I talk about Personal Growth, Management, Infrastructure and More | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
Six people died. The cracks were already there
|
They opened it. And it collapsed. Just like that. March 2018. Florida. Around these “Easter” days. A brand-new pedestrian bridge at Florida International University pedestrian bridge. Award-winning design. Fast-track construction. Public praise. And six people dead. Just like that… Cracks had already appeared. Not hidden. Not subtle. Visible. I repeat… f**** visible. Engineers saw them. Discussed them. And decided there was no safety issue. Hours later… it collapsed. Let me translate this into your world: This is not about bridges. This is about you. Your project. Your deal. Your investment. Your liabilities. Because the pattern is always the same: Pressure to deliver Ego in the room “It’s under control” Warning signs minimized No one wants to stop the machine Until reality does it for you. Semana Santa… or Easter, as you wish. Then… People relaxed. Less attention. Things “can wait until next week”. Bad idea. Disasters don’t wait. Here’s my point: You don’t need a catastrophe. You just need: One crack One wrong call One moment of complacency One bad incentive for not acting… That’s enough. The best people I’ve seen? They stop. Even when it’s uncomfortable. Even when it’s expensive. Even when everyone else wants to move forward. Because they understand something most people don’t: Speed doesn’t kill projects. Unquestioned decisions do. So next time you see a “crack”… Ask yourself: What would it cost to stop? Now ask yourself: What would it cost if you don’t? Be careful. History doesn’t repeat. But it rhymes. And it doesn’t care about your schedule… For more stories like this one… click below. ​Mentorship​ When you join... you'll get the course: Breaking Into PPP without the bullshit. PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day. PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below. |
Vicente Valencia
I talk about Personal Growth, Management, Infrastructure and More | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
Something worse than pricing a mega-project with consultants? Adding a second consultant to “validate” the price. Worse? A third one doing a peer review. Don’t laugh. This happens… Every day. Governments behaving like headless chickens. Not knowing what to do… but doing something anyway. Anything. Because “we need robust numbers.” Because “we need to protect public money.” So they spend millions… just to feel safe. Good luck with that. Let me simplify it for you. When you renovate your...
They thought the deal was done. Preferred bidder. Banks aligned. Lawyers billing like there’s no tomorrow. Financial Close… just weeks away. Then Lehman Brothers collapsed (2008). And across the world… PPP deals froze. In the UK, dozens of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects suddenly faced: No liquidity Banks pulling out Margins exploding Some survived. Many didn’t. I remember those days well… as I was parachuted to the A30 Project in Montreal whose financial closed happened end of...
Someone lied to me yesterday. And not even a good lie. A lazy one. A client texts me on WhatsApp: “Aqualia came. They say we need to build an additional drainage point to install the final water meters. We have 10 days.” 10 days. That was the giveaway. Let me translate this for you. Aqualia. The most incompetent utility provider in Spain after Endesa (about those guys, I can talk another day). The same Aqualia that took 7 months to even show up. Now suddenly… they give us 10 days? Come on....