The Dishwasher Test

Or, why not all good surveyors pack like Norwegian architects

The Situation

There’s a saying that does the rounds online:

In every house, there’s someone who packs the dishwasher like a Norwegian architect, and someone who packs it like a raccoon on meth. 

Most people smile and immediately know which one they are. It’s certainly a silent debate in our house, as my other half and I disagree over which is which.

One approach is calm and methodical. Plates aligned. Cutlery balanced. Nothing touching anything it shouldn’t.  The other moves fast. Plates at improbable angles. A saucepan where a mug was clearly “meant” to go. It looks chaotic - and yet the dishwasher still runs. The plates still come out clean.

I keep thinking about how familiar this feels in surveying.

Surveying is a profession built on structure.
Standards. Scopes. Process. Precedent. Defensibility.
And rightly so. That structure protects clients, professionals, and the public.

The “Norwegian architect” approach maps neatly onto what we often describe as good practice: systematic, ordered, clearly documented, repeatable. It’s reassuring. It looks safe. It photographs well for guidance notes.

But not all good surveyors work like that.

Three Takeaways

1. The raccoon isn’t reckless; it’s adaptive

The raccoon-style dishwasher packer isn’t careless. They’re responsive.

They’re dealing with the oddly shaped plate, the pan that doesn’t fit the rules, the reality that time is short, and the drawer is already half full. They don’t ignore the goal. They prioritise outcome over elegance.

In surveying terms, this looks like adjusting an inspection when access is limited, explaining risk in plain language rather than textbook phrasing, spotting patterns quickly, even if the reasoning isn’t always linear. It can also look like recording a site inspection by dictation, sketching a floor or site plan that makes sense to the surveyor rather than the software, or working through a mind map instead of an online form with drop boxes and favourite paragraphs.

From the outside, this can look messy, even unprofessional. From the inside, it’s often judgement in motion.

2. Neatness is not the same as competence

There’s a risk in professional cultures that over-value tidiness: tidy reports, tidy processes, tidy answers. Neatness becomes a proxy for safety, and it can mean the process and way of doing things become more important than the purpose and reason for doing it.

But “following the diagram” isn’t the same as understanding the machine or the people who will use it.

Some of the most thoughtful surveyors don’t work step by step. They work intuitively and contextually. They see the thing that actually matters before they can always explain why. If we only reward architect-style thinking, we risk mistaking presentation for understanding - and pushing people toward excessive caveating rather than confident, defensible judgement. 

Reflective thought isn’t just about having a cuppa at the end of the day and asking whether you did a good job. It’s about allowing the brain time to process in a way that suits the individual — including what the findings and advice might actually mean for the client.

3. The profession needs both

Architects build the framework. Raccoons test whether it works in real life.

Architects keep standards robust. Raccoons surface where standards strain against reality.

Adaptiveness only works because the person understands the underlying rules.

Most progress doesn’t come from choosing one over the other. It comes from letting each irritate the other just enough to improve things — without losing sight of the purpose they’re both trying to serve. 

A thought to leave with

If someone’s approach looks untidy, the most useful question isn’t:

“Why don’t you do it properly?”

It’s:

“Does it work, is it defensible, and does it serve the client?”

Sometimes the job needs a Norwegian architect. Sometimes it needs a raccoon with judgement, experience, and the confidence to make it fit. Meth is not required; experience, judgement, and acceptance of difference usually are.

Surveying, actually, has room for both.

Until next time,

Marion

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