I have been in the construction business my whole life. One thing I have always preached to my folks is that whatever next job we are going to build, it is a prototype. Hasn't been done before.
Any project of scale in any business will have rough spots. In the end, the goal is to have everyone satisfied. Not always an easy task.
I can't agree more about actual "face time" instead of typing away. I have flown all over this country and the world just to do that and it works.