I was recently reading an article in the most recent issue of Harvard Business Review titled, “Stop Overengineering People Management.” The article highlighted how a recent focus on labor optimization has instead had the opposite effect – reduced engagement, productivity and innovation. The article is directly applicable to architecture and engineering (A/E) firms and is […]
As the world continues to battle COVID-19, many architecture and engineering (A/E) firms continue to operate with a significant number of their staff working remotely. Many firms have also discovered that their productivity has not suffered despite this shift. I guess this should not be surprising since our industry is filled with smart people who […]
Winston Churchill once said, “It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look farther than you can see.” This is a challenge that we all struggle with yet it is a critical challenge to overcome if you want your company to be successful. If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that life […]
Strategy is the link between the internal world of our firms and the external world of the markets we compete in. Effective strategy needs to do a couple of things – be unique and provide a valuable fit between these internal and external environments. In order to craft good strategy, you need to have a […]
Previous posts on this blog have made the argument that the key to an Architecture/Engineering (A/E) firm’s success is good strategy. A simple way to view strategy is to view it as the link between the internal elements of a company (its capabilities, resources, and activities) and the external environment (clients, competitors, etc.). In order […]
I read an interesting article in the New York Times last week with the ominous title “The Long, Unhappy History of Working From Home.” The article discussed how large, high-profile work at home initiatives at companies like IBM, Best Buy, and Yahoo failed to deliver the expected results and were ultimately canceled. Sufficed to say, […]
How does your firm define a successful project or client relationship? How do you manage projects to deliver on that success? These are a couple of questions that are covered in the CXps 2020 Client Experience Conference video Putting Our Data Into Action: How We Combine CX + RX Data to Improve Profit while Delighting […]
I wrote a previous blog post about how to fight commoditization. A company can fight commoditization by providing unique value to its clients through the way it offers it services. This unique value is the key to good strategy. A good strategy is useless, however, if it is not executed successfully. Peter Drucker has a […]
Architecture/Engineering (A/E) firm strategy is one of the main topics of this blog. I have discussed in previous posts how a firm’s strategy is the key to its long term success and is key to avoiding commoditization or settling for average. If you have good strategy, you are likely outperforming in the industries and market […]
I had been told by several people that I had to watch the movie “Moneyball.” They told me that it was a great movie that had great lessons about business, management, and the power of data. This sounded right up my alley so I recently watched it. This is a great movie with some great […]