Measure Twice, Cut Once

On today’s show we are talking about measurement diligence.

People are human and they make mistakes. Often these potential mistakes are not checked, double checked or triple checked. You have no doubt heard the mantra, measure twice, cut once.

Measuring sounds easy. In some ways it is. You take out your tape measure and you just measure.

Diligence requires attention to detail.

Those who make a lot of measurement errors are also prone to missing the details in a contract, or the details in a report. It requires a lot of focus and diligence to catch errors. If you think that errors are rare, you might be more prone to observer bias.

This brings me to the most overlooked role in any organization.

Quality assurance is a mandatory function in any business in my experience. The review process is a formal process that can’t be skipped. So often I work with consultants who aim to deliver their work on the deadline. They are assuming that there are no mistakes. They are assuming no review time in their schedule. If you actually do perform a review, you are guaranteed to be late. If you find an error, which is likely, then you are guaranteed to be even later than late.

I started today’s show talking about measuring. But measuring is a metaphor for any critical item. It could be a test result or a consultant report. Each time a consultant makes an error, it can result in delays in securing building permits or in redesign of the project. If people are not used to the review process, they might be inclined to charge extra for that service.

-------------

Host: Victor Menasce

email: [email protected]