi-
neering and contracting expertise in
order for them to put together a re-
sponsible bid: Contractors earn their
living by building things. Engineers
earn their living by designing things (or
analyzing them, evaluating them, etc.).
Imagine, Mr. Contractor, being asked
to build the shell of a building with no
charge to an owner so the owner can
decide whether or not it can afford
to buy the building. No contractor I
know would do that. However, it is not
seen as a burden on engineers to pro-
vide preliminary designs at no charge
so the contractor can prepare a bid.
Contractors have estimators who are
part of the general operating overhead
of the company. There is no partially-
completed-buildings department that is
also part of the contractor’s operating
overhead.
Engineers also have estimators
who are part of their operating over-
head. They are called project manag-
ers and principals, and they provide
engineering proposals to prospective
clients. There should be no prelim-
inary-engineering-for-prospective-
design-build-projects
department
that would fall under the operating
overhead of an engineering firm.
Contractors seem unwilling to under-
stand the logic behind my little story.
It’s probably for the same reasons we
in ASFE lament the status of geopro-
fessionals in our society: Some are
willing to marginalize and commod-
itize their services. Some will even per-
form their services for free in hopes of
getting a paying project out of it. What
makes that approach even worse: The
geoprofessionals involved are rarely
part of the sales team proposing the
design-build scope, so they don’t have
an opportunity for personal, profes-
sional selling directly to the owner.
This is issue has been nagging me for
years, so what better time than now
for me to jump into the fire with the
latest ASFE initiative! Please let me
know how I can serve ASFE’s efforts
“to maximize the [design-build] geo-
professions’ importance and value to
the marketplace.” I’d like to think of
it as refining the palate of those shop-
ping for vintage (as in, characterized
by excellence, maturity and enduring
appeal!) service providers.
Keith R. Moser, P.E.
Geomo Enterprises, Inc.
