How Much Chaos Can You Tolerate?
I said it last week. Sometimes you are going to create more chaos in order to get to the kind of structure that supports you in how you want to live, work, play, love and in general enjoy your life. Sometimes taming the chaos begins with creating even more chaos.
It definitely works that way when what you want to create is the space you live in. There’s no way to remodel any part of a house without first making a mess. It’s the degree of mess, stress and distress that will drive you crazy.
The last time I took on a major house project I found a wonderful contractor who worked collaboratively with me to design and build an amazing sunroom. It’s the best room in the house. It’s the room everyone gravitates to as soon as they come inside. It’s open, airy, full of plants and painted the most soothing pale green you could imagine.
My sunroom contractor set a very high bar for any future work. He cleaned up every evening and he loved doing excellent work. When the sunroom was completed, he brought his wife to the house to show her the magnificent sunroom he built. He had a lot of pride (the good kind) in his work.
I never saw random paint on doors or floors, or plaster spilled anywhere, and the dust was contained within the room where the work was being done. I was relaxed and happy and I knew he wasn’t going to cut corners.
Cut to April 17, 2014: I hired a friend’s friend’s contractor. And I’ve been disappointed and frustrated since Day 1 when they showed up 45 minutes late.
If you’ve ever had a bad experience with home contractors, you can fill in the blanks: paint on my antique wooden door, no clean up at the end of the day so there was dust everywhere, and tools set down on the hand-knotted carpet. I’m not a happy camper.
I’m not writing to complain. I’m writing today to point out that I had to use my big negotiation toolbox to get things right. Frankly I wasn’t in the mood for it. I had hoped that my original conversation with the owner/contractor had handled all the fine points. It didn’t. Things kept slipping through the cracks and I had to keep addressing the details.
The Final Straw
The final straw was the night before the painter was coming and Jeff and I walked through the hallways that were getting repainted. There had been some sheetrock and replastering but no texturing. Now texture is a big part of the walls down here in New Mexico. And matching texture to retain the original look of our homes is a no-brainer.
It was about 5:30 pm and I called the contractor. I told him that his crew had missed a step between the sheetrock work and the painting, and that we needed to get this situation handled before we moved ahead. We agreed to talk at my house the next morning.
Why You Need a Plan B
Then I went right to what I would advise any friend, family member or client to do: decide on my Plan B. In my professional world we call it a BATNA ~ a best alternative to a negotiated agreement. If I can’t get this crew to “make it right” and texturize the walls correctly, I need to have an alternative plan ready. It’s the Plan B that really boosts your negotiating power. If I can’t get what I need from the current contractor, I will stop the painting and hire an A rated painter recommended by Angie’s list. That’s my Plan B. I may spend a little extra money but having my Plan B gives me some peace of mind as well as that additional negotiating power.
Sometimes it takes a little longer to pull a Plan B together. I recommend thinking through this step in the preparation phase of negotiating. I recommend getting your Plan B written down even before you start talking.
Update: we’ve worked out the texture issue and the painting continues. Having your Plan B makes it easy to ask directly without hedging (we hedge because we don’t want to seem “pushy” a big issue for women), knowing you have an alternative that will get you what you need.
ACTION STEP
Share your thoughts: What do you do when your agreements start to fall apart?
