“Concerned Contractors" - Section 8 of 14: THE DATA ARCHITECTURE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT (free excerpts)

This is the eighth part of the chapter titled “The Data Architecture Construction Project”, from the book “The Data Garden And Other Data Allegories”.

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Concerned Contractors

The next set of people to speak turn out to be a group of external contractors, who are there to represent a number of other external architecture and building companies. They work for private investors but are keen to ensure they have good working relationships with your government-backed team. It turns out that they have some concerns of their own too, which they’re all too happy to share with you. 

The contractors aren’t shy about their motives. They make it very clear that in most cases, they’ll do whatever they’re told, as long as they’re paid enough. However, they struggle when they’re asked to do something they don’t agree with, because they’re all experienced professionals and have standards of their own. They don’t want to put their name to something that’s sub-par and they make every effort to steer their clients in the right direction. In some cases, they tell you, they have refused to do certain things, because they’re downright unsafe. The trouble is, there’s always another company that’s happy to pick up your contract if you walk out on it.

You’re told stories of projects where the private investors have spent so much money on them, they don’t want to admit failure so keep on going, even when their contractors have told them that it would be more sensible and cost effective to cut their losses and try a different approach.

You also hear about several projects that were abandoned half-way through because funds dried up or investors lost their nerve, but where there was no interest in wrapping up the build properly, resulting in partially-built safety hazards left in the middle of the town.

The other thing you learn is that the only contractors in the room are the ones who actually want to be there. There are some “cowboy” contractors, who are just out to make some quick money, without caring about the consequences of their shoddy work. These cowboys couldn’t be bothered to turn up today and the contractors who are presenting to you now share their worries that these other rogue builders are giving them a bad name and making everyone’s lives harder by making the town’s architecture more complex and more fragile than it needs to be.

You’re surprised to hear that some of this is even possible. Back when you were working in Master Data City, there were strict data building regulations that needed to be adhered to and were policed by the local Data City Architecture Councils. You make a note that you’ll need to talk to Data Insight Town’s governor, to see if something similar would be possible to arrange here. Without properly enforced building regulations, you could end up fighting a losing battle against dodgy buildings and hard-to-maintain infrastructure, even if you are successful in getting your own teams to work in better ways.

By the time the contractors have finished, they look exhausted. You can tell how much stress they’re under and it was clearly a cathartic experience for them to share their worries.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this excerpt. 

If you are interested in reading more, please do check the book out on Amazon:

The Data Garden on Amazon.CO.UK

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