While our economy continues to move along, we are seeing pockets of great expansion. In other areas things are moving more slowly. In regards to the market cost, some of our customers have asked how we see things changing. I used to think that material prices were controlled mainly by supply and demand, but that …
You have heard it a million times: We never get a second chance to make a good first impression. While initial thoughts might take us toward in-person meetings, this adage is true even in written communication. Our word choices and how they string together into sentences, paragraphs and language as a whole have a lasting …
In business, most of the time it’s easier to say “yes.” We wish to serve, to solve problems and keep our customers happy. But “yes” isn’t always the right answer. The trail is pretty narrow, and saying “yes” can get you off the path just as quickly as saying “no.” Personally, I try to say …
A number of years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing an address by Charles Cawley. He started his business on a shoestring in an empty A&P food store. This startup would become MBNA Corporation, the largest independent credit card company in the world. As the story goes, one of his first orders of business was …
Over the years, we’ve built parking structures that employed different structural framing methods. The system chosen depended on a variety of factors including land/site constraints, design functionality and accessibility of local resources. Cost is a variable of all of the above. At times, the value of the land exceeds the price to add vertical to …
Good civil engineers are worth their weight in gold. I would suggest theirs is a discipline that, beyond all others, can make or break a project. I’ve seen civil cause the quickest spiral toward trouble or, most of the time, provide the most impact for success on a difficult site. To us, it’s important to …
In the 1960s, the amount of office space allocated to an individual was a direct indicator of your status at a company. Bigger was better, with CEOS working in sprawling square footage, and folks lower on the totem pole being relegated to large “bullpens.” Furniture maker Herman Miller made a dent in this philosophy when …
This week, we were finalizing a contract with a first-time customer when a breakout number of the total contract value changed by a relatively small amount. Our project manager felt the customer was under stress for other reasons. This difference troubled the customer, who asked our project manager if he could be trusted, point blank. It …
Growing up, I often visited South Georgia, where my father told me what it was like in the early days of a cotton farmer. As I recall, they would plant the same crop annually, repeating year after year. There were lots of reasons for this of course–I am certainly not chucking spears at the farmers–but …
Over the last few days, unusually high winds and a lot of rain overtaxed the storm water controls of a recently completed building in Kansas. Water infiltrated the first level of the structure. We studied the problem a few days ago, making recommendations to our customer and the civil engineer. There was still more wind …
This week, we were finalizing a contract with a new customer. The process of the last few days did not go as I had expected. Confusion from too many details had gotten in the way, and our customer did not understand the final proposal. In short, he was somewhat frustrated. While all of the facts …
This week, I attended 2013 RECon Las Vegas, or the “ICSC” as it is commonly called. It was an impactful 4 days, with 30,000 of my closest friends from around the country and beyond. Through listening, conversation and observing behavior, here are my quick take aways from this year’s event: In years past, the conference has …