National Driller recently attended the Geoprofessional Business Association’s 2015 spring conference in Miami, where Kord Wissmann, president of North Carolina-based Geopier Foundation Company, gave a lecture titled “The Dark Side of Innovation.” A geotechnical engineer of almost 30 years, Wissmann launched his career as a consultant and eventually switched to contracting, which he wittily calls “the dark side.” Based on his experiences in both environments, Wissmann talked to National Driller about key similarities, differences and what to consider before making the transition he made.
Q. Your talk was titled “The Dark Side of Innovation.” Could you elaborate on what that means and why industry people call it that?