Andrew Dutil is a civil engineer and independent contractor based in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a background in project controls, contract administration, and claims consulting for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He is a combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom II and holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in architecture, both earned with honors, from Norwich University. Here, he talks about what success means to him on a job site and away from it.
How Do You Define Success?
For me it’s less about a single win and more about whether a group of people with different jobs and different priorities ended up pulling in the same direction. A schedule, a budget, and a contract are just paper until people decide to make them work together. When that happens on a project that looked impossible a few months earlier, that’s success to me.
Has That Definition Changed Since You Started Out?
Some. Early on I measured success by whether a deliverable landed on the date it was supposed to. That’s still part of it, but I’ve learned to weigh a deliverable’s actual impact on the project before I decide how hard to push. A date that affects three other trades downstream gets treated differently than one that doesn’t. Success now looks more like good judgment about where to spend effort, not just hitting every mark on the calendar.
What Does a Successful Day on a Project Actually Look Like?
Honestly, it’s often quiet. I’m watching a schedule in Primavera, checking cost estimates against RSMeans, and marking up drawings in Bluebeam. A good day is one where nothing blows up, because the work to prevent the blowup happened two weeks earlier. People outside the field sometimes picture success as a dramatic save. Most of the time it’s the save nobody notices, because the problem never got the chance to become visible.
Tell Me About a Time Success Came Out of a Setback.
A large, unexpected change order can derail a project’s timeline fast if nobody gets ahead of it. I’ve worked through a few of those over the years. The work isn’t glamorous. It’s going line by line through scope, cost, and schedule impact, and negotiating terms that keep the project moving without papering over a real problem. The ones I count as successes are the ones where the final agreement held up, and the project still finished close to on time. Nobody throws a parade for that. I don’t need one.
Who or What Has Shaped How You Measure Success?
Mentors, more than any single event. Early in my career, there were engineers at the Corps who were patient about explaining why a decision mattered, not just what the decision was. That habit of asking why before acting stuck with me. Outside of work, growing up as an altar server and making Eagle Scout in Troop 425 back in Bristol taught me the same lesson in a different setting: show up, do the task well, and let the result speak for itself.
Do the Awards Factor Into How You See Your Own Success?
They matter, but not in the way people might expect. Recognitions like the Civilian Service Achievement Medal or being named a Golden Hardhat Recipient tell me the work was seen and mattered to the people who depend on it. But the award comes after the fact. The actual measure happens earlier, when a contract closes clean or a schedule holds under pressure. I keep my attention on the work itself and let the recognition be what it is.
What Keeps You Grounded Away From the Job?
My involvement with the Knights of Columbus and the 1st Cavalry Division Association gives me a different kind of community than a job site does. Both groups are built around people showing up for each other over a long stretch of time, not just one project. That’s a different pace than contract administration, but it’s a useful reminder that success outside of work looks a lot like success inside it: consistency, and people you can count on.
What Would You Tell Someone Starting Out in This Field?
Get the fundamentals in place early. For me that meant OSHA 30, the PMP, and the Defense Acquisition University coursework in contracting and facilities engineering. None of that guarantees good judgment, but it gives you a baseline so you’re not learning the basics while a live issue is in front of you. Success in this line of work is mostly preparation that nobody sees until the day it’s needed.