Here at Priority One Projects we're getting back to our series, Lessons from the Zen Builder.
In today's modern world of user friendly software the consumer's ability to customize-modify-change-and visualize what they want to buy is really common. Ikea provides their buyers the opportunity to build entire rooms online--complete with drawn to scale furniture, fixtures, and artwork. Warby Parker offers digital-try-on of their eyeglass frames--customers get to experience how it feels in both of these examples before they make a buying decision.
Homeowners are customers not used to buying a prototype. And while you may not like to hear it your home construction project is a prototype.
Building a construction project is not like building a car. Ford goes through hundreds of prototypes, for example, before it puts a new car model out on the road.
Contractors have one chance to get it right in a construction project, they can’t issue a software update 3 months after you move in to fix all of your problems!
It's important that you understand that no one has ever built this exact project before and no one will ever build it again. No matter how many kitchens your contractor has remodeled, they have never built this exact one. Once you understand this, you are more tolerant of the uncertainties related to your prototype.
I hope this perspective is helpful and provides context that benefits you.
Until next time,
Ed Earl