Are You a Carpenter or Just a Hammer?

You hired a carpenter in the morning. By 10 o’clock you realized the only tool he could use with any success was a claw hammer. What would you do? Without hesitation, you would fire him. Why? Because if you can’t use the tools of the trade like a pry bar, a screwdriver, and all the other tools a carpenter is supposed to use, then he’s not a carpenter at all. So what makes you any different than that carpenter? Seriously. When it comes to management, the only tool you know how to use is a hammer. You’re missing all the leadership tools that should be hanging on your superintendent tool belt. If you don’t have those tools, then you’re nothing but a pusher, and pushers are a dime a dozen in this industry. Dave was one of those hard-nosed superintendents who liked to throw his hard hat around and berate people. Rainy day brought him into Mike’s office to chat. Dave said: I just don’t understand my guys. I think I have everything lined out and everyone understands the plan. Then I go out there and they’re not doing what I want them to do. So I go back out, pull everyone together and repeat to them what I want them to do. I yell and scream a little, throw a hard hat for show and think I have everything squared away. But a few days later, I see they’re still not doing it right and that just drives me crazy. Mike could see Dave was frustrated. Decided to take bold approach. Asked the carpenter question. Dave said he would fire carpenter who can only use hammer. Mike responded: you’re that carpenter. Only tool you know is hammer. You’re missing all leadership tools. Three days went by. Dave walked back into office and said: tell me that hammer story again. Long discussion. He agreed people don’t always like to be pushed. Sometimes they want to be pulled, supported, trusted, or motivated by some other approach. Realized there are many other tools valuable in tool belt when dealing with people.

Here’s what most superintendents miss. They think leadership is pushing. Yelling. Screaming. Throwing hard hats. Telling people what to do. Going back out and repeating louder. Getting frustrated when people still don’t do it right. That’s one tool. Hammer. And if carpenter can only use hammer, he’s not carpenter. He’s amateur with one tool. Same with superintendent. If you can only push, yell, scream, throw hard hats, you’re not leader. You’re pusher. Pushers are dime a dozen in this industry. Real superintendents have full tool belt. Pull. Support. Trust. Motivate. Train. Listen. Coach. Guide. Enable. Protect. Different tools for different situations. Different people respond to different approaches. Can’t use hammer on every problem. Can’t push everyone same way. Some people want to be pulled. Some want support. Some want trust. Some want motivation. Need multiple tools handling multiple situations with multiple people.

The challenge is most superintendents never learned they need full tool belt. They learned construction through pushing. Watched superintendents yell and scream. Saw hard hats get thrown. Observed chaos and firefighting. Concluded: that’s how you do it. That’s leadership. Push harder. Yell louder. Throw harder. But that’s not leadership. That’s amateur with one tool wondering why it doesn’t work. Dave yelled and screamed. Threw hard hat. Thought everything squared away. Few days later people still not doing it right. Drove him crazy. Because hammer doesn’t work on every problem. Can’t build entire building with just hammer. Need saws, drills, levels, squares, tape measures. Can’t lead entire team with just pushing. Need pulling, supporting, trusting, motivating. Full tool belt. Not just hammer.

The Hammer Story: Dave’s Realization

Dave was project superintendent on Marble Hills Nuclear Generating Station in southern Indiana. One of those hard-nosed superintendents who liked to throw his hard hat around and berate people.

Rainy day brought Dave into Mike’s office to chat. Mike was quality control manager. At some point during conversation, Dave said to Mike: I just don’t understand my guys. I think I have everything lined out and everyone understands the plan. Then I go out there and they’re not doing what I want them to do.

So I go back out, pull everyone together and repeat to them what I want them to do. I yell and scream a little, throw a hard hat for show and think I have everything squared away. But a few days later, I see they’re still not doing it right and that just drives me crazy.

Mike could see that Dave was frustrated, but decided to take a bold approach. Asked: if you hired a carpenter in the morning and by 10 o’clock you realized that the only tool he could use with any success was a claw hammer, what would you do?

Without hesitation, Dave said firmly: I would fire him.

Mike asked him why.

Dave responded: well, if you can’t use the tools of the trade like a pry bar, a screwdriver, and all the other tools a carpenter is supposed to use, then he’s not a carpenter at all.

