Living the Dream: PAE Engineers’ HQ Embodies an Aspirational Vision
PAE Engineers enjoys a unique symbol of its brand identity – the company’s Portland headquarters office, which is the world’s first developer-driven Living Building. In this edition of The Friedman File, we look at how 375-person PAE Engineers achieved the multiple benefits of creating a sustainable, resilient and cost-effective speculative mixed-use building that serves as its main office, as well as an investment property, marketing jewel and beacon of the firm’s vision, mission, principles and values.
PAE’s Living Building Challenge
The PAE Living Building is a five-story, 58,000-square-foot mixed-use building located in a historic neighborhood in Portland. Designed to last 500 years, the comfortable, modern and functional structure uses far less energy, water, and material than comparable buildings of its size. The largest commercial urban Living Building in the world, it “demonstrates how the built environment can achieve the deep and immediate carbon emission reductions […]
Here Comes 2024: What’s the Outlook?
Predicting the outlook for the U.S. economy and its market sectors is never easy, but 2024 presents particularly difficult and unique challenges. Even if you assume that the dysfunction in Congress dissipates and the likely historic presidential race between a politically unpopular octogenarian incumbent, an antagonistic septuagenarian facing 91 criminal charges, and an outlying independent from Camelot is more a sideshow than a driver, 2024 still has its share of questions. Will inflation remain in check? Will the Fed continue to raise interest rates? How will the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East impact our economy? What’s China’s next move? What of the stock and bond markets? Nostradamus might call it quits faced with these uncertainties, but in this issue of The Friedman File, we fearlessly attempt to assess the various major markets served by A/E/C firms and venture an educated guess […]
Is EOS the Answer or the Leadership Flavor of the Month?
The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is a hot topic in A/E/C leadership circles. Curiosity about the effectiveness of this 15-year-old management approach runs high at conferences, online discussion boards and other gatherings. In this edition of The Friedman File, we examine pros and cons of EOS with insight from two CEOs whose firms adopted it.
What is EOS?
As perfectly described by the website Ablison.com, “Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is a framework designed to help companies achieve their goals by creating structure and discipline in their operations. It is a set of tools that encompasses various management concepts such as Six Sigma, lean manufacturing and total quality management.”
Founder and entrepreneur Gino Wickman hatched the concept for EOS while advising companies on business and leadership in the 1990s and early 2000s. He and co-founder Don Tinney launched EOS Worldwide in 2008. The company – of which […]
The AI Dilemma: How Artificial Intelligence Can Help You (and Possibly Hurt You)
Few issues have dominated a news cycle the way that artificial intelligence (AI) has in 2023. The watershed moment was the release of ChatGPT, a transformative word processing tool that uses AI to quickly, efficiently and comprehensively answer questions posed to it. Almost immediately, people and businesses found myriad ways to use ChatGPT’s functionality to save time while developing written content and performing other tasks. In this issue of The Friedman File, we look at how some A/E/C firms are using AI, and what you should do – and shouldn’t do – to make it work for your firm.
BD & AI: Great Match or Mismatch?
Marketing and business development is the area most expected to benefit from the use of AI. While many firms are still in the investigation and discussion phase of figuring out how AI can benefit their marketing/BD effort, some firms […]
The Art of the Question: Asking Your Way to BD Success
If you know me or have ever interacted with me professionally, you’re probably aware of a certain reputation that I have: I like to ask questions. Lots of questions! I do this not to be annoying – though I’ve been told at times it can be – but to gain as clear a picture of the current situation as I possibly can. I’m also just naturally inquisitive. I want to know more about the people I’m speaking with – what they do, what interests them, where we may have some common ground or areas where we can help each other. Mostly, I want to know who they are.
Asking questions comes more naturally to some people than others, but in all cases, it’s important to know how to ask good, probing questions, especially in a business networking environment. While I’ve always liked to ask […]
Here Comes 2023: What’s the Outlook?
The surprises of the midterm election are behind us, and the uncertainty of 2023 lies ahead. In the last year, we experienced skyrocketing energy prices that eventually moderated, historically high inflation that has begun to temper, and major legislation kicking in that is likely to keep the good times rolling for many architecture, engineering and environmental consulting firms well into the future. In this issue of The Friedman File, we assess various markets served by A/E/C firms and venture an educated guess at their outlook for the coming year.
The Housing Divide
One of the biggest and most unexpected developments of late 2021 and early 2022 was the health of the housing construction market across all types. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index stood at a near-record-high level of 83 in January 2022, but gradually began to drop as the year […]
Your Secret BD Weapon: The Introvert
Can an introvert become comfortable with, contribute to and find happiness in business development? That’s the question we’re going to answer in this edition of The Friedman File.
Let me kill the suspense: the answer is yes, introverts can play an effective, satisfying part in your firm’s business development culture. This is a topic I address often in my work, including a recent webinar – “Business Development for Introverts” – that I presented last month as part of a series for ERP and CRM solutions provider Unanet.
