New Book for Superyacht Projects

Tomasz Michal Glowacki has written a book that offers insider’s knowledge into super yacht construction projects. 

The author explores overlapping knowledge of business processes, project management methodology, quality assurance and continuous improvement emphasizing on usually forgotten factors, hidden traps and neglected processes which negatively affect outcome of the project. By following thirteen strategies you will be able to save a lot of energy and avoid frustration, disappointment and unnecessary outflow of funding measures. 

This book is about maintaining a healthy relationship between the yard and the client and it offers advice on how to create win-win environment. In the way balance in nature plays an important role in keeping everything alive and flourishing, equilibrium in business plays the same role. The competing influences of stakeholders must be level-headed. 

(Publisher: Glowacki Maritime, April 2015, ISBN 978-0-473-30352-5,
Soft cover price US$27.00 on AMAZON, Electronic version price $12.00 on Smashwords
www.glowackimaritime.com )

From the Foreword:

“…This is the pocket book that by the end of the build will need to be replaced, for it will be tattered, written on, thrown against the wall and perhaps even jumped on, but it will carry those intending to embark on the journey of building a new superyacht through the storm out into calm seas and beyond.”
—Allen Jones, LA, 5 February 2015

If you think you are ready to take up the challenge of managing a superyacht building project, please read this comments:

•    “This amazing book should become compulsory reading for all clients, designers, project managers and yacht-builders…” – Alan Warwick, Yacht Designer, NZ
•    “…It is required reading before starting a project, and then rereading during and after a project!” – Nick Gladwell, Former Director, Cayman Island Shipping Register
•    “It would have been excellent to have this book in hand and thoroughly understood before starting our yacht”. – Allen Jones, former CEO of New Zealand Yachts
•    “Before sinking any funds into any superyacht project, this book and a consultation with Tomek is a must.” – Michele Discepola, Lawyer at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Singapore
•    “…it is a valuable resource much needed in the industry”. – Mark Masciarotte, Marine Industry Consultant, Vancouver
•    “I have not seen anything written along such lines – it will certainly be of interest and a talking point in the industry…” – Ken Freivokh Design, UK
•    “…This book should be a must-read for yard managers, brokers, yacht managers and even designers…” – Butch Dalrymple-Smith, Naval Architect, France
•    “…You need to read this book before you make your first phone call!” – Marsha Cook Woodbury, ph.D, Lecturer and Business Owner

Thirteen strategies

Strategy 1 - Guide your legal team wisely - “First, kill all the lawyers”
Strategy 2 - Use Proven Project Management Methodology - Before we set sails: learn the basics
Strategy 3 - Beware, the half-wise are everywhere - Have your heroes: Scott, Amundsen & Shackleton
Strategy 4 - “Succeed together or fail apart.” - Before you go to the altar
Strategy 5 - Clear requirements = excellent product - “If he’d let me know….”
Strategy 6 - Zero in on the requirements - The design spiral
Strategy 7 - Always measure your progress - You can’t control what you can’t measure
Strategy 8 - Keep project constraints relevant - We do three types of work here
Strategy 9 - Keep it Short & Simple - “Write to be understood, speak to be heard”
Strategy 10 - Treat the causes, not the symptoms - Keep profit high and cost of quality low
Strategy 11 - Fix it yourself or look for the “Man in Black” - When all other measures fail
Strategy 12 - Don’t damage this, by fixing that! - Judgment day
Strategy 13 - Have fun! - “Sorrow, cold and hunger are bad business partners”

About the Author 

Tomasz (Tomek) Michal Glowacki (pronounce: Gwovatzki) was born and brought up in Poland. An engineer, entrepreneur, inventor, yacht designer, certified Project Manager Professional, Six Sigma Black Belt in continuous improvement and Ocean-Going Yacht-Master, he has forty years of experience in a diverse range of industries in roles ranging from designer through project manager to general manager and member of boards of directors. 

His experience comes from various projects ranging from several thousands to 450 million dollars. He led the start-up of a superyacht facility in Whangarei, New Zealand, as well as assessments and improvement of shipyards worldwide. He is an independent management consultant specializing in business analysis, project management, continuous improvement, culture change, business turnaround, and strategy execution. His passions are naval architecture, biographies, WWII history, sailing, cycling and skiing. He cares about the natural environment and animal welfare.

