Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI
Senior Member
Username: rliebing
Post Number: 1027
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 - 06:52 am: |    |
090805
NO. 43
PRIORITY AND IMPORTANCE
by Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI
Cincinnati, OH
Are “priority” [particularly high priority] and “importance” the same? Of the same value? Or are they sort of strangely remote one to the other?
Priority- precedence in date or position of publication: something given or meriting attention before competing alternatives
Importance- a quality or aspect having great worth or significance: implies a value judgment of the superior worth or influence of something or someone.
Now the tough question -- if importance and high-priority go together, how about high priority for a thing of lesser importance and vice versa? How valid is each concept?
Example: one of the most important things we do in life is get married; BUT does that necessarily give marriage the high-priority in our lives?
Now how about education? In grades K-8, we are fed information in educational form in “dribs and drabs”, perhaps with some sequence and order, building one “batch” or segment of information upon another [e.g., math follows arithmetic using more complex operations]. In grades 9-12 we choose what information we desire [granted within some bounds-- like choice of English courses] in an effort to move toward a fairly distinct goal [a successful future in some form].
In college, we sort of combine the dribs-and-drabs with the personal choices to give us the added information we both need and desire. Obviously, a Liberal Arts major will be more expansive in the use of electives to explore varied ideas, areas of information, etc. One in a professional school will find a more confined curriculum with directed [mandatory] courses and few electives for wider exploration. And in many [and increasing numbers] these school s are being pushed to “total person” education within or in spite of increasingly complex professional practice requirements. Hence topics, discussions and instruction really of value to new “emerging professionals” are not always readily available in the schools.
Let’s couple this, for a moment, with CSI and SCIP. These two organizations have an inordinate amount of information, experience and expertise, all quite IMPORTANT and valuable to new professionals-- eventually! The obvious need, dare we say, is PRIORITY! The IMPORTANT need is gap-filler instruction and education-- given the highest of PRIORITIES [in the realm of the effort for “emerging professionals”].
Right now we can only offer the “carrot” [as in horse and carrot scenario] with details to come as developed. But the basic need has been identified; the capacity to do or accomplish is well known; the result is fairly easy to predict [IF the effort occurs] and the overall picture of Contract Documents [by the design professionals new and old] and the construction industry can, and really must be improved. We need to do a better job with better documents producing and contributing to better projects-- in quicker time. New Program! Combined effort! IMPORTANT! HIGH PRIORITY! Stay tuned if this peaks your interest [and we know it should!]. More-- much more—is yet to come!! |
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