Yesterday I was talking to my son, Peter who was celebrating his 34th birthday. We were reminiscing about the past years and how things had changed so rapidly. While the world around us has certainly changed, the way we do our work and business in general here at our shop reflects those changes just as dramatically.
Less than 20 years ago I first wore a pager, reluctant to be so instantly accessible. In those days most of our work was done on our customer’s work sites, often far from home. The pager was my way of keeping in touch with home and the office. Cell phones were around for a while before I reluctantly succumbed to the temptation and strapped one of those to my belt. I am still slow to have one of the latest and greatest gadgets there, content instead (for now) with a basic model for my needs.
In those pre-computer days we did everything by hand including design. I learned the business using ‘old-fashioned’ tools and methods which certainly didn’t hurt me or my work. In 1998 we bought the first computer to do design work because digital drawing tablets had finally caught up to the point where I could interface in a tactile way with these new fangled machines and programs. It was both exciting and frustrating. I had to learn to type and operate other programs to communicate with my clients and generate the necessary paperwork we needed. Once the design was done. actual construction was still done the old way as I had learned.
In 2005 with the building of our new dream shop and studio things changed rapidly. We purposely downsized our company to allow me to get my hands dirty once again and in doing so I also embraced technology to help take the grunt work out of many of my tasks. We purchased a state of the art CNC router as part of this move. It was a daunting challenge to suddenly embrace this modern technology and equipment. But my goal was not just to make our shop efficient, I also wanted this new technology to allow us to forge ahead of what anybody else out there was doing. The learning curve was steep to say the least but we were determined to succeed.
Now, four years later we have established our shop as one of the leaders in our industry. In fact we offer workshops which have been attended by professionals from around the world. I quickly learned that teaching was the quickest way to learn and learn I am doing constantly. I still find it somewhat strange to be looked at by many as leader in this field.
Looking back, I like the changes we have experienced for the most part. The new-fangled devices certainly make my job easier and more efficient. The constant learning has kept things interesting. I certainly embrace the changes we have made and wouldn’t want to go back to the way things were. Each time something new comes along however, I don’t jump, instead weighing whether its worth it in the big picture. I’m not about to simply abandon the old ways either. I’ll instead combine the best of the new with the best of the old and in doing so produce the best we possible can. I’m determined to continue having fun in the process.
-grampa dan