We’ve all stared at the calendar, convinced there’s a hidden twenty-fifth hour—plenty of room to redline that section, nudge the model, and squeeze in just one more detail. “We’ll sort it during bidding,” we promise ourselves, and the optimism buys another day of breathing room. Architects thrive on this kind of self-talk; some versions are harmless, others lurk like change-order booby traps. Today Andrew and I are spotlighting the greatest hits—the stories we repeat, the messes they create, and the habits that can stop the cycle before it snaps back on us. Grab your favorite red Sharpie ... Welcome to Episode EP 176: Little White Lies. [Note: If you are reading this via email, click here to access the on-site audio player] I've Got Plenty of Time jump to 4:24 This may be the single most prevalent lie we tell ourselves the most during our career. We always are telling ourselves we have the time. Time to finish. Time to do just one more thing. Time to get enough sleep. Time to make it work. Time to meet that deadline and have all the details complete. I’m not saying all architects do this, but there is a large number. I think it’s our underlying optimism in our abilities and skills. Maybe that’s ego, but whatever the reason, it happens. A lot. We'll Deal with it During Construction jump to 8:13 Another beauty. This is one we tell ourselves as well quite often. We have a looming deadline and we need, no we MUST, publish a set of drawings and meet the deadline. We know we have left some things to deal with later. Sometimes, in the good cases, we make it back to those elements and finish our task in the manner we intended. Often, we deal with the element, but not always in the same manner and care we might have during the design phase. Then, there are those times when we just don’t ever make it back to that and the contractors solve those issues for us. Whether that is how we wanted to not is a different story. I'll Just do a Little Work Tonight jump to 11:38 Some architects are most assuredly better at this than others. The best of us never even tempt the fates and do work “at night.” Others can actually do just a task or two and then close up shop and move one. Then there is that group that sits down for a few small tasks and doesn’t realize until 4 hours later that they are still working. We knew we should have not sat down at the desk at all. But once it starts, sometimes it’s just too tough to stop. I'll Do a Little Conceptual Work to Show Them jump to 15:56 This one costs us the most. Not just as an individual, but as a profession. Don’t get me wrong, I have said this one to myself many times. If I just can show them my ideas, surely that will convince them to give me the project. My ideas are so outstanding, how can they not! But more often than not, they like the ideas, don’t hire me for the project, and probably take some of my ideas to the team they did hire. Again, this one hurts. But it also hurts all of the profession for us to give away any work at any time. It devalues our skills and knowledge to those who hire us. I’m not saying it’s easy to avoid that temptation, but for the benefit of all, we most definitely should. You Can Never Draw Too Much jump to 19:53 This one has manifested itself more and more in our digitally produced documentation world. The easier the software has become to operate and generate drawings, the more drawings we seem to WANT to make. Here the fallacy of just adding more drawings is a lie that gives us comfort that we have done enough and that we have proven our value. More sheets. Larger CD sets. On and on. I think is a way that we choose to compensate for being undervalued in general. It’s like we are the kindergartener that is showing everyone all the drawings they can make with a blue crayon. I can throw out this judgement because I too have fallen victim to this seemingly harmless lie. At Least We Got this One Detail in the Project jump to 27:53 This one is a tough one. Clients, budgets, economies, all can wreak havoc on our grand ideas and concepts for projects. We like to console ourselves with the notion that “at least we kept this or that”. I cannot say that I haven’t been here too. Of course I have with a career in public projects. But I think that almost every architect has fallen victim to have a project not go how we had hoped and in the end we lay claim to that one minor victory. But hey!, it is a victory and sometimes that means more than it seems. Many projects can be a struggle to get from conception to construction to occupation and we should not feel bad for laying claim to the bright spots we can gather. But sometimes, it is still just a little treat to east the more looming pain. That's Totally Clear - it's Obvious jump to 32:30 An architect’s thought process is not one that is typically understood by those on the outside of the profession. This little lie is one that we say quite often. We know it makes perfect sense and how could anyone not get it
