Yesterday, I received a call from a customer concerning our performance on a project. It was not the kind of communication I relish receiving, but I needed to hear it. We pride ourselves on doing a better than average job for our customers, but sometimes we fall short. This particular job was not up to …
“History will remember Paul Volcker and Jerome Powell as standing on the opposite ends of the inflation canyon, with the former taking desperate actions to try to tamp it down and the latter…to announce an unprecedented effort to crank it back up.” (source) When I read the statement of Chairman Powell’s presentation this week, it …
This picture of trench warfare in WWI might be 100 years old, but it sums up the way many have felt the last few months, including me at times. When we stick our heads up, we are not sure what’s around the corner or right over the hill. Having said this, it’s important to remember …
There are times when we are trying to have that “break through idea or solution” and all we get are jagged thoughts that nag the problem. Having said this, have you ever noticed that our brains pull through at the most uncanny times? It seems we all have this specific category of time that’s unique …
In Western culture, leadership can get a lot of accolades. Leaders are thought of as visionaries who make decisions and inspire action. But someone has to make that vision a reality. That’s where the interdependent role of “followership” comes into play. To me, the skills of a follower complement a leader and vice versa. A few things that seem …
For us, getting involved in an FMI peer review group has been one of the smartest ways to grow our business. We meet periodically with other construction companies in non-competing markets to discuss best practices. I kept hearing others talk about using employee selection assessments in the hiring process, and we made the call to …
We’re working on four decades of being in business. The company has had ups and downs through changing cycles. We’ve been through periods of great growth, low times, the financial crisis and now the virus and other impacts. There have been many shifting landscapes over time, and still, the current climate is another new chapter. …
When we designed our place, I originally wanted to have desks in the open. When this did not fly, I suggested offices that had two walls and opened to a common area. That wasn’t popular either. The compromise was building complete offices with a glass wall at the front. We can all see each other, …
Just about anyone can be successful when the waters are calm and steady. It’s when the sea gets choppy and the waves come in that the true test begins. Everyone else might be drinking the Bad News Bears Kool-Aid, which seems to always be popular on the 6 pm news, and many of them will just …
Because of the construction industry’s independent nature, technology typically lags. This means that roll out of new products, even some that really work, can be slow. One of the new systems we have discovered with our multifamily projects is ZIP System. Sheathing installation followed by a “housewrap” vapor barrier had been the industry standard for years. …
We’ve known for a long time that periods of stress in the American economy accelerate change in a way that’s sometimes generational. Think about the Great Depression and the resulting economic protectionism. Or the women World War II brought into the workforce. Those were really good things that came out of exceptionally tough times. It’s …
Last weekend, I watched an interesting piece by Ted Koppel about how communication style and mastery of current mediums has affected the presidency. Franklin Roosevelt and his famous Fireside Chats made radio an effective political communication tool with a warm embracing tone that helped families though some tough years. Dwight Eisenhower brought campaigning to television, and JFK …