Without missing a beat, Mike responded: so what makes you any different than that carpenter?

Dave gave him a blank stare, so Mike continued. Seriously, Dave, when it comes to management, the only tool you know how to use is a hammer. You’re missing all the leadership tools that should be hanging on your superintendent tool belt. If you don’t have those tools, then you’re nothing but a pusher, and pushers are a dime a dozen in this industry.

Dave sat there looking out the window for a while, then got up and walked right out of the office without saying another word.

Three days went by before he walked back into Mike’s office and said: tell me that hammer story again?

They had a long discussion and he agreed that people don’t always like to be pushed. Sometimes they want to be pulled, supported, trusted, or motivated by some other approach. Dave realized there are many other tools that are valuable in our tool belt when dealing with people.

Command with Purpose, Control the Outcome

Most of us have learned more from projects that have gone wrong than we have from projects that have gone right. In this industry, there are jobs that finish behind schedule, over budget, and with poor quality. There are projects that are filthy, out of control, and seem to have no specific leader.

Interestingly, and unfortunately, these projects seem to be the rule and not the exception. This is unnecessary and it is caused by contractors not having command of their projects and failing to control the outcomes.

Think about it like this. If an owner provides the correct funding for the project and the owner or design build partner provides an adequate design according to the normal standards of care, then the remaining considerations are the responsibility of the builder.

One might say external conditions such as weather, equipment, or economic conditions are out of their control, but with the right preparation, the builder will have planned for such externalities. The destiny of a project is in the hands of the builder, and as such, that destiny is faded by their attention to command and control.

The Electrician Example: When GC Fails to Control

There are many trade partners and vendors in our industry who can work at peak performance but are not allowed to. Take, for example, an outstanding electrician doing in-wall rough-in for the interiors of a building.

She plans her work, coordinates the rough-in locations, prefabricates what she can, and has her manpower ready and geared to go for the benefit of her company and the project.

What if the design then changes? What if other trades fail to coordinate with her rough-in locations? What if they fall behind and do not provide the work needed ahead of her? What if other trades leave open holes in the areas that are released to her?

Even with all her preparation, the proficient electrician will lose production time, fall behind, perform rework, and lose faith in the overall processes of the project.

In this case, the general contractor failed to provide suitable command and control. The general contractor owed the electrician a controlled project that would allow her to leverage her abilities.

The coordination effort should have included all trades, and its plan should have been enforced. The design changes should have been isolated so the main workforce was not derailed. The general contractor should have educated the other trade partners and enforced the concept of pulling work and finishing on time.

The general contractor should have created a system to see potential problems that may have arisen in the work and prevented them through standard processes.

You can be sure when you see chaos on a project, schedules pushing behind, bad quality and safety issues, that no one is in command and no one is in control. We must be in control of our projects to create remarkable experiences and shared success.

Cultural Creation Determines Fate

In their book, Will and Ariel Durant suggest the rise and fall of an empire hangs in the balance of something called cultural creation. Roughly defined, a culture is comprised of the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.

The Durants argue that the customs of a culture, and specifically the behaviors that motivate those customs, determine a society’s fate more than the external conditions.

If internal culture plays a major role in a society’s destiny, then it follows that the beliefs, decisions, and actions of a business will also decide its fate.

This work was written to shape the culture for all field builders. If you allow these lessons to influence your way of thinking, you will see immediate results in your effectiveness as a builder.

The System Failed You

Let’s be clear. When superintendents only know how to use hammer, it’s not entirely their fault. The system failed by teaching that leadership is pushing, yelling, screaming, throwing hard hats. Nobody showed that if carpenter can only use hammer, he’s not carpenter. Nobody explained that if superintendent can only push, he’s not leader, he’s pusher. Pushers are dime a dozen. The system taught push harder when actually need full tool belt.

The system also failed by not teaching that people don’t always like to be pushed. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. Sometimes people want to be pulled, supported, trusted, motivated by other approach. There are many tools valuable in tool belt when dealing with people. Different people respond to different approaches. Can’t use hammer on every problem. The system taught one approach when actually need multiple tools.

