the bridge paradox

To get to where you’re going, you first have to understand where you’ve been.

Driving through Dallas, I snapped a picture of two bridges. On the surface, they serve the same purpose, but to me they echo where I find myself today.

Let me explain.

The older bridge represents the first half of my career, my oil & gas years.

I put in the work. I spent years on rigs drilling and completing some of the most complex wellbores in the Gulf. I had successes, but I also had failures.

My biggest “miss” came in 2008, on Thunderhorse—the largest production and drilling platform in the Gulf at the time. We deployed a brand-new intervention tool called Sentio.

All eyes were on me.

We ran the tool to nearly 20,000 feet… and then, nothing. I couldn’t decode the signal. We had no choice but to pull the string. A tool failure, followed by a very large invoice, left the client furious.

The superintendent never forgot that day, and we never ran that tool for them again.

Fast forward to today, bridge number two, the second half of my career in construction.

Today I had my own Sentio moment.

Six inspections in a single day: one passed, five failed. And who was there to see it?

Two city inspectors, two VPs, and the owner of the company I work with. If you’re going to fail, fail big, and today was the biggest in the last eight years.

Looking back, I set myself up for failure.

I got comfortable. The last inspections had gone smoothly, and I overestimated my momentum.

I tried to push too much into one inspection, running two crews at once, one I trained personally, the other a painting subcontractor.

My guys delivered flawless work.

The painter didn’t.

By the third building, the inspectors had seen enough.

Fail across the board.

Here’s the paradox: I let my past successes trick me.

I forgot the simple truth, what got you here won’t get you there.

I am building the next bridge, I can imagine it. I can feel it.

My mind has already crossed; now it’s time to get my body and my team there.

Today set me back, no doubt.

It opened old wounds from 2008. But here’s the difference: this time I know how to respond.

It’s Wednesday afternoon.

I’ve got 14 buildings to bring up to standard in less than 7 days. Failure isn’t an option. We’ll work until dark tonight, and the next six days.

I’ll be there personally, checking every detail.

I won’t get paid until the job passes inspection. That’s just part of the game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

But either way—you learn.

TL;DR: Two bridges reminded me of two halves of my career: oil & gas and now construction.
Both brought big wins and big failures.
Today I failed five out of six inspections, a gut punch that felt like 2008 all over again.
But failure is part of the process.
You can’t let it derail you, you learn, you adapt, and you keep building the bridge to where you’re going.