Rethink the AEC Industry: Build an Innovation Team

When you think about what is fundamentally wrong with many firms--you could nail it down to a short and common list: missed deadlines, blown budgets, poor and untimely customer-service, not being there when needed.

Sure managing projects is a difficult and complex task, where many parties could be involved and one mistake, one miscommunication could balloon into a large, destructive and expensive problem.

So my question is this: why, if the lifeblood of any firm is ensuring projects are done right and on time are there so few lessons learned? Why do firms continue to make similar mistakes? And why do so many firms act this way?

I there are a number of reasons behind the aforementioned issues in the industry. One is lack of a formal business education. Two is the propensity for a technical education. Three is a combination of both--when you're not sure what to do...well what's your best option? Follow! That's right, you find the majority and you fall in line. That's how your SURVIVE. But it doesn't separate you from anyone else.

So how do you break away? Get more diversity on the C-level. Hire an MBA. Hire a PhD. Ultimately you're running a business. You have to have a team that can work with that.

But, what would they do? Surely not be billable. Or could they? An MBA could provide an interesting amount of financial and data analysis on projects or even as a sub for a client's new facility. A PhD could complete market research. Internally both could work on solving problems within the company. For instance, in project management. Let's say you hired a mathematician to dissect your projects and determine where you lost money. A quantitative method analysis (coupled with technical input) could determine the best and most efficient manner at which to do things like pour concrete, lay brick, move dirt, or manage projects/staff.

Ultimately firms should at the least think about using consultants in other fields to help separate them from their competition. However, more C-levels must learn to think from a business perspective (or hire, trust and support someone folks that do) rather than just limiting the growth and success of a business by thinking only about the technical side of things.

Future of Gaming: Why the AEC Industry Needs to Think (and Look) Outside the Box

If you haven’t heard / seen it already, you should definitely check out Xbox’s Project Natal. (video below)

The concept is controller-less gaming. The system basically scans your body, objects (like a skate board) and surroundings and eerily puts them together into an interactive world (with facial and voice recognition) a la the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report (where he’s manipulating a computer by using his hands to drag and drop things on a screen).

For gaming, I think it’s awesome. It’s going to be a great way to keep people active—plus it’s just plain cool.

For the AEC industry though I think technology like this could also make an impact. If it were commoditized to be affordable, think of how great it would be to sit at your desk and be operating your computer by dragging and dropping with your hands and speaking, rather than using a mouse and typing.

Or think about possible internal implications. You could hold meetings with offices halfway around the world but be able to quickly share drawings, ideas, graphics, meeting minutes. Sure, they already have some of this stuff now, but the the integration, speed would combine with simulation to act as if you were in the same room. (e.g., someone in California recommends an article to read, so they virtually drag the article onto the screen—you point towards it, blow it up and read the first part on your screen, just like it was passed across the table.)

Another option would be to have field applications using similar software. For instance, a construction team laying a utility pipe in the ground might come across a problem. In order to solve the problem they could call an impromptu meeting sharing information through the same 3-D interface, rather than talking and referring to everyone’s separate 2-D drawings. The field team could even have a portable unit that could project a specific portion of the construction drawing (via GPS) onto the location on the ground (showing where to dig and how far/wide etc).

The bottom line is that continuous innovation in all industries could mean something for the AEC industry—and we should embrace that. Integration of the “gaming world” into the “real world” is closely becoming a reality—if it isn’t already! What happens when kids who grow up on video games enter the workforce? They want to continue gaming in some sense because it’s enjoyable and they’re good at it. Retention, engagement, well-being and efficiency of employees now and in the future will largely depend on integration of gaming at your firm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oACt9R9z37U

Does Using My iPhone Count as Self-Reflection? Taking Time to Make Time for Yourself

You’re not alone—and you never will be. It’s okay, take a long sigh of relief.

If you’re a Gen Yer / Gen Xer…and perhaps others too, you know you REALLY don’t like to be alone. You have your Linked In network, your Twitter followers, your cell phone contacts, your mobile email…the list could obviously extend to many more aspects of your everyday life. Think about how many times you were driving alone and had to stop at a red light. The first thing you do is pick up your cell phone and start texting or flip through your latest photos. It’s like you’re brain kicks in and says “Hey, we got like—15 seconds! Don't just sit there! Do something!”

