There is an old story about a brilliant scientist who boasted that he could examine a book and tell you anything about it–what type of ink was used, the composition of the paper, even details about the molecules that made up the book. But when the scientist sat down to actually read, he realized the …
We are in the midst of summer’s “dog days.” While the heat might be novel to our Stewart Perry team, having a dog around isn’t. For several months, my canine companion has been coming to work with me. Pal, a 12-year-old Springer Spaniel, used to stay at home whenever I went to the office, enduring …
We recently made a presentation to a prospective customer who had an adaptive reuse project that seemed perfect for us. It involved revitalizing an area of the city, which is exactly the type of project we enjoy. We confidently answered all the questions in the RFI, and the presentation seemed to go flawlessly. As we …
Last week, I was having a conversation about pricing on an HVAC system with Heath Cather in our office. Why had the mechanical engineer chosen hot gas reheat? It’s more expensive and sometimes unnecessary, I offered. He mentioned a trend he’s noticed. With all the mold law suits lately, we are seeing recommendations for a …
When we built our corporate campus a few years back, we were thinking about how to create a better workplace for our folks. Our goal was to create an environment to promote teamwork, break down cylinders and be fun. To accomplish this, I considered multiple designs: –minimum walls and many open work areas, our customer …
You’ve heard about an idea locker? Well how about an idea freezer? This post from Jeremiah Owyang talks about one of my favorite ways to enjoy time disconnected from work: The idea freezer. For him, it’s a notebook that allows you to jot down ideas and to-dos as they come to you. The thought is …
Last week while looking though Entrepreneur, an article titled “How Entrepreneurs Can Conquer Fear of Selling” caught my eye. Carol Tice lists “owners who hate selling” as a primary reason businesses fail. While I am not sure it is a primary reason, the brand of a small business is intertwined with the persona of the …
Did you know the oldest baseball park in the country is in Birmingham, Alabama? Rickwood Field was built here in the early 1900s. Until Legion Field was erected, Rickwood was the only major sports facility in town. The park hosted not only the Barons and Black Barons baseball teams, but college football teams from all …
It seems like so far this year, we’ve had three seasons: Winter, then Tornado Season and now Hot Summer. It feels like we skipped Spring entirely. For the last couple of weeks, temperatures in the Southeast–and across the country–have been unbelievably hot, which puts additional stresses on ready mix concrete pours. Temperature, wind and humidity …
It’s no secret that the aftermath of the Recession continues to take a toll on the construction industry. Last week, as I listened to more struggling economic news, I must admit that I thought to myself, “How much longer?” I have seen several of my competitors – companies I have bid against for the past …
As important as office presence may be, I’m a firm believer in pockets of downtime. A break from email and task-oriented duties, however small, always brings me back to a top priority: family and friends. When a customer (who I also count as a good friend) invited me to join him and his wife at …
Recently, I came across this post about failures of leadership. To me, Leadership is much more than following a set of rules or what someone has written in a book. Ideally it is instinctual and second-nature for one in the leadership role to not only guide, but also to learn. Failure is certainly a very …