By Gary Fleisher
Fifty years ago, my father gifted my wife and me a Seth Thomas mantle clock. It has a beautiful chime that rings every fifteen minutes, announcing the hour. But after decades of listening to it, we hardly notice the sound anymore.
We only really pay attention to the clock in three instances:
- When we forget to wind it, and it stops—usually a full week after it’s gone silent.
- When guests visit and ask how we can tolerate the chimes all day.
- When the chimes sound out of sync, signaling that it needs repair.
This habit of overlooking something that’s right in front of us is human nature, but it also happens in businesses—including modular construction factories.
Too often, factory leaders become so accustomed to how things operate that they ignore issues creeping into production, management, and quality control. When a factory runs “well enough,” complacency sets in. That’s when the See Nothing, Hear Nothing, Do Nothing syndrome takes hold, threatening efficiency, profits, and ultimately, survival.
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See Nothing: The Problems Hiding in Plain Sight
In many modular factories, management either fails to see problems or deliberately avoids looking. Machines are wearing down, quality control issues are surfacing, and inefficiencies are stacking up—but as long as production keeps moving, it’s easy to pretend everything is fine.
For example, a plant might have a growing backlog of warranty claims due to poor assembly or misaligned finishes. But since homes are still being shipped out on schedule, leadership assumes the issues aren’t urgent. The factory keeps running, and only when complaints pile up or customer confidence erodes does anyone acknowledge the problem. By then, the damage is done.
This happens because leaders grow comfortable with the way things are. Just like my wife and I no longer hear the chimes of our clock, factory managers stop “hearing” the warning signs around them. They see what they expect to see—until it’s too late.
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Hear Nothing: The Warnings That Go Ignored
Hearing about a problem isn’t the same as listening to it. Inside modular factories, employees regularly report concerns—about faulty materials, workflow inefficiencies, safety hazards, or even personnel conflicts. But when leadership is unwilling to address these issues, the problems compound.
Consider the case of a plant supervisor who repeatedly hears that a certain saw on the production line is misaligned. The framing crew warns that it’s causing inaccurate cuts, leading to fit issues downstream. But since no one has outright refused to use the saw, the supervisor shrugs it off.
Weeks later, a project gets held up on-site due to improper framing tolerances. Now, the factory is scrambling to make repairs, eating into profits and credibility. And it all could have been prevented if someone had listened when the warning first came.
Ignoring feedback—whether from workers, vendors, or even customers—allows small, fixable problems to grow into expensive catastrophes.
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Do Nothing: When Inaction Becomes the Biggest Mistake
The most dangerous form of mismanagement isn’t making bad decisions—it’s making no decisions at all.
Even when leadership sees problems and hears concerns, too often, they take no action. Maybe it’s out of fear of confrontation, or perhaps because addressing the issue would require an investment they’re not ready to make.
The result? A modular factory that slowly declines in quality, efficiency, and reputation.
Picture a plant manager who knows their set crews are struggling due to missing fasteners in shipped modules. Instead of fixing the inventory issue at the factory level, they assume the crews will “figure it out.” The result? Longer installation times, frustrated customers, and increased costs—all because management chose inaction over problem-solving.
The irony is that the longer problems are ignored, the harder they are to fix. Just like our mantle clock, when a modular factory runs smoothly (or at least appears to), management becomes blind to the adjustments that need to be made. And by the time they do notice, the cost of repair is far higher than if they had acted earlier.
Breaking the Cycle
Avoiding the See Nothing, Hear Nothing, Do Nothing trap requires active engagement from leadership. Here’s how factory managers and owners can stay ahead of problems:
- Regularly Walk the Floor – Seeing the factory firsthand keeps managers connected to daily operations and prevents them from relying solely on reports.
- Encourage Open Communication – Create an environment where employees feel comfortable reporting issues—and act on their concerns.
- Conduct Routine Check-Ups – Just like taking a clock to the shop before it breaks, a modular factory needs regular evaluations of equipment, processes, and personnel.
- Hold Leadership Accountable – Make sure supervisors and managers take ownership of problems instead of waiting for someone else to fix them.
A modular factory that operates on autopilot is a factory headed for trouble. The best leaders recognize that just because something is working today doesn’t mean it won’t stop tomorrow. The key is staying vigilant, listening to those on the front lines, and taking proactive steps to address issues before they spiral out of control.
Because once the chimes stop ringing, you don’t notice until it’s too late.
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Gary Fleisher, The Modcoach, writes about the modular and offsite construction industry at Modular Home Source.
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