Dustin Cole
Director of Engineering for NCI Group

My daughter Casey said even back in elementary school that she wanted to join the military. We tried to talk her into going to college first. It didn’t work. Now, 20 years later, she’s been a Marine for seven years, worked as an air frame mechanic, served a tour in Iraq, spent a year as a Marine Embassy Security Guard in Stockholm, and has now recently moved to Chengdu, China for her next assignment.

Being a female in the Marines (less than 5% of Marines are female), Casey had to be willing to accept one fact of life: change will happen and must be accepted.

As an Okie born and bread, she grew up in Oklahoma City, the heartland of America with a population less than 600,000. Her professional life, however, has been a series of adjustments, from a war zone to a place of peace, from a city with less than 600,000 people to a city with over 2 million. And, once again, now in China, she’s adjusting to a smog rich climate and a dense city of over 14 million.

Change. It’s inevitable. And success, for Casey and for any professional, may very well depend on how well we adapt to it. In the metal building industry, change is the constant. My job, specifically, largely consists of understanding where change is needed, explaining that change to our builders and customers, and showing why that change should be considered. Whether it is in building codes, products, or procedures, change is coming.

Change is always coming.

For many of us, the idea of change instantly sounds negative. We resist it. We prefer to find a way around it. Also, we resent it. However, not all change is bad. NCI companies, like Star, for example, have been moving forward to change procedures and even products that help our brands better serve our customers.

One example:

We now offer Insulated Metal Panels. These panels, available with 2” to 6” insulation, offer builders and customers a panel that comes with an exterior finish that provides weather tightness and improved energy performance. They also come with an interior finish, which means builders no longer need to put up studs and sheetrock to have an attractive finished product. It’s all included.

By discontinuing some of our older products, we were able to offer this new product with its many additional attributes. It’s change. And, as always, we are always looking for what works best and how to implement it. If you can adapt to change, the world has limitless possibilities. I learned that from my daughter, who, once she reads this, will hopefully give her dad a “Ooh Rah.”

If you have any questions or comments, tell us below! We’re here to help.