Story of Sam
One
Every morning Sam would check the weather to see what the day would bring. Up early, checking websites and stepping outside to feel the wind, temperature, and pressure. What was the day going to give him? A day of surf or a day on the beach?
Through his late teens and early 20’s this was Sam. Chasing waves, never still.
Surfing some of the greats over the years and loving every minute of it. Always close to the water, breathing in the salt air and suntan lotion.
Finely tuned for surfing. Graceful, powerful and an ease that comes with being around the ocean. Knowing you’re no more powerful than she is and when she chooses, will kick your ass and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Over the years Sam felt he had a different calling. A calling to be an engineer to design and build the world around us. Some engineers fall into the field, Sam felt called, just like he did to the waves.
Two
Today Sam was bound for the office. Boxed into a car, stuck in traffic, and listening to the classics. Simple guy, never wanting much out of life. Good waves, good meal, laughs with old friends and a roof over his family’s head.
45 minutes later, a few horns and maybe a gesture or two and Sam was into the office. Never knowing what awaited him walking through those doors. Every day he was braced and ready for battle. A sweat never broke his brow, at least not in the office. Clients could yell and scream, but he never broke his cool. Millions of dollars were on the line with his decisions, but that never seemed to phase Sam.
Sam was working in a Top 10 engineering firm designing the electrical systems for corporate office buildings for Fortune 500 clients. Guys who had egos and wanted to make their mark on this world. Sam knew how to handle these guys. He had that confidence to handle them and the desire to learn more, knowing that everyone could teach him something.
A powerful combination anywhere you go. Clients swooned over him, as did the ladies.
Yet the years were wearing on him. Too much time in boxes and contained, not the ocean he grew up loving.
Driving to work in a box. Working in a box (although beautiful). Eating lunch out of a box (takeout). Going home in a box (beautiful BMW 750). And living in a box (5 bed / 4 bath home).
All these boxes just make you want to be free, to escape.
Yet, with a loving wife (smoking hot), two beautiful daughters and a boy just like him, this didn’t leave much time for escape. Sam loved everything he had, but always yearned for just a little more. Some peace and quiet every once in a while.
He’d have to wait another 12 years for that once everyone was off to college or working and out of the house.
Sam wanted to get back to the waves where the only thing he worried about every morning was checking the weather, feeling the air and adjusting to the waves beneath his board.
Three or, four weeks a year wasn’t enough. Between sports practice, his and her side holidays with their families and a family vacation surfing has become a distant memory.
But there might be hope for Sam yet.
Three
Sam’s projects ebbed and flowed.
60-hour weeks weren’t abnormal, and 40 hours was rare.
Client demands only seeming more insane as time went on.
Code changes every few years were becoming harder and harder to maintain and a simple mistake could be costly.
Yet on he went.
Surfing didn’t pay even though he was good, and he loved it, he wasn’t Great. He didn’t have that extra little bit within to propel him onto the podium.
Engineering paid the bills and gave him a pretty great life, all things considered.
Financially stable and could do most anything he wanted.
Even though time was starting to become a real problem, especially as the demands and interests of his three kids grew. Sam didn’t want to be the dad they never saw. He wanted to be there for them at games and their biggest fans.
Work always demanded more from him.
Stress levels getting high and at 40 he was on blood pressure medication.
Never a good sign for someone his age.
Granted, take-out didn’t help every day either, but boy did he enjoy every morsel.
Looking around at other firms and other engineers he met at conferences and events he noticed similar trends.
Larger waistlines.
Grayer hair. Some were lying to themselves with the just-for-men, to be honest. A few did great jobs with this and you’d never know, others were pretty obvious when your beard is a little white and your hair is jet black.
Sam could see his future all his colleagues who had been in the industry a long time.
He knew what he was in for, no matter what firm he went to, but he was a loyal guy and wasn’t planning on leaving the owner that picked him up and mentored him all these years.
Something had to change, or he’d have a breakdown or heart attack the way things were going.
Four
Sam’s department was big. Lots of interns every summer and a few co-ops that stayed on through the winter and spring.
13.5 Million of square feet designed every year meaning they had a pretty massive budget and team to get all that work done. 87 designers and engineers.
They could tackle any project and do it all in-house.
Owning some of the fastest computers and using the best consultants to give them the best content and workflows.
