Every Job is a Collaboration

This past week I dove into a cabinet installation at my nephew’s house. I was aided by a carpenter who has a lot more skill than I and it was an absolute pleasure. Much of my life, both in the theatre and as a project manager, has been about sensing when to allow someone else to take the lead. That someone can be younger than I, or older, it doesn’t matter because there seems to be a thinking place which has nothing to do with age.

Every project presents an opportunity to follow. This doesn’t mean I cannot think on my own or that I, alone cannot do a nice job, but I am not, and probably never will be my best, as a solo act. Building, for me, is about team work.  It is about listening to partners and learning from them. Even when I work by myself, I do so with knowledge gleaned from ages of teams that came before me. I work with tools that have been worked to become what they are and with materials that have embodied energy.

I have never built anything without some serious help.