55 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
55 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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id: 2026-05-14T17:57:07-0400
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title: 2026-05-14 17:57:07
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tags: []
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daily: "[[2026-05-14]]"
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---
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# 2026-05-14 17:57:07
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In my years of using [[accubid|Accubid]] nearly every work day
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I've always longed for good analogies
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for using the wrong [[tools|tool]] for the job.
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I found one that could almost be said to be in common use:
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"Hitting a nail with the handle of the hammer"
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But the phrase is not ideal for my purpose.
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It suggests that the tool _can_ be used to achieve the objective,
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but that it is being used suboptimally.
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"Driving a screw with a hammer"
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which I came up with, though surely not for the first time,
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is more appropriate for Accubid and its use in [[construction-estimating]].
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It suggests the tool _can not_ be used to achieve the objective,
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but that it may be possible to use it to _mimic_ success.
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If you manage to drive a screw with a hammer
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you have still failed to use it as a fastener.
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Despite its name,
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Accubid is clearly not meant for bidding.
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Bidding requires an appreciation of uncertainty and risk
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that naive [[decrease-in-sigma|zero-sigma]] "estimating"
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does nothing to assist.
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Estimators have to do that part, _the important part_, in their head.
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It ought to be glaringly obvious to Trimble
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that their software is not being used as intended.
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The use of items to be budgetary of other items
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which are not known, or are not present in the database
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is perhaps universal,
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even though this false specificity is detrimental
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to both estimating and operations.
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Briefly sheathing [[hanlons-razor|Hanlon's razor]],
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I believe Trimble may be _deliberately avoiding_ respect for uncertainty, despite demand,
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because to support price uncertainty would call into question
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the utility of their biggest earners and up-sells.
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Tra-Ser is the industry gold standard you can't live without,
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but what good is a single price,
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which isn't even guaranteed for purchase _today_,
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compared to a range estimated for the lifetime of the project?
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If you believe we live in Trimble's fantasy world
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where you can buy out a bid BOM as-is
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then they can sell you a subscription for Spectrum, their ERP software.
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To really beat this analogy to death,
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Trimble is has a monopoly on hammers
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so they'd rather convince us we need a hammer
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than sell us the screwdriver we _do_ need.
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