In recent weeks we have launched our Don’t Say DM (Deferred Maintenance) campaign.  This was not a new soap box that I was standing on.  It has been a couple of years that we have been trying to get the market to stop using the term DM. I won’t get into why in this post, but if you want to dig deeper, please check out my previous post.

This week I had the opportunity to present at two separate APPA (Association of Physical Plant Administrators) local chapters in Georgia and Ontario.  During both presentation I finished with my pitch for the attendees to stop saying DM. During the conversations I had with several university facility professionals, we discussed what I feel is another great reason to stop saying DM.  

For well over 30 years we have been talking about Deferred Maintenance, without seeing a material improvement in how organizations are addressing the issues and challenges associated with the ever-worsening problem.  As the old adage goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  That is what we all have been doing with Deferred Maintenance for the last few decades.

Even if you don’t agree with our “Words Matter” reason for changing the vernacular of the facility asset management world, perhaps the idea of changing the conversation will peak your interest.

I do think that some non-facilities professionals out there (often the ones holding the purse strings) have become deaf to the repeated claims about DM.  The term has become background noise.  By changing the words that we use to describe the situation, we can hopefully get people to tune in and pay more attention to the issue. To achieve this, have to get them to start asking more questions and become more curious. Changing the terminology is a good start, and perhaps is just what the doctor ordered.