A Contractor’s Tale of Mastery
A few weekends ago I had the opportunity (child labor?) to help my dad build a new deck off their house. Being the good son that I am, I showed up at 9am Saturday morning with my shirt tucked in, SPF100 applied, and coffee in hand, ready to kick this deck in the face. Growing up I worked with my dad, a general contractor who specializes in home remodels and small new construction jobs, as a grunt who just carried heavy stuff and held boards for 10–12 hours a day. Both of us learned early on that I was never destined to be more than job site muscle…to this day I can’t drive a nail in straight.
But that’s neither here nor there…
Walking up to the side of the house, the first thing out of my mouth was “Damn, Dad, that’s a big ass deck”. Without missing a beat my Dad replied with “Hope you’re ready to do a lot of screwin’ today!”
All sexual innuendos aside, and little did I know, he was absolutely right.
As the decking went down, my job was to screw a cluster of. three 3 inch screws then move, literally, 12 inches to my left, screw in another cluster and repeat 17 times until that plank was more than safely secured into the frame of the deck.
Dad was right…I was in for a lot of screwin’.
But as the deck started to come together and we kept talking and working, I noticed a few things…
Over the past handful of years I have found it interesting to observe people who demonstrate mastery of their profession. Regardless of industry, for someone to achieve true mastery it is very profound. Granted, plenty of people say they are on a quest for mastery, but in actuality their actions never seem to align with the words.
Again, neither here nor there…
My dad has been in his profession for well over 30 years and has owned and operated his business off his kitchen table for as long as I can remember. It’s widely considered that 10,000 hours of something will give you the title of ‘mastery’ as it pertains to your craft. If you asked him, he would probably say he’s made a lot of mistakes over the last 30+ years but has learned a few tricks along the way. It was those tricks, and how he shared them with me, that made my brain start to tick as we built this deck.
Follow your chalk lines
When we got started with the deck planks, my dad handed me a chalk line and told me to hold it down over the brace of the deck. He then instructed me to the next spot and so on. I asked him what the chalk lines were for…
“So you know where to put the screws…”
I figured it was easy and I could just eye ball it…well it turns out with a 30 year professional, ‘eye balling it’ isn’t going to get the job done. When you’re about to put down 2000+ screws, you better know where they are going and they better be in a straight line. This is a guy who has drilled hundreds of thousands screws and made sure there were ample lines printed to make the process smoother for the rookie holding the screw gun (two thumbs at this guy).
In the training world, making sure there is a proper needs analysis, rock solid assessment protocol, and well executed training plan that covers training and lifestyle, goes a long way in making sure the rookie with the screw gun, also known as our clients in this case, have something to make the process go smoother.
Mastery requires time AND repetition
When I first started laying down decking, my dad showed me how he wanted everything done. He grabbed the screw gun and put three screws into the deck in the blink of an eye.
When I drilled my first cluster of screws, I pinched my finger on the trigger, put my hand on the top of the gun, promptly burned my hand, and bounced the drill bit out of head of the screw, which then found its way into my other hand…
I asked my dad how he had done it so easily…“Do something every day for 30 years and see how good you get at it” he said…
Over 2000 screws later I learned not to put my hand where the drill gets hot, but still pinched my finger on the trigger and still had to dodge the drill when I bounced it out of the bit…
Even the most simple of tasks require the most finite execution. You think sleeping for 8 hours is easy? Drinking more water? How about eating more broccoli during your meals? For people who have never done it, they need to be shown how to execute it and given the chance to practice it over and over and over again. Lucky for us the sun is going to come up tomorrow and give us a chance to practice over and over again. Hopefully after 30 years it will then become effortless…
Master-y vs Master-ing
An overlooked element to mastery is one’s ability to then transfer and teach the skill.The only reason I could contribute anything other than carrying boards and lifting things up to the deck was because of my Dad’s ability to teach the skills required. Every time he instructed me to do something it was short, to the point, and projected in a way that I could easily comprehend what he was saying. He cued me on how to do it correctly (chalk lines and visual demonstration), as well as provided effective feedback on how to execute more efficiently (stand like this, hold the screw and gun like this).
Communication is arguably the most crucial skill at any job site, office, or training facility. You can go as far as saying it is the only skill that truly matters. If you can’t effectively communicate what needs to be done, how it needs to get done, and how to critique how it’s currently being executed, nothing will ever amount. Being able to execute your craft at a level of mastery level is truly exceptional. But being able to effectively teach and transfer the skill from there on out shows a deeper ability of understanding and comprehension of that craft.
Working along side and watching a master of his or her craft is truly a humbling experience. It puts into perspective how much time, effort, focus, and continual practice it takes to have a deeper understanding of what you do and what it takes to title yourself a “master”. I feel extremely fortunate to have spent the time learning but more fortunate that I was able to avoid his next. job site and return to the gym on Monday morning!
