Stepping Back. Seeing where we are.

It’s easy to get the momentum going and just start grinding through the days, the weeks, the months and eventually the years. Momentum can help us get a lot done! But, a wide-receiver can’t catch the ball unless he’s running with his head up. So we’re pausing with Ryan Lessard and Kendrick Ballantyne for a few minutes to take a snapshot of where Optimum Construction is today. Maybe you’ll do the same?

The Turning Point

There’s this moment where your mind shifts from keeping up or maintaining, and you switch over into growth-mode. Everyone’s daily concerns elevate up a tier to a place that’s characterized by excitement for new opportunities. Everyone can feel it happen all at once across the team. Immediately, it manifests itself in everyone trying out new ways to approach the gaps in construction industry standards (commercial or residential, it’s the same for both). A lot has been grandfathered into the old system that could be viewed differently and then improved. 

In general terms, when you start talking about company growth, you start to relook at a variety of factors that can easily be subdivided into two categories: Growing what you have (inwardly) and growing toward what you don’t have (outwardly).

Inward Growth

These are personal things. Everyone is taking stock of their own lives, talents, limitations, dreams and skills. There is this huge time investment in each individual to learn more about what makes them tick, supporting those things and then challenging them to find new inner fortitude and strength to learn more, manage more, and take more responsibility. It’s time-consuming and slow, but unless you grow into the team that you’ve got, you risk losing your foundational stability. We’ve all got to become the kinds of people that we need before we consider adding more bodies to the team. We have to each do our own inner work. Skills can be taught, but attitude is much slower growing and essential to the culture.

Outward Growth

Cement the Optimum Construction ideology into every new person that gets hired. Without this, outward growth becomes much more difficult. The next step is to support people with good systems and surround them with a team of people who really care for each other. That’s what we stand for and who we are in the process of becoming. Kendrick said, “Everyone should know what we are built on and who you’re going to be on the team with. It’s really encouraging for people in our industry to be a part of something so much more intentional.”

A Mindset Shift

When we all started so many years ago, as everyone does, we started small. It feels like you wake up one morning and find yourself working on $800,000 residential custom home projects vs small kitchen remodels or managing a $5,000,000 large-scale commercial retrofit vs painting out a few offices; it adds some weight to your work life. 

“We have to be cognizant of everybody being in a different place, and address methods for being effective with them,” Ryan said. “Everyone needs different support, so we’re asking ourselves to work with people in a way that works best for them.”

Whether it’s a custom home or a commercial building, the more intense the project, the more moving parts you’ll have going and the less margin there is for error. The stakes are higher, which for a challenge-oriented, team-minded group, just means the performance gets better. Kendrick simplified the key to this success into two main areas: Proper Expectations and Ample Notice.

Proper Expectations

It’s easy to brush this off as a generalization. But Kendrick defines it for us, “Setting proper expectations means every single party to the project knows what it till take to execute the job.”

Everyone knows what it takes to execute. 

Sometimes you need a guide rail or measure for this. If anyone walks through the door on a commercial or residential construction project and then starts figuring stuff out, you have not set proper expectations. A good sign to look for is that no one ever shows up “surprised”. From client to architect, foreman to subcontractor. That’s the ultimate goal.

Ample Notice 

This one is as simple as it sounds. Give everyone enough time to receive information, process it, ask questions, then gain clarity. If you’re going to show up to a site and be completely unsurprised, that’s the result of someone touching base well in advance. The day before or the day-of is rarely adequate because there needs to be space for good discussion. Often, other issues or opportunities are pre-empted by a good, early conversation. When you’ve got a commercial project or a custom home on the line, it’s better to be ahead of all the complexity. 

Ryan made a good point here, “The way you start everything defines the project.” When you get off on a great foot, it means everyone is putting in an effort to gain clarity. It’s an entirely non-linear process that requires a high degree of proactivity, and that tone is set at the starting line.

Where we are today

The tenor of this writing was captured so succinctly when we asked them, “In one sentence, how would you describe where we are today?” Ryan’s response was that this is only the beginning. Despite a nearly decade-long journey, he still sees Optimum as young, learning, growing up, full of potential and vitality. For him, the sun has just risen!

Kendrick couldn’t answer right away. He called back an hour later, from the car, and said (with some emotion in his voice), “You know what. Where I am, where we are today is just this simple. Thankful.”

“I’m thankful for Ryan, to our employees, our brand shepherd Ben, our clients, the wonderful subs, my wife, Ryan’s wife, all the families that support everyone who works here. I’m overwhelmingly thankful to everyone who has made this all possible, It’s only just begun, but I’m thankful for where we are at, today. We are here not because of Kendrick and Ryan, but because of everyone who has been a part of this journey.  And yes, thank you even to the people that aren't here anymore, or the situations that weren’t good, they shaped us and taught us.”

So where are we today? Thankful. Period.