I have learned that managing a renovation is like being both the conductor of and the dancer to a live band that isn’t particularly good at carrying a tune. And occasionally a musician will fall off stage and break something. In order to be good at conducting and dancing to a band like this, you have to be good at adapting to constantly changing conditions and be able to do it without coming unhinged. You have to be creative. Sometimes you have to change band-members. Sometimes you have to change the song. Sometimes you just have to keep dancing while prodding various members of the band with a stick to get back into sync. In short, it’s not easy, but it’s a skill that can be learned.
All of this, of course, must be done while the paying audience watches over your shoulder and shouts out suggestions or points out mistakes. Plus, they’ve only generally paid 50% of the ticket price to get in and are hanging on to the rest of it until they find out if they’re satisfied with the performance. It’s quite an involved juggling act, really, with a considerable amount of risk. More so than I ever would have guessed.