Does any else suffer from Scope creep

[Dozzer]

As the title says. Am i the only one, or do others suffer from Scope creep?
I had a prime example over the last 2 weekends.
Problem. got given tumble dryer, wanted to use it to dry bedding, but has 100mm vent outlet, didn't want to drill hole in wall.
Solution = use in cart lodge
1. only socket not in suitable location for dryer. so decide to add another socket. And this is where my OCD kicks in.
2. look at wiring and think it would only take a bit more work to add ring main and another 3 double sockets!
3. while adding the ring main, look at distribution box and think. that's not a metal garage consumer unit.
4. while in the consumer unit, realise i don't like the supply to the workshop. so decided to re wire that.
5. decided don't like tumble dryer sitting on concrete floor, so build a shelf for it to live on.

so went from quickly adding another socket, to completely re-wring the cart lodge with new distribution box and building shelling.
And i wonder why everything takes so long

 

[Beanwood]

Scope creep - absolutely - even if it's only tidying things in order to get to the parts/tools I need to do a job, or fixing the thing that broke the last time, which I now need to use for this job....

15 minute job can easily take 2 hours.

 

[MattF]

Yes, is the answer. I'm terrible for doing it in my mind, before I even start a task, hence why I try to just crack on with a job instead of thinking it over, nowadays.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Yup happens all the time...at moment I'm tidying the loft. Every time I go up there I'm tempted to move the water tank....which I know would then lead to a full bathroom refurb!!!

 

[m_c]

Scope creep - absolutely - even if it's only tidying things in order to get to the parts/tools I need to do a job, or fixing the thing that broke the last time, which I now need to use for this job....

15 minute job can easily take 2 hours.

Those are amateur numbers!

I started to fix leaking steering rams on a fork lift three weeks ago, which we thought was just needing some new seals.
Turns out the rams are bent, but to remove the rams requires removing the axle.
Axle pin was in accessible, so the whole axle mount had to come off.

Since the axle was off, we decided to replace all the hub/shaft seals.
While stripping the hubs, I thought I better do something about the worn hub carrier.

That has then necessitated getting my big CNC mill retrofit to a point that it's useable.
That has now progressed into, I'll just add a little bit more functionality to the software for it.

I might have a useable mill by the time the new steering ram rod appears, as it's on back order.

 

[Beanwood]

Those are amateur numbers!

I started to fix leaking steering rams on a fork lift three weeks ago, which we thought was just needing some new seals.
Turns out the rams are bent, but to remove the rams requires removing the axle.
Axle pin was in accessible, so the whole axle mount had to come off.

Since the axle was off, we decided to replace all the hub/shaft seals.
While stripping the hubs, I thought I better do something about the worn hub carrier.

That has then necessitated getting my big CNC mill retrofit to a point that it's useable.
That has now progressed into, I'll just add a little bit more functionality to the software for it.

I might have a useable mill by the time the new steering ram rod appears, as it's on back order.

I am but an amateur compared to such comprehensive scope creep - all it needs now is for the van refit in order to collect the forklift parts!

 

[fizzy]

When I read the title I thought you were looking for one of these

 

[JOEPRO]

Story of my life.

I start a basic service then end up with an unplanned 3 year nut and bolt restorations on a car for example. (Several already running concurrently)

Too many examples to list. OCD is a terrible thing

 

[cocker]

I thought it was ; mission creep .
Usually happens when a "mate" asked for a 10 minute hand .

 

[MetalMonkey]

Yup, I know it all too well. The ever increasing to do list.

I'll just leave this here:

 

[fizzy]

I thought it was ; mission creep .
Usually happens when a "mate" asked for a 10 minute hand .

And me.
What started as a simple trailer build led to
Tig welder
Plasma cutter
6Ft sheet metal folder
6ft box pan folder
Mag drill
Air rivet gun
Big 3 phase compressor for grit blasting
All my other machines I would have aquired anyway but these were just to build a trailer

 

[Dozzer]

When I read the title I thought you were looking for one of these

View attachment 472516

I use pinned scope mounts, don't have that problem

 

[daedalusminos]

Scope creep is usually the result of an Ill defined scope

 

[Beanwood]

Scope creep is usually the result of an Ill defined scope

… or someone wanting something quick/cheap, and adding part way through- ‘as you’re there, can you just…’
Oh my life as a project manager…

 

[zzr1200]

When I read the title I thought you were looking for one of these

View attachment 472516

So did I....

 

[Morrisman]

Mines the other way round, I generally start out with grandiose ideas, then once motion starts I fall at the start line and do as little as possible.

I was the other way around once, and definitely I miss the drive, the urge, to do and create. It seems to have faded away in recent times.

 

[fizzy]

Mines the other way round, I generally start out with grandiose ideas, then once motion starts I fall at the start line and do as little as possible.

I was the other way around once, and definitely I miss the drive, the urge, to do and create. It seems to have faded away in recent times.

I don't blame you no harm in that. Just do what you can when you can.

 

[Dozzer]

Mines the other way round, I generally start out with grandiose ideas, then once motion starts I fall at the start line and do as little as possible.

I was the other way around once, and definitely I miss the drive, the urge, to do and create. It seems to have faded away in recent times.

Sometimes put things off because i know it WILL lead to more work than i intended, so i dont do it at all.
maybe settling for "good enough" is better than the constant striving for perfection!!
Would get a lot more done.

 

[jmp49]

I think I do... For example my vw baywindow camper. I had a girlfriend who liked vw's, so I bought a really cheap devon poptop that needed work for 300 quid but allegedly had a new engine when we lived in sussex. We had a garage and I started work, but didnt have time to progress much but had the panels from vw heritage up the road etc. Then we got married, and moved to France.
The bus came with us as a half done project, so we got a place with a larger garage and more workshop space. Working away to pay for stuff and then kids that arrived, and the house/garage turned out to be not very big for vehicles + projects + kids, so we bought another place that was just two barns, one to be the workshops, and the second to convert into a house but we can only afford it if we do it all ourselves and live in a caravan and let the first house out. 16 years later, the "new" house is finished mostly, along with the workshop, and we need to sell the other house, and still parked there is said VW bus where its been sat for 24 years now, even though my old neighbor told me he had to stop 3 different attempts to steal it. I rebuild a car trailer I brought from the UK 24 years ago new brakes, wheels, bearings etc that was also abandoned in a field. And amazingly the bus pulled on with the brakes not stuck onto the trailer after we put round wheels on it. We get it up on the ramp and bypass the fuel tank because the lines are going to be really bad, and fresh battery wedged in and it starts up after a few turns, and sits there idling happily away.
So, its here at "new" house under a tarp in the yard waiting for me to get through some other stuff first, I have a ramp and welder etc and she still fancies her vw camper one day and I still think they're funky and it can replace the coachbuilt ducato monstrosity we have. But I find the chassis and other drawings online with dimensions, and my lad does cad for a living now, so rather than pay 2000 pound in repair panels for the chassis parts that are rotted (and needed replacement when I bought it...), I start a cnc plasma project with a 2m bed to cut the repair pieces in one go.
24 years in a yard, not bad for a first start up. That rotten panel under the engine cover was like that when it parked up, and I have the vw heritage replacement still in the protective wrapping it came here wearing

Its either scope creep, or life. If you view it as life is one big project, the scope is enjoying life and living it how you want to and the rest are just steps to it.

 

[Smallfry]

We call it mission creep.

Years ago I was fitting a towbar. The crush sleeves supplied were unsatisfactory, as they were way too big for the bolts. I couldn't find anything off the shelf, so I bought a lathe to make my own...........

Then there was the wiring ........

Just one of many things