The system fails by not teaching command with purpose and control the outcome. When you see chaos on project, schedules pushing behind, bad quality and safety issues, no one is in command and no one is in control. Electrician example: she plans work, coordinates locations, prefabricates, has manpower ready. But design changes. Other trades fail to coordinate. Fall behind. Leave open holes. She loses production time, performs rework, loses faith. GC failed to provide suitable command and control. GC owed her controlled project allowing her to leverage abilities. The system taught react to chaos when actually create controlled project preventing chaos.

The Challenge

Here’s your assignment. Stop being carpenter with one tool. Start building full superintendent tool belt.

Recognize if you only know how to push, you’re pusher, not leader. Pushers are dime a dozen in this industry. If you’re yelling and screaming, throwing hard hat, pulling everyone together and repeating louder, wondering why they’re still not doing it right, you only have one tool. That’s hammer. You’re missing all leadership tools that should be hanging on your superintendent tool belt.

Learn that people don’t always like to be pushed. Sometimes they want to be pulled, supported, trusted, motivated by other approach. There are many other tools valuable in tool belt when dealing with people. Different situations require different tools. Different people respond to different approaches. Can’t build entire building with just hammer. Can’t lead entire team with just pushing.

Command with purpose, control the outcome. If owner provides correct funding and adequate design, remaining considerations are responsibility of builder. One might say external conditions are out of control, but with right preparation, builder will have planned for externalities. Destiny of project is in hands of builder. That destiny is faded by attention to command and control.

Create controlled project allowing trades to leverage abilities. Electrician plans work, coordinates locations, prefabricates, has manpower ready. GC owes her controlled project. Coordination effort should include all trades with plan enforced. Design changes should be isolated so main workforce not derailed. Educate trade partners and enforce concept of pulling work and finishing on time. Create system to see potential problems and prevent them through standard processes.

When you see chaos on project, schedules pushing behind, bad quality and safety issues, no one is in command and no one is in control. That’s unnecessary. It’s caused by contractors not having command of projects and failing to control outcomes. We must be in control of our projects to create remarkable experiences and shared success.

Build your leadership tool belt. Pull. Support. Trust. Motivate. Train. Listen. Coach. Guide. Enable. Protect. Not just hammer. Full tool belt.

Three days later, Dave came back asking to hear the hammer story again. That’s when he learned. That’s when he changed. That’s when he became leader instead of pusher.

On we go.

FAQ

What is the hammer story?

Dave was superintendent who yelled, screamed, threw hard hat. Frustrated people still not doing it right. Mike asked: if you hired carpenter who could only use claw hammer, would you fire him? Dave said yes. Mike said: you’re that carpenter. Only tool you know is hammer. You’re missing all leadership tools. Dave came back three days later asking to hear story again. Realized people don’t always want to be pushed, sometimes want to be pulled, supported, trusted, motivated by other approach.

What does “command with purpose, control the outcome” mean?

If owner provides correct funding and adequate design, remaining considerations are responsibility of builder. External conditions like weather or equipment can be planned for. Destiny of project is in hands of builder. When you see chaos on project, schedules pushing behind, bad quality and safety issues, no one is in command and no one is in control. Must be in control of projects to create remarkable experiences and shared success.

What’s the electrician example about?

Outstanding electrician plans work, coordinates locations, prefabricates, has manpower ready. But design changes. Other trades fail to coordinate. Fall behind. Leave open holes. She loses production time, performs rework, loses faith. GC failed to provide suitable command and control. GC owed her controlled project allowing her to leverage abilities. Should have coordinated all trades, isolated design changes, educated partners, created system preventing problems.

What are the leadership tools beyond pushing?

Pull. Support. Trust. Motivate. Train. Listen. Coach. Guide. Enable. Protect. Different tools for different situations. Different people respond to different approaches. Can’t use hammer on every problem. Can’t push everyone same way. Some want to be pulled. Some want support. Some want trust. Need multiple tools handling multiple situations with multiple people.

What makes you a pusher instead of a leader?

If you only know how to yell, scream, throw hard hat, pull everyone together and repeat louder, you only have one tool. That’s hammer. If carpenter can only use hammer, he’s not carpenter. If superintendent can only push, he’s not leader, he’s pusher. Pushers are dime a dozen in this industry. Need full tool belt to be real leader.