Most people assume the hardest problems they deal with are theirs alone. That assumption quietly shapes how work gets done. You fix the issue in front of you, adjust a process, add another spreadsheet, or patch a handoff between design and production, then move on. Rarely do you pause to ask whether the shop down the road is wrestling with the same saw setup, the same data gap, or the same unanswered question about how systems should connect.
While waiting at the gate to board our flight for BCMC, we struck up a conversation with a component manufacturer from nearby. Small talk quickly turned technical and within minutes we were deep into database structure, tooling decisions, and system design. Finally, someone who speaks our language and understands the complexities of our industry.
We had planned to record a few conversations at BCMC, but that conversation made us rethink our approach. The focus did not need to be on Paragon. It needed to be on the conversations already happening, often quietly, across the component industry. Not panels. Not presentations. Just honest discussions that reveal shared ideas, recurring friction points, and emerging possibilities that many shops are navigating on their own.
That realization became Common Chord.
Curiosity has always been part of how we work. We spend a lot of time asking why truss design feels fragmented, why data so often stops at system boundaries, and why so many solutions rely on workarounds passed down through people instead of systems. As problem solvers, it is easy to focus on fixing the next thing and overlook the value of stepping back to listen.
What stood out most was how consistent the themes were. Component manufacturers are relentless problem solvers, but that focus can unintentionally keep insights siloed. Fragmented systems. Closed data. Manual reentry. Processes that work, but only because someone knows how to make them work. When insights stay local, learning stays local. When experiences are shared, patterns become easier to see and better solutions come into reach.
The Common Chord conversations are a reminder that across different roles, tools, and shops, there is shared ground. A shared intent to build better. Shared conversations can help an industry recognize what it has in common and move forward with more clarity.
Most of the Common Chord conversations are now published on our blog, and we plan to keep going. The goal is to create space for people who are curious about innovation to think out loud, compare experiences, and learn from one another.
What idea, insight, or experiment are you working on that others in the industry could learn from?