It makes sense that the hardest thing for me to do is also the hardest thing for my clients to do… FOCUS We can read book after book, hire an army of brilliant consultants, and implement the world’s best strategies and processes, but if we don’t know WHY we are doing what we do, and [...]
Categories: execution,leadership
Years ago I had a persistent and annoying pain in my upper back. I mentioned it to my doctor, my Primary Care Physician, during a routine visit. What followed was a mind bending series of tests, including a brain scan with injected contrast, all to no avail. Finally my PCP, scratching his head, referred [...]
Categories: execution,flexibility
Tagged: architecure, emotional intelligence, success, survival
Jody Brown is a remarkable man who happens to be an architect, and who has written his way through the horrible economic downturn that has effected so many of us. I can’t write any better than this, so won’t even try. I encourage you to visit his blog…there is a lot more there worth reading. [...]
Categories: creativity,Marketing
There has been in interesting series of essays recently ruminating on the future of the profession. The dialogue was started by Scott Timberg writing in Salon.com. It’s mostly dark and discouraging: But for all its soaring lines and innovative solutions, architecture is exposed to the realities of the marketplace like few other fields: The surging [...]
Categories: creativity,execution,leadership,Marketing
Issac Sweeney is looking for a summer job as an adjunct professor at James Madison University. He has posted in wonderful cover letter in a piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education. If like me, you have read dozens of cover letters from prospective applicants, you probably agree that this one stands out. I would [...]
Categories: creating
Tagged: business development, communication, emotional intelligence, leadership, practice
“When we talk of tomorrow, the gods laugh.” Chinese proverb What? We’re in the planning business, for goodness sake. If this is true, why make plans? Sure, there is a ton of evidence that living in the present is essential, but was Daniel Burnham wrong when he said, “Make no little plans; they have no [...]
Categories: creating,creativity
Tagged: creativity, design, future, leadership, planning, present, success
When John McWade and Seth Godin collaborate the results are always excellent. Godin, in his brief essay in McWade’s Before and After blog, explains why we can no longer allow the tail to wag the dog. “For too long, people who are passionate about design (that would be you…) have accepted their lot. They’ve assumed [...]
Categories: creating,creativity,leadership
Tagged: creativity, design, leadership, professional services, success
From Chris Harmon: “A year ago, a massive oil spill began in the Gulf. The entire country was glued to the news until the well was capped, and then we forgot about it. As the year anniversary was fast approaching I became curious, just how much oil was that exactly? Where would it have gone? [...]
Categories: creativity,execution,leadership
Tagged: carbon footprint, communication, design, leadership, survival
I am intrigued by the ferocity of the leadership versus management debate in the popular business literature. It is both, of course. Steven Covey’s metaphor of the work crew building a road in the forest is useful: Someone has to climb up into the trees to see what’s ahead and determine the best path for [...]
Categories: execution,leadership
Tagged: emotional intelligence, leadership, professional services, success
We creative types struggle with the paradoxical relationship between making art and running a business. And while we gain comfort from fictional characters like Howard Roark or books like Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow, most of us are unwilling or unable to accept the sacrifices and asceticism of Roark, or do [...]
Categories: creating,execution,leadership
Tagged: emotional intelligence, leadership, learning, professional services, small business