How about at lunch? Ever eat alone? I know, I know there is a book or something out there that says, “Never eat alone” or some BS. But have you ever accidentally eaten alone? You find yourself sitting at a table texting or talking on the phone to your friends. Even though you’re alone—you’re not really alone.

So what is it with us? Why can’t we stand to be alone—even if it’s only for 30 minutes? Well aside from a bunch of drivel I won’t get into it’s basically hyper-human nature. Our human nature makes us develop “social networks” often a small group of close friends and family. Now, toss in technology and communication channels out the freaking wahzoo and—merry Christmas you have our problem.

Now, it’s not a bad thing to stay in touch with your friends and family. It’s great for your mental health and well-being. It is however, a very bad thing (at least in my mind) to completely avoid yourself.

One reason is group think. The more you rely on others to keep you going the weaker you become on your own. You start to not think for yourself—and then your opinion becomes skewed and non-objective.

Take Digg for example. Instead of reading something new, you want to read what people are rating well. Sure, that’s fine and efficient—but you’re taking someone else’s word for it rather than doing the legwork on your own—and what you read will shape how you think, whether you know it or not.

Another reason is patience. This tends to lean more to the communication / tech side, but it is effecting us at an exponential rate b/c we’re always hooked up. No one can wait for anything. People have little time or patience. Probably because we live in a world where the answer to your question is at your fingertips. What happens when our questions can be answered before we even ask them? With the push for biotechnology like brain microchips, cellphone implants (into your mouth and ear) and other biological nanotech we’re not long off.

Lastly is self-improvement and creativity. No alone time is a creativity killer. It is a self-improvement killer.

Think about how many messages hit you everyday. Texting, phone conversations, blogs, news feeds, emails, billboards, print spots, radio spots, internet ads and popups. We become desensitized to the point that we don’t pay attention to anything anymore. We don’t retain anything anymore.

Some of this is good and benefitical for our generation. You need group and social interaction. But you need self-reflection as well, and we have to make time for that or risk an unbalanced life.

Here are some ideas that will help you make time for yourself during the day:

Turn all your communication devices OFF. (gasp!) Get off the grid and do it for at least 3 hours each day (and no when you’re sleeping doesn’t count).

Eat alone—and turn your phone off when you do.

Go for a walk by yourself somewhere in nature. Leave your iPod at home. Listen to the music around you instead.

Listen to music with no lyrics. I suggest a violin or piano. Actually LISTEN to it.

Write a paragraph about something everyday for a week. Write about the first thing that comes to mind when you sit down, no matter what it is. Stop when you’ve reached 50-100 words. Don’t reread your writing until the end of the week.

Go on a trip by yourself. Visiting a new city? Camping? Attending a workshop / seminar? Going to the park? Try going it alone and see what happens.

Try one or all of these things and I bet you’ll figure something out about yourself (for good or bad). You might be thinking, "Oh well hey, I just wouldn’t find any of those things fun…" Well, if you’re saying that do you mean that YOU—YOURSELF are not fun? Of course you are. Everyone is, in some way, fashion or form. They’ve probably just never tried to figure out what it is. Now’s your chance.

The main reason people don’t like being alone is because it scares them—and fear is a tough thing to deal with. They fear the unknown, the risk of boredom, they are generally uncomfortable with the idea because it goes against all of innate human inclination to join a group. There is a famous line, “Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage and confidence in the doing.” Amen.

Taking time to self-reflect will make you a more balanced and independent industry professional. But do it on your own--don't do it because I told you!

Social Media & High School: Similarily Scary

It’s easy to become entrapped in the whirlwind that is social media. Sometimes I feel like I’m in high school all over again—things are going on all around you, everyone is “doing it,” so you should be too, right? “Not on Twitter yet? What a lame-o.” “She’s not on Facebook—so she must not be cool.” People might say they’re not involved in social media because everyone else is…but they’d be lying.

My first social media experience went like this: my buddy Johnny K. and I used AIM back in the day to communicate before we’d play Quake (a shoot em' up computer game similar to Halo...man I loved that game). Anyway, we primarily used it AIM as a method of communication—then, later and for the life of me I cannot recall what it was—some chat room where we basically would work together to create a ridiculously hilarious debates and arguments with random people just to see their reactions.

