Got roasted by a structural engineer at a job site in Phoenix last Friday

I was setting up our drone for a roof survey and he walks over and says 'you know that thing is gonna give you garbage data in this wind.' Took his advice and switched to a total station, but now I'm second guessing every tech decision I make on site. How do you guys deal with know-it-alls who actually end up being right?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_james2mo ago

Honestly, that's just life showing you that sometimes the old school methods still win over shiny new tech. Ngl, it's a good reminder that being right matters more than being first with the latest gadget.

tyler_burns662mo ago

Honestly, what's your definition of "right" here though? Because half the time people argue about old school vs new tech they can't even agree on what the actual problem is. Like, I've seen guys swear by their paper notebooks for project management but can't find a single note from last week. Old school is only better if you actually use it right and most people don't. They just like the idea of being the guy who doesn't need fancy tools. So yeah, being right matters more than being first, but you gotta ask yourself if you're actually getting results or just feeling smug about your vintage methods.

sethmartinez1mo ago

Three years ago I watched a guy at a startup spend six months building a custom Trello board with automations and integrations and watch it fail because nobody wanted to check another app. Meanwhile the team next door was using a whiteboard and sticky notes and shipping features faster. @tyler_burns66 is right that old school can fail if you do it sloppy, but sometimes the real win is just picking a system people will actually use. New tech can be a crutch for bad habits just as easily as paper can. You ever notice how the best teams I've seen just use whatever keeps everyone on the same page, whether it's a $5 notebook or a $50/month app?