Sharpen the Saw (Training)

Back in my corporate life, one of the things I never did enough of was training. This was particularly ironic given the high value I assign to education. It’s important enough that I sat on the board of an industry education group (training people on the current state of the payments industry) and I also was an elected member of my local public school board for 5 years. Still, when it came to my own professional training, it seemed that there was always a pressing project to get done, clients to visit, etc.

In my new venture I’ve vowed that I’m not going to let that happen (not least of all because there’s just so much to learn when you start a new career!). Training helps in several ways:

Teaches new skills, so you stay current and aren’t bypassed as the industry evolves
Mental recharging / break from the day-to-day
Networking opportunities

About two weeks ago, I attended training put on by Schluter Systems, a leading manufacturer of waterproofing and tile installation materials. I’ve done a couple of showers/ bathrooms before, but this was a whole new level. The course was spread over two days, and was a mix of “classroom” and “practical” work. That’s no small feat- they hold these sessions in hotel ballrooms. It’s easy to rent a ballroom for the classroom work, but being “hands on” is really the only way to learn this product. So, Schluter rented more ballrooms, and carefully framed up 14 shower stalls for us to install their products. It was pretty cool. We’d spend a bit of time in the “classroom”, getting familiar with each part of the product line and how it’s meant to work. Then we’d go to the “lab”, watch a quick demonstration, and then break into small groups of 3-4 people to install those products in our “shower”. By the end of two days, we had:

Cut and installed a shower pan and drain assembly
Cut and installed a custom shower curb
Built a custom bench in the shower
Waterproofed the shower and bench
Installed their flooring membrane
Waterproofed the floor, walls, and seams with shower and walls
Laid tile and detail edging on the floor

After we were all done they actually tore apart the installations so they could give us feedback on the installation. Having them actually do that part made me much more confident that I can actually tackle this on some of my own projects. And, my group took first place amongst the finished products, so I got some nice schwag to boot!

This wasn’t just a vanity project. At Mintwood, we’re getting ready to start installation of the bathrooms, and I’m going to be using a lot of these products. I’m sure it costs a pretty penny to organize these, but as a direct result of this training, I’m turning around and using their products because I have the confidence it’ll turn out correctly.

Going forward, I really need to continue to find ways to continue to incorporate training into what I’m doing. Sometimes it’ll be mentors who can show me better ways to work, and hopefully I’ll keep finding formal training courses too. I know I learned a lot in a couple of days, and I’m excited to find the next “saw” to sharpen.