Jiu-jitsu, Career Advice, and Lots of Laughs

Construction Brothers

00:00 - Introduction
We’ve doubled our Tyler count today by inviting Tyler Williams to the studio. We start with some car talk: plug-in hybrids, 81 Chevies, and manual F-150s.
Tyler W says he’s not loaded, but he’s keeping his eyes open for used trucks anyway. Everything is for sale. Eddie flashes back to being stranded in banjo country in his Brown Bomb Sierra.
Tyler W shares about a conversation with the guy who developed the Raptor for the border patrol. This prompted him to pursue another product-development opportunity. Tyler C shares about his many Transit van aspirations.
Before we get to the substance of the episode, we’ve pretty much locked in our plans to live together in a Sprinter van down by the river.
11:11 - What’s new with Tyler W?
Tyler C asks guest Tyler to share what new things are going on in his world. Tyler W shares about tech developments related to ergonomics and how these developments have not led to the sort of decrease in injuries that you’d expect.
He goes on to discuss a trip to Montreal, where he visited the headquarters of Movex Innovations, maker of all-terrain tracked carriers. He wants a bunch of them. He talks through some of the amazing capabilities of these carriers. He points to this as one example of a tool that people should use.
Eddie raises the issue of the skills gap in construction. Tyler W says that he has seen that gap arise most visibly when someone is promoted to a foreman position. At the same time, he says that he’s hearing from many people that the gap is less severe than it has been in the recent past.
We discuss progress made in reducing the stigma felt by high-schoolers who choose not to go to college. Eddie shares how he’s seen it in his kids and their friends. Tyler W points to the ridiculousness of expecting 18-year-olds to know what they want to do with their lives. He encourages young people to attend construction-related boot camps to see if maybe that route is a possibility.
We discuss the issue of college debt. Tyler C asks how many people are better positioned for success as a result of their debt.
23:37 - Staying flexible
Tyler W discusses the value of having a broad range of skills that make you economically nimble. He’s thankful for having a collection of experiences and skills that have equipped him for unexpected economic circumstances.
Tyler C discusses gap years and the importance of giving yourself time to gain clarity on your interests and aptitudes. Eddie shares stories he’s heard of students basing their career choices on short Google searches about salaries. Tyler W points out that these Google searches don’t usually address personal happiness or overall life satisfaction.
We explore mid-life career transitions and the shifts in priorities that come with marriage and family. Then we jump back to van-based business opportunities. Eddie flashes back to his Rebath days. He shares about how optimizing his van for that job informed daily decisions later in his career.
33:40 - What got us here? Also, Lego
Tyler W discusses the path that got him to his current position as an innovation specialist. We discuss how seeing inefficiencies earlier in our careers spawned a passion for efficient coordination at this point in our careers.
Tyler C and Eddie discuss what they learned from working with Lego bricks and how their children are learning some of those lessons now. Tyler W relates this to what he’s learning from the book The Way of the Champion and shares how he’s applying the lessons from that book.
We discuss the absolute essential value of life-long learning and resilience. If you have these two things, you will always be able to deal with what life brings you. The book The Comfort Crisis comes into this conversation.
Eddie discusses the value of learning the hard way–marinating in research in a physical encyclopedia because your comprehension and retention may be better. Sometimes it's maybe even beneficial to be put in a situation where you can be punched in the face. Tyler shares about his involvement with martial arts.
58:45 - So, what have we learned?
In wrapping up Tyler W has this to say: It’s about experience. He shares about a recent event designed to help his DPR innovation team really understand what the hands-on workers deal with every day. This is what everyone in the industry should be doing: seeking to understand what it’s like for others.
Find Tyler Williams on LinkedIn
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