Masonry Magazine August 1995 Page. 42
THE LAST WORD
By GENE ADAMS
ASBPE, SPD, SNAP
Editor, Masonry Magazine
Let's Check
Our Own
Back Yards
First!
ALMOST EVERYONE in the industry has a pet theory about how best to get a bigger slice of the pie--how to garner a greater share of the building market for masonry. Almost all of the theories look outward, into their neighbor's rather than their own back yards. It's like assessing the blame--if something is wrong, or something should or shouldn't be done, it's the neighbor's fault, not ours.
Several of the theories currently making the rounds, from totally different sources, contend that all would be well if (1) masons would only lay brick or block twice as fast (or at least considerably faster), or (2) if masons were only certified viola all of our problems in getting greater a share of the construction market would be solved.
Not surprisingly, neither of these theories were expostulated by mason contractors. They were, instead, expressed by neighbors looking in back yards other than their own.
Mason Contractors, through MCAA, by looking inwards into their own back yards, found one of their of their real needs to be more effective recruitment and training -- building a well-trained work force. They've instituted ambitious apprenticeship and supervisor training programs, as a first step in completing those goals.
How much more effective it would be if we were to look, first, at what we could do to achieve a common goal, rather than what our neighbors should do. Let's look inward and carefully check our own back yards, before we look into our neighbors' yards.
Let's not, even indirectly assess blame, unless it's self-incriminating -- nor try to tell other segments of our industry how they can solve our problems. Let's do, instead, what other building trades disciplines are doing band together to find mutual solutions, mutually set goals and then work together to realistically achieve those goals.--Gene Adams
42 MASONRY-JULY/AUGUST, 1995