Spend enough time in preconstruction, and you’ll hear the same concern over and over again:

“We need more estimators.”

I agree that the estimator shortage is real. We need more people entering the profession, and construction education has never been more important. 

But lately, I’ve found myself wondering if we’re starting the conversation in the wrong place.

Hiring alone can’t solve the challenge if the systems those new estimators inherit make it difficult for them to become productive. 

What if the estimator shortage isn’t just a hiring problem? What if it’s a knowledge transfer problem?

The system produces the outcome

On a recent episode of the Proper Precon Podcast, Preston Hite referenced a quote from Michael Lefebvre’s Managing Design that has stayed with me:

“The system we have now is perfectly designed to get exactly the results we’re getting right now.”

Most experienced estimators carry an incredible amount of institutional knowledge, earned through years of projects, relationships, successes, and mistakes.The challenge is that much of it still lives in spreadsheets, conversations, and people’s heads.

We have systems for producing estimates, but not a real one for building systems that preserve what was learned while producing them.

The result is a cycle many firms know all too well. Senior estimators spend more time answering questions because junior estimators need guidance, leaving less time to capture what they’ve learned and pay it forward. 

Knowledge remains dependent on people instead of becoming part of the system, and the cycle repeats.

If we want different outcomes, we have to change the system that produces them.

Efficiency is the catalyst

Changing the system begins by making the knowledge we already have easier to preserve, share, and build upon.

When people hear efficiency, they often think about doing more work in less time. That’s certainly part of it, but I don’t think efficiency is the destination.

I think it’s the catalyst.

The bigger opportunity is creating systems that preserve knowledge while experienced builders actively create it. When knowledge is captured, it becomes repeatable and teachable.

And the moment knowledge becomes teachable, it becomes scalable.

Once knowledge becomes scalable, new estimators become productive faster, organizations become more resilient, and experience compounds instead of disappearing with each retirement, promotion, or career move.

The progression looks something like this:

Better systems → Captured knowledge → Repeatable knowledge → Teachable knowledge → Scalable knowledge → Faster onboarding → More capable estimators

That’s why I don’t see construction technology and construction education as separate conversations. They’re two sides of the same coin. One helps today’s builders become more effective, while the other helps tomorrow’s builders become successful faster. Together, they strengthen the profession.

From mentorship to multiplication

Mentorship is one of the best parts of this profession. 

Experienced estimators teach the next generation. They explain why one assumption matters more than another. They pass along judgment that can’t be found in a textbook because it has been earned through experience.

That should never change. And, it’s my belief that technology can strengthen it. 

If senior estimators spent less time answering the same tactical questions over and over again, they can teach the human stuff — critical thinking, judgment, communication, and the art behind the numbers.

 In my experience, experienced estimators create the most value by helping others develop the judgment to make good decisions on their own (and they often enjoy this aspect of the job, too!).

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This is one of the reasons I chose to join Ediphi after spending years in construction.

I spent the first part of my career learning from estimators, project managers, and builders who were generous enough to share what they knew. Those experiences shaped how I think about this profession.

Joining Ediphi wasn’t about leaving construction. It was about continuing to serve an industry that has given me so much. I became convinced that software could do more than improve workflows. It could help preserve the judgment, experience, and institutional knowledge that too often walks out the door at the end of a career.

The longer I’ve been in both worlds, the more convinced I’ve become that our biggest opportunity isn’t replacing expertise. It’s multiplying it.

A different way to think about the shortage

The construction industry absolutely needs more estimators. 

Producing more people is part of the answer, but it isn’t the whole answer. We also need to create an environment where every new estimator can contribute sooner because the knowledge of those who came before them has been captured instead of lost.

So perhaps the question isn’t:

“How do we find more estimators?”

Perhaps it’s:

“How do we help the next estimator become exceptionally faster?”

Every time we shorten the journey from new hire to trusted contributor, we strengthen the industry’s ability to develop the next generation of preconstruction leaders.

We begin to solve the estimator shortage once we stop asking a handful of experienced estimators to carry more weight and give them the ability to multiply what they’ve already learned.

And that’s how we create more estimators.

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