The key is to foster an environment where the plan can keep getting better with everybody on the same page. Sometimes the personalities make that impossible, but usually it has some chance of success. Bill Coore and I have both tried to minimize the number of possible disagreements the same way that Pete Dye did -- by minimizing the contractor's role in the process, and filling some of those key positions with our own guys. After that, it's just a matter of picking clients you think you can get along with, and helping them find a superintendent cut from the same cloth.
Tom,
Interesting point. Easier said than done in getting everyone on the same sheet of music. Lately I have had a run-in or two with subordinates that were either too shortsighted or too cynical to follow through on a project. It's a simple question when I finally corner them, "What are your intentions?" If they cow to that question, I usually reposition them somewhere that they are better suited. If they stand up to the question and challenge my direction or find an issue worth debating, then I'll duke it out with them and we'll solve it. Just the fact that they are willing to challenge me means they are both informed and passionate about our goal, even if they think I'm going about it the wrong way. That is what I call "buying-in" and being a dynamic follower. Those are the guys I reward and try to keep around.
Then again, if being a dynamic follower evolves into them challenging everything because they think they can do it better, maybe it's time for them to move on.
Either way, the most salient point of lesson 9 is that titles and job descriptions mean nothing in regards to final product quality. It is only with good ideas and passion for the product that a great golf hole will be realized. A marketable name and iron-clad hierarchy mean nothing when it comes to art.