Civil engineer documents that the builder purposely ignored his drawing and built only with what he was told on the phone, which got him fired: ‘On my next site visit, there was a different foreman, and I was told the previous foreman had been let go’ – FAIL Blog

What is the problem with builders and engineers? They seem to always be disagreeing with each other and underestimating one another.

Certain professions seem not to get along with others. We have doctors and nurses. The ones with a license to operate and treat patients are usually seen completely underestimating how much nurses know, and they deem anything they have to say as useless. Then we have the police force and the fire department, who don’t seem to fully understand that they need one another. And lastly, engineers and builders. This opposition may not happen everywhere –luckily– but they aren’t uncommon. These pairs that should be using each other to do their job the best way they can usually end up arguing over minor things instead of learning from each other.

A builder and an engineer need to work as a team to build something. The civil engineer, like the one in the story below, needs to do all the planning with the calculations and the drawings to make sure that the structure that is being built will be able to stay in place. The builder has to do other calculations, the ones that count how much of each material is going to be needed, for example. And then put together a squad of builders to take the drawing and make it real. They need each other. Without one of these positions, we are left without the final product –or with one that won’t last.

Working with people who don’t have the best qualifications can be hard. Jealousy is a strong force that will likely try to intrude on the matter. But there is no room for it, or at least it shouldn’t be. There needs to be teamwork to do things correctly, and that is not possible if workers focus more on petty rivalries instead of the job. The most important thing is to do what you are hired for, and that should be enough to avoid any arguments between colleagues. We all have different qualifications, but that has to bring us together, appreciate the moment, and take advantage of it to learn. That is how a good job is done. So stop wasting time fighting one another and do what you do best. Your job!