Whose Window Are You Looking Out Of?

Picture your Monday morning meeting. One of your techs starts telling you about a job that's bugging them. The readings on the back wall don't match what they felt walking that basement, or the homeowner said something at the door that didn't sit right.

You've seen it before, so you tell them what it is and what to do. They nod, and the meeting moves on.

Nothing went wrong in that room, which is exactly why it's so hard to catch.

Most owners I work with are buried in input. Phones, texts, carrier emails, software alerts, reviews, PE offers, some guy online with an opinion. A big part of your job is figuring out which of it to act on. I want to start somewhere that might feel backward, with how little of it you can actually see from your chair.

There's a word for that. Occhiolism (ok-ee-OH-liz-um). It's a made-up word for a real feeling, the sense of how small your own view is.

You've built something, and you earned your read on a job. It's worth a lot. It's still one window in a very big building.

Here's what worries me. The people who stop bringing you things usually don't tell you they've stopped.

A PM who gets cut off a few times doesn't complain. They handle it themselves, or they take it to the lead tech and leave you out. From where you sit it looks like things are running smoothly. You get fewer questions and shorter meetings.

That quiet can feel like a good sign. A lot of the time it means the information quit making it to you.

It isn't only your crew, either.

The homeowner standing in a soaked kitchen sees a different job than you do. You see a Category 2 loss and an equipment count. They see the floor they picked out, and they're wondering who's going to be walking through their house all week. When they ask you the same question twice, there's something they can see that you can't.

Whoever answers your phones has their own window. They hear the calls that didn't book and the customer calling back to ask when the crew is coming. If bringing that up gets them a lecture on phone etiquette, you'll hear about it when the review posts.

Every time you answer before you've heard the whole question, you teach that person their view is a formality. It doesn't take many of those before they stop offering it.

The people closest to the work can see things you can't, and they can't read your mind. They'll keep telling you what they see for as long as they believe you'll listen.

I'll be honest about the trap. A lot of the time your quick read is right. You've walked more basements than the tech in front of you. That's how the habit sneaks in, because answering fast gets rewarded and you keep doing it. The cost shows up somewhere you aren't looking.

Keep your opinions. Your team needs them, and they need them after they've had their say.

Here's what I'd try this week.

At your next morning meeting, when a job is giving someone trouble, ask the person who was on site what they saw. Don't say anything until they're done. Then ask one more question. "What else?" works fine.

After that, give your take, and tell them which part of what they said changed your thinking. If nothing changed it, tell them that too, and why.

Try it at home if you want extra credit. Your spouse and kids are looking out windows you haven't stood at in a while.

Your view is real and it's worth trusting. It's also small, and the rest of the building is full of people who want to tell you what they see.

So whose window are you looking out of this week? Probably your own, and that's fine, as long as you go ask about theirs.

Cheers,

If you want help building a team that keeps bringing you what they see, email me at [email protected].