When college rolled around I stuck with AIM (basically to figure out where the parties were at on the weekend) but lessened by propensity for chat room mischief. Then MySpace came onto the scene—and I joined it because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about—and it was great because I could share photos, write in my blog, and catch up with long lost friends. It was USEFUL.

It’s funny now talking about the “good ol’ days” like it was ages ago…when it was basically a few years back. But that’s the world we live in. Instant everything.

The evolution of social media has shifted from a functional communication tool to a shameless self-promotional tool—and it makes total sense. As a generation in this society, we (Gen Yers) thrive off of attention, fame, etc. We define success with stardom and with being known. We idolize people like Paris Hilton and find solace in episodes of the Real World (which is an oxymoronic title in itself). And in social media it’s really no different.

I guess it’s inevitable with how we as a generation have been raised--to expect everything on a silver platter. It was going this way all along—and a few nerdy computer coders from California took advantage of us as a generation to drive that nail in further. For them, it’s all about how many people are doing it (more money). For us, it’s all about how many friends or followers we have (more fame and therefore, more success). They're the highschool drug dealers...and we feast upon it. (it would be worthy to note I laughed out loud at the idea of a computer nerd being a drug pusher).

But peel back the layers of this social media frenzy and what do you find? You find something like Twitter—where millions of people have accounts…but few people use it regularly. What percentage of your Facebook friends regularly use it (outside of checking it or uploading a couple new pics)? How many blogs are out there rolling like a tumbleweed in the wind? What Ning networks exist and are not used (I have one you can check out :) )

It’s essentially a Ponzi Scheme—they sell you with the idea that everyone is doing it…when in reality no one does…but the fact that you signed up allows them to say they have more users, so more people sign up…and the cycle continues. Most if not all social media platforms operate in this manner. They're a strange and terrible drug. And people can't seem to get enough. It's just a wonder to when they'll collapse.

So, is there any value in social media? Yes. Will people become "burned out?" Yes, that's already happening. As a generation that "tries everything once" I see people slowly weeding only the useful social media out of their lives. Sort of like hippies from the 60's, we'll stop using things eventually as other things become important to us. But one important note to make is that communication is being shaped by this media now and for the future--and that is an relevant implication to be considered in long-term planning.

In the end, people must simply understand first what that media is (merely a tool to achieve something better) and then decide whether it’s for them, for their company or for their industry. Just don't go out and start using a social media platform unless you at least know a little bit about it. All it does is fuels the fire for the news and others to report "Blahblahblah has over 20 million users! You CANNOT miss out!" cause I guarantee other dumb people will heedlessly jump on that ship.

Look at what your stakeholders, your followers, and your constituents want and give them something that makes their lives easier, not more time-consuming and difficult.

That, in it’s purest form, is a valuable and enriching High School experience.

5 Things You Can Do With Twitter in the AEC World

I admit I have my doubts about Twitter's sustainability. No doubt Google or someone similar will develop something better and stronger. Chances are they're working on it right now.

Nonetheless the concept of opt-in connectivity is a great idea in a high-speed technology and data driven world. For the AEC industry--it's always a bit "different," than say, product marketing. So here are some ideas specific for the industry on how to use Twitter:

Project management: Allow clients, team-members, or the community to recieve real-time updates on project process status. It's particularly intruiging for people who just want to be informed on the overall status without having to open email, respond back or talk on the phone.

Internal and External PR: It makes sense for a large company to keep stakeholders and employees happy by updating them during large corporate outings. Or you can make sure staff knows there is a blood drive in the parking lot from 10am-1pm. A golf tournament might be an interesting time to offer updates to golfers who could be all over the place at any given time. Externally, if you're a larger publically traded company you can really streamline your communication channel by having a twitter account.

Human Resources: Especially useful if you have lots of employees on project sites, out of the office, working from home, etc. This type of communication could eventually replace the corporate newsletter...eventually.

Information Technology: Very similar to the one above, except dealing with server downtime, software updates, or possibly training seminars. Basically effective when you have multiple folks outside the office and you're not interested in investing in a blackberry for all of them.