First chapter

STRATEGY ONE

Guide your legal team wisely: “FIRST, KILL ALL THE LAWYERS”

Few people are unfamiliar with the phrase “The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.” It has been strongly said, but this is Shakespeare talking in Henry VI, Part 2.

“This phrase often expresses the ordinary person's frustration with the arcana and complexity of law. Contrary to popular belief, the proposal was not designed to restore sanity to commercial life. Rather, it was intended to eliminate those who might stand in the way of a contemplated revolution – thus underscoring the important role that lawyers can play in society”. —Seth Finkelstein

Don’t get me wrong – we need lawyers. Usually we need them at the beginning of the project when preparing a contract, and at the end of project if things don’t go according to “wishful thinking”. Often things go wrong if the contract has not been prepared correctly, and preparing a contract correctly is not only the lawyers’ responsibility. The contract is a document we use to “marry” a client and a shipyard for approximately two years. 

Understanding a contract is the responsibility of all involved. I often hear, “This is lawyer’s talk; I don’t have to understand it.” With such an approach, we are voluntarily depriving ourselves of the right to have a voice. This is disempowering! Both parties should understand every word in this “lawyer’s talk,” a contract.

Allow me to tell you a story about reviewing Ronald Reagan’s slipway (repair yard) in Pago-Pago, American Samoa.

The governor of Pago-Pago and local businesses were concerned about the dilapidated state of the aforementioned slipway. They invited a group of consultants to review the situation and come up with a solution on how to improve/rectify it.

I went there with two consultants, one specializing in slipways operations and the other an expert in environmental matters. The yard was operated predominantly by retired American Navy personnel and, as we later discovered, they were more interested in fishing, playing golf and having a good life than the maintenance of Purse Seiners.

Before we went to the yard, we visited the governor and asked for the lease contract. It was a thick document and took me a few hours to read. I finished it at 5 a.m. the next day. However, within the first few pages, I realized that this contract was written in such a way that the governor could do nothing until the end of the lease, and even then the leasing company had first rights to re-lease the yard. No clauses about taking over in case of bad management were present in this document.

Why did nobody signing this document some years ago on behalf of the Government of Western Samoa see this coming? Was it just another case of “lawyer’s talk”?

Whenever someone passes a contract to you for reading, consider this: If you don’t understand all the contract’s documents, you are not a part of the solution. If you are not a part of the solution, there is good money to be made in prolonging the problem. Someone, sooner or later, will take advantage of it. There is something else with regards to legal services: Each party to a contract has its own lawyers. They don’t work together, they work against each other, and… they have big egos. Believing that other party is going to be kind to us is utopia.

This reminds me of a situation when I was employed to improve the way in which one of the New Zealand government’s engineering groups managed their various projects. The management of one of the groups was attempting to sign two long-term contracts for the delivery of certain goods. A so-called “food fight” between the government’s lawyers and two other companies’ lawyers had already lasted for two years. There was always enough complexity to keep the argument going.

It wasn’t only the lawyers’ fault. The jobs had been given to them without exact explanation of what they were all about. The worst thing was that nobody had told them what wasn’t in their scope of work. The scope of work, specifications and an agreement were all mixed up together in one document, and each party was trying to cover its back unrelentingly. Unfortunately, such cases are not isolated.

The solution to this problem was simple. All work for the preparation of the contract’s documents was divided and distributed to the appropriate people: technical matters (specifications) to the construction manager, commercial matters to the accountant and scope of work to the project manager. When the job was completed, it was presented to the lawyers with a request to prepare the legal part: the contract agreement. The result was such that both contracts were signed within a couple of weeks, and celebrated with champagne. 

Things vary between countries. The rule of thumb for a written contract is that the same deal will require a handshake in Poland, a one-page contract in Scandinavian countries, four pages in England and sixteen pages in USA. Guess where you’re most likely to go to court?
This type of battle between lawyers is common because they often have big egos and try hard to establish their authority. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric understood this very well. In the book Straight from the Gut, he says, “We also agreed to control the egos of lawyers and bankers. Those outside teams often engage in food fights to prove who’s smarter. I told Norm, ‘Whenever that starts, let’s get on the phone and resolve it quickly.’”
Benjamin Franklin had a similar view: “A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats.”

