Small Firms Ideas Exchange

One day I was just trudging along, feeling downtrodden wondering why sometimes it feels like an uphill battle. I asked a friend for some “words of wisdom” to gain a little perspective for when I feel like I'm fighting the same battles on my projects. His advice:

If you don't want to fight the same battles, change the context:

•  Superior weapons
• Different opponents
• Different battlefields

As a newbie to karate, this make sense.

I also realized that there are a handful of wisdom kernels which have become embedded in my wiring:

• Doubt:  Set it aside; rely on your own strength, character, and fortitude. Be American!
• Future/Dreams:  The best way to predict the future is to create it.
• Best:  Your best changes with internal and external forces. Consistently do your best, knowing that it fluctuates. If constantly striving to exceed your best, your resources will be depleted and tomorrow will be harder.
• Seriousness:  Don’t take yourself too seriously; be happy, be willing to learn from mistakes (yours and others), be willing to share, and don’t let your ego get in the way of serving.
• Motivation:  Just do your best; momentum feeds motivation
• Cutting Fees:  I’d rather eat macaroni and cheese with my kids.
• Momentum:  Have your own “standard” (schedule, method, sequence, etc.) use it when you’re not getting started; when you are under way, be willing to adjust your standards like Calvin and Hobbes play Calvinball.
• Endurance:  As Dory from Finding Nemo says, “Just keep swimming.”

—Lisa Stacholy, AIA

On Veterans’ Day, I was thankful that I’ve had freewill and free choice in my life. I started working in an architect’s office when I was 17 years old; this was afforded to me because I a) asked my high school guidance counselor to arrange my Junior Shadow Day at an office that was biking distance from my house and b) I managed to collect enough credits (thanks to summer school and On-Job-Scholastic for my part-time job) which allowed me to graduate from high school a year early. They hired me to start the Monday after high school graduation.  I was hired as a gopher…this was when only a few offices had fax machines. I would drive around (in company cars; remember, I rode my bike to work?) and deliver memos, transmittals, drawings, field reports, etc.  I asked tons of questions.  I watched, I asked, I thought, I learned. 

I noticed that over those first 3 years while I was working and attending community college that the architects were increasingly excited about the “Field Inspections” becoming “Field Observations” for fulfilling contractual obligations.  The crusty old field inspector who worked at the architect’s firm was a wealth of knowledge and, I’m positive, made sure all those buildings in southwestern Florida were constructed in strict compliance with the contract documents.  Howard was nearing retirement, and didn’t get too ruffled when his job position was on the verge of being eliminated, due to a change in the contract requirements.  He stayed on and performed the field observations; the new form notes weren’t as enlightening to my understanding of design and construction.  All in all, it seemed like the firm was “happier” being released from inspections by performing the observations.

As time when on, I went away to the university (go Gators!) and would return home to work summers at the firm.  There was a definite shift in how/what was included in the CDs when the inspection was changed to observation.  After a few summers, it became obvious (to me… still watching, asking, and learning) that there was a new little burr under the saddle in that the architects had less “teeth” to make the contractor do what they were supposed to do via the inspection process; after all they are only observing.

In the time since finishing my degrees, fulfilling my internship, completing the exam process and starting my own firm, I have heard references back “to when we could really inspect our projects” and do some good.  I have heard lamenting on “Oh, why did we ever give up the right to inspect our own projects?”  An old-timer told me that our profession was forever changed with the shift in releasing the inspections to give way to lower liability exposure; that was a watershed moment in the worth and value an architect brings to the project. We were reduced.  He added, just in case I was too young to understand, “We never should have given up that right, don’t let your generation do something stupid like ours did.”  Sothat last horse left the barn and we tried to close the doors. . .too late dudes, they were gone.

I wonder if the design-build delivery method would have grown the legs if that didn’t happen.  I ponder if BIM and integrated practice would be on the verge of taking off like they apparently are if inspect was still mission critical to what we do.  These could be good “watersheds,” but it seems like architects are trying way too hard to put themselves back in the process.  So I’m adapting my revised business strategy of what I’ll do (differently) to manage my practice while trying to learn from the past.  I want to thrive (not just survive) the next 4+ years.

To my view and comprehension of all factors architectural and not, it does seem like there is something currently great here and now that is on the verge of being lost forever.  I’m looking harder at my contracts, office processes, and services I offer to do all I can for my clients, their projects, and their constituents.  What other opportunities might be in front of us in midst of this new watershed?  I need to read Ayn Rand’s Anthem and Atlas Shrugged again.

—Lisa Stacholy, AIA

I’ve recently had more than a few clients change critical project criteria after construction documents are complete.  I’m puzzled, and I’m struggling with a number of issues:

I’ve always made it an “office standard practice” to express thanks to all the people who are involved in the work we do. Obviously we all thank our clients for the privilege of working on their projects. We also thank all the folks in our offices for their hard efforts to accomplish the work.  Who else do you thank?
 
I’m especially thankful for the great team of product and vendor reps who call on our office, you guys are some of the unsung heroes of pulling off a really good project. I also try to extend thanks to the subcontractors who take the time to make sure they do a good job, not only for the GC, but also the project; we all benefit from those efforts.  How do you say thanks?
 
I need to admit I “borrowed” an idea from one of my favorite paint reps… giving Starbucks coffee cards to someone when they do something a little “above-and-beyond,” sort of that “little act of kindness” you see on bumper stickers.  As we get to know our clients, we might get a gift card for them at a favorite shop so they can get a goodie for their new digs, or for some, an iTunes gift card does the trick.  Some of my closer colleagues get bestowed a bottle of my personal favorite Georges Deboeuf Beaujolais-Villages wine.  It just depends.  It seems like it’s all about connecting and maintaining a connection with the folks we’re glad to work with.
 
Finally, I like it when particular folks in our industry become “known” for the gifts they give; the GC who gives a toolbox full of candy at Halloween; the MP&E engineers who give a box of peanuts (I’m sure there’s a hidden text in there somewhere “we work for peanuts”, haha) ; the GC who gives Vidalia onions when in the peak of season (“our work won’t make you cry”).
 
One architect I met a few years ago had done a project for a microbrewery.  The project went well, and the architect had the idea, “What if we take photos of what we think are the top 6 projects for the past year, design a label, and give out a six-pack of their seasonal best”… It was in instant success, for both the brewery and for the architect.  It has become a “joint tradition” that blurs “Giving Thanks,” “marketing,” and “friendship” into one happy little package.  What stories can you share?
 
Happy Thanksgiving from LKS Architects Inc. in Dunwoody, Ga., and
from the AIA and the Small Projects Practitioners knowledge community.

—Lisa Stacholy, AIA