Marketing & Business Development: A pretty good way to generate buzz and create a following for your department. This could really be applied anywhere, but since marketing is generally leading the effort for "change" in any organization, it starts with them. In terms of BD, allow your firm or your team to be connected to hear about how the big interview went...or make last minute preparations for a presentation or proposal!

This is really the tip of the iceberg. What must be understood is that, like email, cell phones, blackberries, etc. twitter is merely a tool with specific characteristics. Ultimately, you have to try it to see if it could work for what you need, and the possibilities for usage are really limitless.

It may work for what you need and it may not. Just don't hop on the bandwagon until you've tried it. A lot of the numbers about how many users twitter has are skewed because people sign up and never use it.

Economic Metaphor: You Can't Go Home Again

This doesn't have much to do with the AEC industry or marketing per say, but rather is an interesting and well-written point of view I thought I'd share considering our present economic conditions:


"America, in the fall of 1929, was like a cicada. It had come to an end and a beginning. On October 24th, in New York, in a marble-fronted building down on Wall Street, there was a sudden crash that was heard throughout the land. The dead and outworn husk of the America that had been cracked and split right down the back, and the living, changing, suffering thing within -- the real America, the America that had always been, the America that was yet to be -- began now slowly to emerge. It came forth into the light of day, stunned, cramped, crippled by the bonds of its imprisonment, and for a long time it remained in a state of suspended animation, full of latent vitality, waiting, waiting patiently, for the next stage of its metamorphosis."

"The leaders of the nation had fixed their gaze so long upon the illusions of a false prosperity that they had forgotten what America looked like. Now they saw it -- saw its newness, its raw crudeness, and its strength -- and turned their shuddering eyes away. "Give us back our well-worn husk," they said, "where we were so smug and comfortable." And then they tried word-magic. "Conditions are fundamentally sound," they said -- by which they meant to reassure themselves that nothing now was really changed, that things were as they always had been, and as they always would be, forever and ever, amen."

"But they were wrong. They did not know that you can't go home again."

-- Thomas Wolfe, from You Can't Go Home Again

Modern Development: Mixed-Use Lifestyle Centers

I have to admit—I strongly dislike the clutter of Short Pump, Virginia. A small-scale replication of Washington D.C. (or really any large metropolitan area in the U.S.) that boasts bumper-to-bumper traffic, over priced stores and in general ostentatious living.

That’s just my opinion though. For me, I don’t care much for high-end clothing. I don’t really think organic food tastes any better than food from any other store. I don’t like the “city life.” I like having a yard and I like having my space. Perhaps those were the reasons for my general disdain for new age development. But one thing I do dig is the modern mixed-use developments or lifestyle centers like West Broad Village (WBV). The only qualm is that it is done the right way—and in the case of WBV I don’t think it was.

If you’re local to the central Virginia region you’ll know what happened to Short Pump. It turned basically from a farm to a affluent urban hub in the span of 20 years. The last bit of farm land (about 130 acres) was sold a couple years back and West Broad Village was created—smack in the middle of an already over-developed area. Short Pump was already a sprawled development with no “true” center of town. But there is in WBV. Now, that will work when you’re inside the “Village” but once you get out you’ll be thrown back into the urban blender.

On the flip side I had the chance to actually stay in one of these lifestyle centers in Mt. Pleasant, SC and thought it was very nice and accommodating. I really felt as though I were in a small town. This development was located in a highly developed urban area…though a bit more rural than Short Pump (you could actually see trees) and wasn't surrounded with similar stores/shops to what was in the center itself!

Whether Short Pump follows a similar fate (to that of Mt. Pleasant) or not remains to be seen. My guess is that WBV acts basically like an outdoor mall (which there is an outdoor mall less than a mile away) and brings an insane amount of traffic to an already insanely crowded area--and never lives up to hype but just creates more of a problem.

The good news is that with more traffic/volume issues perhaps they will then consider a public transportation system for the Short Pump area (which could be a primer for something for Richmond to do…please bring baseball and the trolleys back Mayor Jones). Similar to West Virginia’s PRT system, you could park on the outside of the “city” and ride around where you pleased.

As much as I like the idea of mixed-use lifestyle centers, in the next year, public transportation is the only way you’ll find me going there again.