Yet, nothing seemed to be all that different from when he entered the industry to today.
Deadlines seemed to be shorter, that much was true.
Clients expected more.
As an electrical engineer they also added data, access control and multiple other systems into his design responsibility without increasing his budget.
Always doing more for less fee in less time.
His team, while large and could handle most anything, their schedules weren’t much better.
Everyone was expected to work at least 47 hours a week and be in the office all the time, whether you had something to do or not.
It was expected that you were seen.
Today, that was starting to change and more understood that salaried employees are there to get the job done, not the number of hours they worked.
Rarely could they leave early anyway, there was always too much to do and too little time to do it.
More dinners ordered in.
Parking lots empty when he was leaving the office.
Barely making it home to tuck the kids in.
Similar for most of his team.
We all knew where this was headed.
What could be done?
Where was his hope?
Five
Hope comes in the oddest of forms sometimes.
Sam had been thinking about those waves one day and how he could get back to his 20 year-old self and ride.
He needed to lose about 50 lbs and do more cardio, but that wasn’t the point.
Looking out his office window he saw himself on his board.
Wood grained and a little heavier, but that’s what he liked.
Especially for where he was in his life today.
He wasn’t going to cut hard, he just wanted to ride.
To feel the swell lift him and to glide a top the wave the micro-movements in his feet adjusting his trajectory.
A breeze in his hair and the salt spray on his face. He could taste it.
And just when he was licking his lips with the biggest smile on his face…
A knock…
It was one of their interns.
A bright young woman who was going to one of the top engineering schools who also loved architecture and buildings. It was a great fit and she worked well with everyone.
For one of her summer projects, Sam had her searching and compiling new technology that could change the game for them.
He didn’t know quite what he was looking for, but he knew that Sarah was the girl for the job.
This wasn’t her first internship, meaning she knew how drawings were put together and how the firm operated. Maybe not as deeply as some, but that knowledge was enough to send her hunting.
Turns out she had found something.
A program that would produce some amazing results that would reduce their production time by 30%, double the amount of work they could do with the same team and push them to new heights.
Promising he thought.
At first thinking to himself that this is too good to be true.
No way is this possible.
All this BIM technology was supposed to give us an amazing way to collaborate (kinda)
Increased speed and efficiency (well…it’s definitely better than AutoCAD or Bentley)
Now you’re telling me that this software is going to give us 30% more time and allow us to double our workload?
How in the world is this possible?
Then Sarah took him through it.
Step-by-step showing him that it was not only possible, but that it was easy.
Simple parameters for each room.
Using our own devices and content that we had already created.
Basically, good to go out of the box.
Incredible.
Nothing has been this simple or easy.
The best part…
It’s called Surfboard – this had to be a sign
Six
Sam was back on his wood board two years later.
No, he hadn’t been fired.
In fact, life was better than ever.
Today, Sam’s department is the same size, 87 team members.
Amount of project work 23.2 Million square feet on track to be designed this year and no “typical” rooms like they were doing when they were at 13.5 Million square feet. Fully detailed, reducing RFI’s and change orders on their projects.
Improving coordination and communication through the full team.
Time off isn’t a big deal since his teams hours are actually averaging a little under 40 hours at 38 and they’re using that other 2 hours per week for bonus time.
Research on new products and technology and the other part on a Friday fun event of their choice.
Sam’s not worried about completing projects.
He’s down 25 lbs., not the 50 he needed, but enough that he can surf.
That’s exactly what he’s doing more of each year.
Taking a few weeks to go and chase the waves.
All because of a simple product called Surfboard that Sarah brought to him.
She’s one of his most promising engineers and clients enjoy working with her as she becomes more involved with projects.
For Sarah, this saved her from the fate of every intern before her that did nothing but tedious drafting work.
Absolutely hating the industry because she wasn’t using the degree she worked hard for.
Today, she loves it because she’s designing and problem solving, not doing the mind-numbing work of an intern or EIT. Sarah is on the fast track to project manager and lead engineer because she’s 3 years ahead of friends that work at other firms.
Now they’re wondering how they can get in on the action.
Sarah’s moving up, working less and having more fun.
Sam, her boss is surfing and leading a huge team.
Keeping Fortune 500 clients happy and there’s no end in sight.
Only for one night at drinks for Sarah to let the secret slip…
Surfboard she tells them, it was our key to happiness and success…