Photo by Casey Cunnigham Photography
I have an employee who has many times referenced what we do as an ‘ecosystem’, and I always loved that description, because when one thing changes, everything else needs to be revisited. I learned this week that the word was actually an observation by her significant other watching her work. That discussion further validated for me just how accurate that concept is.
And often it feels that clients and project teams don’t recognize this to the extent that they could. Changes will be made at the last minute, either because something is not available anymore, or clients are changing their minds, and it sends us into a tailspin of revisiting everything. As a firm, we work hard to be extra respectful of budgets and schedules, but this dynamic often creates a challenge for both of those critical elements to a project.
Another time this dynamic has an impact is when someone makes a purchase for an existing home and it is an extreme departure from what they already have. I have not encountered this as much recently, and come to think of it, I am thinking that perhaps I have scarred some friends and family members who in the past excitedly announced to me that they had made a purchase, and they saw the look of terror on my face. Haha!
I am writing this to help manage expectations, so that people are aware that if one thing changes, often a lot of things change, and it is not that we are trying to make things more complicated - we just want the entire space to be fabulous!