I wonder how Jack is doing these days….
Jack was my colleague at Gammon, we started working for
the company only weeks apart, in April/May 2013.
So much so, that we attended the mandatory official induction
to the company together.
If asked, I guess that being a QS by profession he’d have
no problem recalling the facts of the day-long presentation, including what was
said about protection awarded to ’speaking out’ within Gammon, otherwise known
as the official, ‘whistle blowing protection’ policy also covered by the BB
umbrella.
…actually, Jack and I met a bit earlier, even before the
induction meeting.
By chance, at the end of one of Thomas Ho’s (CEO) briefings,
we walked out of the building together. This flash corporate event that Gammon
held every 2 months for its top managers was the first for both of us to have
the privilege to be invited to.
It was late at night on a Thursday and we were descending
on foot from the Jockey Club down to Causeway Bay, searching for the MTR.
Fellow expats, with some common ME experience, we quickly
compared notes; We had children of similar ages, my spouse on his way to join me
with the kids, his more sensible, staying in the home country, but similar
worries, similar concerns and both of us only just getting to know our employer.
Jack was a bit ahead of me, having come from a Balfour
Beatty background, though he was eager to clarify that Gammon employed him
directly, this was not a secondment.
As we parted that night, Jack probably thought it
unlikely that we’d meet soon again and especially unlikely on his own project
even though by then he knew the job had some BIM components to it, and I told
him I was the person responsible for BIM in the company.
BIM was just a ‘techy’ add-on he seemed to think and
presumably I was considered a geeky-techy (yet oddly old looking for that role)
woman.
Jack’s was the project that the MTR decided to go on ‘all
BIM-ish’ and something that me, the newly appointed HOI (Innovation) cum BIM ‘know
it all’ could not afford to – and had no intention to ignore.
So, when we next met – at my insistence and within days
of the PM briefing, I discussed with Jack and his superiors, what the project
ought to do, to comply with the client’s requirements.
Action was needed urgently, as the deadlines for acting
were well passed.
My goals were multiple, to comply with the BIM
requirements set by the client, but also help the project become more
effective, less risky and cheaper to deliver, this was after all, what I was
brought in to help the company achieve.
We met numerous times following the first meeting and
despite numerous presentations and various alternative strategies to ‘catch
up’, the message that came back was always the same,’ the BIM strategy that was
in place on the project before I joined the company was fine, nothing needed to
change’.
The project’s management team’s intention was to do as
little as they thought they could get away with, after all, ”MTR had no idea
what they were supposed to do” (were one
of the director’s words);
In the meantime, Jack tried to keep his professional
cloak on and act accordingly, but also retain his job, the two activities not
always compatible.
… and yes, I got kicked out over the little affair…
Six month on, I do wonder how Jack is going?
Is he still on the MTR project?
Is he still toeing the party line while possibly taking
the job and the company that employs him into financially and otherwise risky
territories?
Is he still lucky enough to be able to push through financial
(variation) claims against the client that is yet unequipped enough to act in
line with the highly biased contract they have in hand and reject any claims
that are not fully compliant with the conditions of it?
Or have the people that run this particular MTR project
had since realised what a little gem they had in their hands?
A document that could, if used well make all of the contractors
of the 11xx line not just perform but ‘uber-excel’?
Did that make the water of the project-pond of 1111 just
a bit too hot to Jack’s liking?
Or even if this epiphany had not quite yet hit the MTR’s
management, had he given up on the charade of Gammon’s dealings and wheelings
on the project and moved back to Balfour Beatty?
It is hard to tell.
The LinkedIn profile that I suppose is his – but may be
not too, shows almost 5 years of continuous service to BB up to the present
time.
No mention of Gammon.
Picture from here:
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=hes&p=1528
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