Racing to the Bottom — Or Rising Above It?

The "race to the bottom" refers to a competitive situation where companies, governments, or other entities try to gain an advantage by lowering standards, often at the expense of quality, worker safety, or public good. This can manifest as a downward spiral where each entity tries to outdo the others by reducing costs, wages, or regulations. 

We all know the phrase “racing to the bottom”. In the world of projects — whether it’s construction, events, or creative ventures — it usually means squeezing costs, cutting corners, and pushing people to work for less until the work itself feels hollow.

Cutting the corners and skipping out on Health and Safety, or Project managing everything yourself.

The reality is: everything costs a fortune. Materials aren’t getting cheaper. Travel eats your margins. Overheads — like Health, Safety & Welfare compliance — keep creeping up. The QS wants his cut, the PM’s time has a price, and even the tools you need come with a bill. Every line item shouts the same thing: money, money, money.

But here’s the question…What if projects were more than just money?

The True Cost Isn’t Always on the Spreadsheet

Accountants can measure cash flow, but they can’t measure the pride in a job done well. They can calculate material costs, but not the craftsmanship that turns “good enough” into “this will last.”

Imagine if the most important thing you brought to a project wasn’t just your labour rate, but your mindset. Not just “earn your keep” in the financial sense, but “put value in your work” — the idea that your contribution has worth beyond what the invoice says.

Imagine if the most important thing you brought to a project wasn’t just your labour rate, but your mindset. Not just “earn your keep” in the financial sense, but “put value in your work” — the idea that your contribution has worth beyond what the invoice says.

That means seeing your work as more than a transaction. It’s about pride in leaving something better than you found it. It’s about knowing that the time you’ve invested, the problems you’ve solved, and the skills you’ve applied are part of a bigger picture — a legacy of competence, reliability, and quality.

And maybe that’s exactly what we should be teaching apprentices. Not just how to tighten the bolt, lay the brick, or check the measurements, but how to walk away from a finished job thinking, “That’s mine. I did that.” Skills are essential, but mindset is what turns a tradesperson into a craftsperson. It’s the difference between chasing hours and building a reputation.

Think about it — how many times have you been driving in the car, pointing out a building, a road, or a piece of infrastructure and saying, “I did that”? Those moments are proof that your work matters, proof that you’ve left a mark on the world in a way that goes far beyond a payslip.

When you work with that kind of mindset, the value of your contribution isn’t just in the numbers. It’s in the pride, the legacy, and the knowledge that you’ve built something worth pointing at — literally.

Keep Going — For More Than a Paycheck

There’s a cultural temptation to think: Why bother? If the world’s hard enough already, why not just sit in the garden with a cider and let someone else deal with it?

But there’s something deeper in the keep going mentality. It’s not about relentless grind for the sake of profit — it’s about momentum. About showing up, solving problems, building things that matter, and doing it so well that you’d still be proud of it years later.

When the Paycheck Has More Value Than the Number

A paycheck is just paper until it’s linked to the how and why it was earned. If you’ve given your best, solved hard problems, and left something better than you found it, that money carries more weight than its numerical value.

It’s proof. Proof that your skill, time, and persistence meant something. Proof that you didn’t just race to the bottom — you built something worth standing on.

Having grown up in a single-parent family, with money being tight, it was valued. When it came from a day's graft, we knew about it. The mindset of if you want something, then you need to earn it was deeply ingrained. But my goodness, I felt proud when I worked and saved, worked and saved and brought my first car, my first house and can afford to give my kids a different lifestyle to what I had - because I WORK!

Rising Above

Maybe “racing to the bottom” is only inevitable if money is the only measure. But if we start measuring projects by craftsmanship, integrity, and impact, suddenly there’s no finish line to sink toward. There’s only the next step forward.

And sometimes, rising above isn’t just about the quality of the work — it’s about looking after the people you’re working with. Team consideration can mean being honest about the numbers, even when they’re tight. There may be days when you have to say, “Today’s rate is a little less. The project’s squeezed, the margins are thin.”

But there’s also pride in knowing that even on those days, you’ve done a solid day’s work, earned something honestly, and kept the wheels turning. That’s worth more than sitting in the garden with a cider, worrying about the next food shop or wondering how you’re going to pay the rent. Work, even at a slightly lower rate, can be dignified. It can be stability. It can be the difference between waiting for things to happen and making them happen.

Because in the end, racing to the bottom is about surrendering to scarcity. Rising above is about holding on to the belief that forward motion — together — is better than standing still.

Because sometimes the real bottom line isn’t the one on the balance sheet. It’s the one you draw for yourself.