|
|
|
|
From the President, September 2003
|
|
|
One of my favorite comic interludes is a PDQ Bach (Prof. Peter Schickele) episode in which a pair of play-by-play broadcasters announce the contest between an orchestra performing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and the guest conductor. The bit starts with the premise that the orchestra is a professional team opposing the efforts of the conductor - - - after all, they face opposite directions. There is plenty of humor in casting the conductor, not in the role of quarterback, or even coach, but, as the opposition. As I recall the conductor wins, too many errors in the brass section. Speaking of teams, a few years back, CSI began using team analogy when talking about the roles and types of members in our association, but I'm not entertained. For like Prof. Schickele the Institute has not cast us as players on the same team but, rather as separate teams in the same game! They set up Owner-, Constructor-, Vendor- and Design-teams; each category as its own team - playing on the same field. The analogy feels more like a double-elimination tournament than a collaboration. A team is a collection of players, each skilled in their own specialty of the game, working together towards a common goal. If you play out the logic of the team analogy as invoked by CSI, when the Owner team meets one of the other teams on the playing field (the Project Site) the meeting is by definition a contest. A contest implies that there's a winner and there's a loser. With four (maybe more) teams on the Site, the project isn't a team goal but rather - - - a construction version of the Final Four - a tournament where second place is just the last loser. I've had the opportunity this year to attend the CSI/TFM Construction Showcase in Chicago, the AIA National Convention in San Diego and CSI University in Philadelphia. There is evidence that CSI is breaking us up again. Now, for many Chapter leaders, there's a choice to be made (continuing the sports analogy) - whether to play with the rank-and-file at the convention and trade show or to play in the big-leagues at the U. The damage to what we once knew as Convention was evident on the trade show floor. Vendors that I saw at both the Construction Showcase and the AIA Convention indicated that they usually expect a lot more quality leads at the CSI show than at AIA. But, this year the tables were turned. Traffic at the Construction Showcase was disappointing, while the AIA show was spectacular. I know the economy's weak, and there a probably a lot of reasons that may factor into a person's decision choose San Diego in May rather than Chicago in April. But, its my opinion CSI is not going to fulfill its mission by pitting Designers, Owners, Constructors and Vendors against each other in a four-way contest, and segregating the organization's leaders from the rank and file. To realize our potential, we'll have to return to the fundamentals that founded this organization - collaboration in a neutral venue. When the Owners, Designers, Constructors and Vendors are specialty positions within a team, each adding their expertise to the effort - then, time and the elements become the opposition. Working together, though, we'll have the knowledge and skills to plan, schedule and erect the project so that we all benefit. Harold Dean Kiewel, CSI, CCS, AIA, NCARB |
|
Web site design Copyright © 1995-2003 Sheldon Wolfe |