I am not saying to get rid of lawyers altogether. You need lawyers, but first of all, you need to know what YOU want to achieve. Too often lawyers are given the task of writing a contract when it is only vaguely explained what the contract is all about. They start guessing and, in extreme cases, they are putting everything in one document: the contract agreement, scope of work, specifications, etc.

My 8 Ways to Keep Lawyers at Bay and Create a Win-Win Scenario:

1. Build your credibility with your knowledge and experience.

The first thing the lawyer of an opposite side tries to do when you enter the witness stand in a courtroom as an expert witness is destroy your credibility. They do it on purpose in order to diminish the value of everything you are going to say. They will start asking you about your years spent in the industry, your experience in a particular subject, your education, etc. Be sure to prepare yourself. The key to success is to learn as much as you can because when you are not learning, someone, somewhere else is.

2. Always do your homework

Always be well prepared for a talk with your partner (regardless of whether you are the client or yard’s owner). Knowing all documents inside out is a must. Knowing all procurements and the delivery date of all items is a must. Knowing the construction schedule is a must… the list goes on. Here is the endorsement from Winston Churchill:

“To every man there comes…that special moment when he will be figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to him…What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for that work which could have been his finest hour.”

3. Keep everything well documented

By having all papers well filed and organized, you gain internal peace and the respect of others. Having in-depth knowledge of all pertinent information empowers you and gives you confidence. Nothing is worse than when you are asked for some documents and you cannot find them. Relying on just memory may, sooner or later, prove fatal. 
“Blunt pencil will always remember more than a sharp mind!” —Anon.

4. Maintain moral superiority with strong integrity

Moral superiority is an inner strength, and inner strength you can only have with quiet consciousness and strong integrity.

5. Don’t get emotional, stay professional

It can be frustrating when things don't go your way, but if you let people push your buttons easily, your actions will jeopardize you. The ability to express and control our own emotions is important, and even more important is our ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. We can't control the world changing around us, but we can control how we respond to it. Some experts even suggest that emotional intelligence (EI) can be more important than intelligence quotient (IQ). So, instead of getting emotional, angry or frustrated, have a professional and pragmatic discussion. Keep this in mind:

“Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.” —Aristotle (384-322 BC)

6. Be proactive

Putting it more bluntly, offence is the best strategy for defense. It is much easier to write a letter first and put everything into your own words than to get a letter from Mr. XYZ and then try to untangle everything.

“Both parties to a contract must be active participants during performance; passive contract management is taxed, active contract management is rewarded.” —K.W. Fisher, Fisher Maritime

7. Settle disputes in the conference room, not in the courtroom

You cannot ever enter the courtroom with full confidence. Even if you think you have all the cards, you may be proven wrong. Why? This may be due to an unforeseen development or because in court, events can sometimes take an awkward turn.
Before you file a lawsuit in court, you should always consider whether you can resolve your dispute out of court. By using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to resolve your disputes without going to court, you can:

•    Save a lot of time
•    Save a lot of money, and 
•    Have more control over the outcome.

Of course, sometimes it is impossible to avoid court. Maybe you are being sued for “no reason” and you just have to defend yourself or your company. For instance, you make a product on time for Ex-Works delivery. Your client has arranged transport but due to a problem caused by a cyclone, the shipment arrives two weeks later. The client sues you for late delivery. This is a real-life example.

8. Don’t show your hand

Sun Tzu (544 BC–496BC), a Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher, believed that the key to victory was to get the enemy to reveal as much as possible while keeping him in the dark about your plans, abilities and knowledge. Well, this is not rocket science, but it is a good reminder of everyday strategies. It is not about hiding, either.

To conclude the above discussion, or rather, divagation on contracts and lawyers, here is a concentrated dose of wisdom from the very reputable Dr. Kenneth W. Fisher of Fisher Maritime:  “Contracts developed by lawyers ensure availability of post-delivery remedies; but one developed primarily by contract managers reduces the need for post-delivery remedies.”

Something to remember:
A lawyer may prepare a contract, but you have to sign it.