We all know FOMO – well known internet slang for Fear Of Missing Out – but do you know FOTU?
Here’s one less well known (since I just made it up). FOTU. The more glaziers I speak with, the more I’m discovering there’s increasing FOTU as glass becomes an increasingly dominant architectural feature.
FOTU stands for Fear Of The Unknown. It compresses into four letters the sizable risk glaziers take on when they sign up for a challenging architectural system that happens to be included with the façade’s of glass they can do in their sleep.
Let’s be real, today’s project spec can come to a glazier three ways. If the stars align and the wind is at your back, the spec may actually be succinct and clear. The glazier knows exactly what they are getting into. Take it or leave it, at least you know.
The spec can also be woefully incomplete, with few details, and assumptions made. But at least the glazier knows there’s things missing. And then it’s on them to get what they need to know to make an informed decision to go forward.
The problem is with the third possibility: that the glazier doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. And maybe not even recognize that. That’s grounds for FOTU.
Recently, I had a prominent glazier come up to me spec in hand and ask, “Tell me what you see?” Translation: based on your experience, is anything missing here? Where is it not crystal clear who’s responsible for what? Where’s the opportunity for scope creep?” And so on.
Glass + Metal Craft invests a great deal of time understanding project specifications IN ADVANCE of starting work. That’s especially true for a highly complicated architectural system. Things like the wave-like glass canopy flowing above an outdoor escalator. Or the cable supported structural wall fanning out from the side of a stadium. And the yards and yards of guardrail that must connect to a very specific path.
It’s why we created our Fulcrum Architectural Design Assist Division. Fulcrum is structured to take on complexity, bringing outstanding experience and expert design and engineering – that is, UNDERSTANDING – to the glazier’s table.
And it’s why we formed Glass + Metal Craft as an umbrella over Fulcrum. It allows us to best apply project management services throughout an architectural system project. From specifications to fabrication to logistics to installation.
In a world of more and more complex glass, who needs the risk! Think of G+MC an antidote for FOTU.
