Choice Mindsets

Choice Mindsets

10 Feb

Posted at 15:11h in Uncategorized

“What did we do for entertainment before we hired Brittany?”

– Holly Fannon

Yep, if Brittany dares Kaye, those long, goofy legs WILL fit in a cardboard computer box.

 

 Having fun at work is important to the people at Choice One. We regularly do ridiculous things to make each other laugh, and as Holly has pointed out above, Brittany is no exception. Having fun and enjoying our jobs develops lasting relationships, breaks tension in challenging situations, and helps what could be mundane workdays pass a little more pleasantly. We like to think that the fun we create at the Choice One offices spills over into our relationships with those outside of our organization that we come into contact with.  And hopefully this makes Choice One a more enjoyable company to work with.

 

Choice One will be without Brittany for the next few months, as she and her husband Mark welcomed their son, Hudson, into their family on February 6. If that means that someone else will have to dare Kaye to fit into a cardboard box, rest assured there will be no lack of available instigators at Choice One.

27 Jan

Posted at 15:17h in Uncategorized

“Diaper Genies and wipe warmers…it’s a whole new world!

-Nick Sanders

 

Choice One Engineering recently held its first ever baby shower for Administrative Assistant Brittany Clinehens. Believe it or not, in our 17-year history we’ve never had a pregnant employee. As you might guess, Nick was commenting on a few “luxury items” that obviously weren’t available to him when his children were young.

 

We’ve probably all heard our elders “reminisce” about walking to school in six-feet of snow, uphill both ways. But the truth of the matter is that each generation feels, perhaps due to new technology or apathy, the subsequent generation has it easier. Whether or not this proclamation is true, there is one constant for each generation, new and old: change.

 

Change is always inevitable, often overwhelming, and sometimes downright scary. But at Choice One we take the challenge of change and create opportunities to learn, push ourselves to adapt, and make every effort to be flexible.

 

Of course, we also try to remember that overwhelming, scary changes can lead to luxuries like Diaper Genies and wipe warmers. And who doesn’t want a clean, tidy nursery and a toasty rear end?

13 Jan

Posted at 16:07h in Uncategorized

“That’s what Tony can do when he retires: put on a funny hat and chauffer all of us around.”

– Jeff Puthoff

For those of us at Choice One who spend a lot of time driving to construction sites and client meetings, we often fantasize about the luxury of having an assistant who drives us around so that we can do work in the car. “Windshield Time” feels unproductive.

 

While on the road, obviously, multitasking is dangerous. Off the road, however, multitasking can be dangerous, too. In our experience, multitasking pitfalls can include missing something, rushing, or not being available when needed. To counter that at Choice One, we work together to multitask. Each project has one or more team members who “chauffeurs” to keep the Project Manager’s juggling balls in the air: reviews, deadlines, client questions, etc. We like to think it keeps us responsive, timely, and dependable. And hey, if it gets Tony in a funny hat as well, why not?

30 Dec

Posted at 16:16h in Uncategorized

“Somebody has to say something funny. I don’t want to have to start making up quotes.”

– Kaye Borchers

I know you’re all curious, so just to let you know-it’s really dusty on the top shelf of our supply closet here at Choice One Sidney. And we (obviously) don’t have any sort of step-stool to reach said shelf. Hence the dust accumulation.

When we’re out of options around here (perhaps for a Choice Mindsets idea, as in Kaye’s statement), or when we can’t reach the top shelf, it helps to be flexible. If we’re willing to be flexible, perhaps the right words will come out of our mouth, or the shelf will be stable enough to climb.

Being flexible doesn’t just help us design around a tricky existing water main, but it also allows us to work out problems with what’s available and not be nagged by worry and fear, or frozen by obstacles in the way of our goals. And it helps us to find all sorts of things on the top shelf we didn’t realize we had.

Happy New Year, everyone, from Choice One Engineering!

16 Dec

Posted at 16:20h in Uncategorized

“Look at that signature. There is no possible way to get ‘Brian’ out of that.”

– Matt Hoying

If you haven’t seen one, our Christmas cards are hand-signed by each employee here at Choice One. And, according to Matt, sometimes certain people (ahem… Brian Schmidt) get a little sloppy with their signatures. (In Brian’s defense, it’s probably because, like most things that require any sort of repetition or accuracy in our office, The Signing of the Christmas Cards becomes a competition to see who can sign all 500 the fastest. I believe Wes usually wins, being that he only has three letters in his name.)

Whether signing Christmas cards or cleaning up a topographic survey, no matter the task here, frequent repetition can be both highly advantageous and highly dangerous. Doing the same task again and again leads to mastery and expertise, but can also lead to mechanization and carelessness. There are many times in our office when we have the need to do repetitious tasks that require precision, and to be successful at these tasks we need not only be focused and attentive, but also work together and have someone else check our work for mistakes. Measure twice, cut once!

Now if Matt will just check Brian’s other 499 signatures for readability…

Happy holidays, all, from everyone at Choice One Engineering.

02 Dec

Posted at 16:23h in Uncategorized

“This is the best idea we’ve ever had–we should have done it a long time ago. Now it’s easier to get to the snack room.”
– Andy Shuman

We recently moved a few rather weighty filing cabinets that had “always been there” to allow for an under-used bookshelf to be put in a more accessible spot. Not only did our Administrative Assistant Brittany have more room for the bidding documents that seem to be spontaneously generating lately, but the furniture adjustment allows for everyone to get through the break/snack room door with less bottlenecking.

Yes, sometimes moving our old habits, the status quo, or “business as usual” around here at Choice One is difficult and heavy, but what doors might we open that we can’t even fathom until “the way we’ve always done it” is changed?