JANUARY 2024 NEWSLETTER – ASPE Los Angeles Chapter #1

Happy New Year!     I mean that in a sense of good hope, yet also with a sadly dour outlook because this year will be tough, if not tumultuous. As a senior member of the American Society of Professional Estimators I have observed the overall societal decline in skills and the collective lack of understanding of how things work. It’s a growing problem that’s becoming much more serious, and it can cost us all a lot of money.

 From a different angle, you can evaluate management on its ability to attract, hire and retain the best levels of competent people. When you combine a solid management team with superb technical staff, you’re already much of the way to building a highly successful company.

Using a sports analogy, always look for companies with the best players, the team with the best technical bench; so to speak. That alone bends the odds in your favor. And that’s one of the keys to growing your company the next year, and well beyond. Look at it this way: we live in a complex world, a system of systems. And for most people, most of the time, in most circumstances, these systems are (to be charitable) not well understood. For example, most people just go to the airport, pass through TSA, board their flight, go from here to there, land, and head off to the next destination. Aside from the annoying hustle and bustle of airports, you don’t think much about it, right? But do you ever ponder how airports are designed and built? Or the TSA screening system? Or the airplanes and engines? Or the fuel that goes into them? Or the pilot training system? Or the air traffic control system? You get the idea. No, not really. Most people just want to travel from point A to point B and not have the airline lose their bags. But when you take even a small look inside the big machine of airline travel, there’s an immensely complex system of systems behind everyday airline operations. And every one of those systems, at every step along the way, requires all manner of unique skills by people who are part of the process.

As a professional estimator it is imperative that you understand each piece of the airport puzzle and know how and where each piece fits. Do you know the difference between a Runway and a Taxiway? Do you know the complexities of a baggage handling system and the space and logistic requirements to install one?

Let’s bring this closer to home, literally. For example, where does electricity come from? Yeah, sure; it comes from the light switch, right?

Seriously, though, do most people know how a light switch works? Pretty much everyone touches a light switch every day. But who can take one out of the wall, tear it down and rebuild it? Or to get more complicated, how about the wires from the light switch to the circuit panel in the basement? Same challenge: can you hook up a new line to your washing machine, let alone to that new electric vehicle you just bought? (Warning: unless you know what you’re doing with electricity, do not try this.) Now, take this knowledge (or lack thereof) about electricity outside to the curb. How many people can explain how utility wires work? How about those transformers up on the poles? Trace it all back to the step-down substations, and thence to high-tension lines that go back to the power plant. And c’mon, who really knows how a power plant works? I could list innumerable other examples, but you see what I mean, yes? And when you consider what you know versus what you don’t really know, it’s all rather humbling. There’s just so much out there, and a big whack of it makes up key parts of your life. Still, don’t feel bad about not knowing everything about everything. Nobody is that smart. In this respect, we’re all in the same boat. The good news is that, we have the construction subject matter experts in ASPE.  And many of our members are highly skilled in their labors, whether it’s the electrical engineer designing the power station, or power company workers who maintain the electric lines, or the electrical estimators who prepare the budgets for the power company’s facility maintenance or expansion.

The bad news, though, is that there seems to be a general lowering of collective knowledge and skill levels across society. You can see it in just the difficulty of finding a good estimator, scheduler, electrician, plumber, carpenter, bricklayer, or any other trade. When you go out and about, no doubt you see “Help Wanted” signs pretty much everywhere, from fast food places and clothing stores, to garages and manufacturing sites, you name it. The economy has jobs, but where are the workers? If you dig into the trade press forums, you’ll see worker and skill shortages almost everywhere. It seems that everyone is looking for people at every level. On my end, I’ve encountered people/skills shortages across the fields of Construction Labor (all trades), Construction Cost Estimating, and Project Controls, Scheduling, Engineering, and more. I’ve spoken with Union representatives, corporate execs and university professors who lament the skinny pipelines of trained people coming out of schools and graduate programs into these areas.

All of the above illustrates how just a relative few people in the world know how to design and build the everyday systems we take for granted. The point here is that business success is built upon a foundation of people, people and more people. And the distressing fact is that our economy lacks sufficient people with specific, necessary skills — at almost every level. (Hint: it begins with failures within the basic education system, another discussion entirely.) That’s why I joined ASPE over 35 years ago and why you should too.  In ASPE I found the subject matter experts that mentored me. And I am now a mentor to the next generation, as are the many subject matter experts we have in our society. And that is why you will want to join us at our local chapter meetings and participate in seminars and other educational venues to grow your skills. Remember, every bench player will have the opportunity to be a starter as their skill level improves.  Let us help you improve your construction knowledge!

Our January meeting will be in-person at the
Barkley Restaurant in South Pasadena on January 23 at 7PM. Please contact me or
Bruce Danielson for more information.

N. Joe Miller, CPE

President, ASPE Chapter #1

323-203-6138

njoemillercpe@gmail.com