January 2013: Full Contact Project Management

Words: Dan KamysJanuary 2013 alt Full Contact Project Management
Masonry Magazine alt alt
Your ‘Dash’ to Success in 2013: Winning Your Own Race

Right about now, everyone’s all concerned with New Year’s resolutions, what next year may hold for us, what to change, and what to repeat. A wish for this and a hope for that?Ķ Consider this instead: This is how your 2013 actually looks: Jan. 1, 2013 – Dec. 31, 2013.

The year 2013 has to be your year to succeed. Everyone, including your competitors, has been given Jan. 1 through Dec. 31. The difference is the “dash” between day 1 and day 365. That difference is you. It’s all you’ve got.

alt
John Randolph

Time is at once the most valuable and the most perishable of our resources.

Coach Gary has coaches himself. Let me tell you about Coach Kenneth, who said to me, “Gary, what are you doing with your dash, and what have you done with the dash you were given for 2012?” His questions really made me think.

Regardless of where you stand, you can expect politics to be pretty much business as usual. But the theme of my messages over the past couple of years to “hang in there” still is going to be important going forward. As an industry, and as individual contractors, hanging in there may just be the name of the game. Things likely will not get remarkably better any time soon.

As you plan your dash, what are you going to do differently this year from last year?

alt
Winston Churchill

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

If you’re reading this in early-January, doesn’t it seem impossible that you are now writing the date as 2013? Where did the time go? My guess is that it went by pretty quickly – in a dash!

Life and business, even family, are a race. That new little baby is now asking for your car keys or is leaving for college, or just going out on his or her own. That new business has now been around the block a couple of times, can do more things, has more experience. How did all of that happen?

A famous old saying: If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you’ve always got! In other words, if 2012 wasn’t so hot (or could have been hotter), are you going to do the exact thing in the new year? Unless you are very content with things, then I hope that your answer is “No.”

alt
Bernadette Devlin

Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.

I can tell you this with great certainty: The people at the MCAA have no intention of doing things the same as they did last year. They are in a growth mode, and you should position your business to work along with them. They know exactly where they are going in 2013. My suggestion is to run along with them, and let them do the hard work while you follow along in their draft.

Pope John XXIII put it this way, “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

How big would your dreams be for this coming year if you knew that you couldn’t fail? Many of your competitors will not dream at all. But you are all about the dash!


What’s your plan for growth in 2013? Coaching will help you get there in less time, and with more success. Ask Coach Gary to speak for your group, association or convention, or even to coach your company. Coach Gary’s first book, “Get Paid for a Change!” is available at??Amazon.com. And, get his FREE scheduling seminars at?? www.MicrosoftProjectClasses.com.

Return to Table of Contents
The Behind-the-Wall Secrets Every Mason Already Knows (But Some Ignore)
March 2026

You’ve been around long enough to know this already: stone doesn’t fail on the face; it fails behind the wall. You can lay the prettiest veneer in the county, but if the prep is junk, that wall’s gonna start telling on you after a couple of winters. Manu

From the Mound to the Mortar: Jon Rauch’s Tall Order in the Masonry Industry
March 2026

In the record books of Major League Baseball, Jon Rauch is a literal giant. At 6 feet, 11 inches, he remains the tallest player to ever step onto a Big League mound. But today, the Olympic Gold Medalist and 11-season MLB veteran isn’t looking for a strike

Case Study: The Scoop
March 2026

Leading UK architecture firm, Corstorphine & Wright, has announced the completion of ‘The Scoop’, a unique concave office building in Southwark, London. The innovative design reuses an existing building and integrates a conical cut-out façade in white gla

Executing Color-Driven Designs Without Compromising Craftsmanship
March 2026

On today’s jobsites, masonry contractors are being asked to do more than install manufactured stone veneer (MSV). They’re being asked to interpret design trends and execute them with precision. Homeowners arrive with curated Pinterest boards. Designers r