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Toilet relocation team
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Imagine this. The Big Dig in the 90s. A massive highway infrastructure project in Boston, Massachusetts, that aimed to reroute Interstate 93 into a 3.5-mile tunnel beneath the city. One of the largest and most complex infrastructure projects in U.S. history. Total cost, over $14.6 billion. Initial estimation, $2.8 bn. So typical. Well… as you can imagine, this required many workers… thousands and thousands of them. And workers, from time to time, need to do first and second… especially, after drinking and eating… Fasting was not popular those days. ​ Welll… during the peak of tunneling activity, the project deployed hundreds of portable toilets, strategically placed throughout the sprawling job sites. ​ One day, an eager project manager, keen on optimizing costs, noticed a suspicious line item in the monthly expense report: $75,000 for "portable toilet relocation." Ready to cut costs and heads, he asked his team, “Why on earth are we spending so much to move toilets?” Welll… due to the project's chaotic schedule and rapidly changing site configurations, the portable toilets were constantly being moved by a dedicated crew of laborers. Every time a team needed the toilet closer to their workspace, they would radio in a request to "relocate the facilities." The project had unintentionally created an entire "toilet relocation department" staffed by union workers earning premium hourly wages. Some of these relocations were laughably minor, with toilets being moved a mere 10 feet to satisfy workers who didn’t want to walk too far. As you can imagine, the manager was not happy… and he called a meeting. And another meeting. And another. And another. The end result was the creation of a "Toilet Access Plan," where portable toilets were mapped and assigned to specific zones, minimizing unnecessary relocations. ​ The "toilet relocation team" became legendary among the workforce… While the Big Dig is remembered for its cost overruns, delays, and engineering challenges, this lighter episode highlights the quirky inefficiencies that can arise on massive construction projects. It’s a reminder that even multi-billion-dollar endeavors can stumble over the simplest of details—like where to put a toilet! ​ I created a document with the more important lessons learned of my last project. Probably not as spectacular… but some of them equally laughable. ​
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Vicente Valencia
I talk about Personal Growth, Management, Infrastructure and More | C-Suite Executive | Mentor, Coach, Strategic Consultant | Real Estate Investor | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
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