Why Bother?
While business development may not come as naturally to an introvert as it does to an extrovert, the reality is that introverts are often more effective in the role. This can largely be because of their introverted tendencies, rather than in spite of them. Introverts are often subject experts with deep knowledge of how the firm’s services […]
What’s Your Special Sauce?
In this issue of “The Friedman File”, I’ve asked Brand Strategist Nancy Jenner of D&CO (Carlisle, Massachusetts) (www.designandco.net) to discuss the importance of understanding and communicating your firm’s value and differentiators. Each year, I conduct hundreds of third-party interviews with my clients’ clients. In these interviews, I’m often told that my client looks/sounds/feels a lot like other AEC firms. Knowing your firm’s “special sauce” is more important now than ever—not just in business development, but also recruitment and retention. I look forward to your comments and questions at rich@friedmanpartners.com or 508-276-1101.
Understanding and leveraging your company’s unique assets and value to build awareness and engagement
When asked, most people can name a company or brand that feels distinctive and strong, one that seems particularly clear about what they do or sell. Large global corporations with long histories or huge marketing budgets might come […]
Recruiting and Retaining Staff in a Candidates’ Market: One Firm’s Story
With nearly every A/E firm in existence desperate to add technical staff, a strategic approach to recruitment and retention can be the difference between winning and losing in the battle for talent. In this issue of The Friedman File, we examine how the Foth Companies, a 675-person, multidiscipline science and engineering company, has been able to keep its turnover percentage low and its hiring success rate high across its 28 locations.
Can an Interview Be “Enjoyable”?
Jobseekers will tell you that the interview process can be one of the most nerve-wracking experiences that a human can endure. According to employment consulting firm JDP, 93% of job candidates have experienced anxiety related to their interview.
And why wouldn’t they? Strangers firing questions at you that you may or may not be able to intelligently answer. Doubts swirling in your head. Is this the right fit for me? […]
Putting it on the Line: Equal Opportunity Theory in Practice
Policies promoting equal opportunity have long been standard in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, but putting these policies into practice is not as common. In this installment of The Friedman File, we examine how three firms elevated the spirit of equal opportunity into actions delivering tangible benefits.
A “Chance” Meeting
Three years ago, Al Spagnolo and Troy Depeiza were among a handful of architects competing for a project. Neither won. And both did.
Their chance meeting sparked a friendship and formal partnership that underscores the concepts on which the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) movement is based. Spagnolo’s multidiscipline design firm, SGA, is renowned for its work in life sciences and higher education. It celebrated its 30th Anniversary in January. Depeiza founded DREAM Collaborative, LLC, in 2008 with fellow Caribbean-born architect Greg Minott, but it wasn’t until 2014 that the workload allowed them to […]
The Pandemic’s Impact on Marketing and Business Development: One Firm’s Story
Forward-thinking AEC firms are institutionalizing the best of the changes that the COVID-19 pandemic forced on the business world and our industry. In this issue of The Friedman File, we detail how one firm effectively adapted its marketing and business development strategy to align with the realities of the post-COVID market.
Adapting to a Pandemic
The larger lessons of the pandemic can’t be overstated. As devastating as the COVID-19 pandemic has been to the planet, it has also underscored the adaptability and resilience of the human race. While fatalities mounted and economies crumbled, individuals and communities found a way to move forward.
Within this profound setting, we find many examples of this determination to keep on keeping on. In the narrower context of The Friedman File, the strategic decisions and bold steps taken by AEC firms to counter the effects of the pandemic are instructional.
For example, […]
How Will Your Firm Handle a Cyberattack?
When discussing cyberattacks with anyone knowledgeable on the topic – security experts, victims, insurers, even the criminals themselves – their ominous warning is the same: it is not if your firm will be attacked, it’s when. In this issue of The Friedman File, we speak with two firms who suffered and survived the nightmare of a ransomware attack, and we offer several crucial steps that every firm should take to protect itself from this growing and potentially catastrophic threat.
A Threat to the Firm’s Existence
On Monday morning, March 25, 2019, Grimm & Parker Architects’ President & CEO Melanie Hennigan led a successful client interview for her firm. Satisfaction quickly turned to disbelief, then to dread when she was informed on the ride back to the office that her firm’s computer network had been encrypted by cybercriminals demanding an exorbitant ransom.
“You don’t realize the pit you feel in your […]
Markets Rebounding, but Uncertainty Reigns for AEC Firms
These are confusing times for AEC firms wondering where their markets are heading. Most sectors are recovering as economies in the U.S., Canada and across the globe emerge from the pandemic-induced slowdown. Some – particularly in the commercial and educational spaces – continue to struggle in many locations. Add to this the threat of inflation in materials pricing leading to escalating project costs, and the potential of a $1.9 trillion U.S.-government-backed infrastructure package, and you have an industry in flux.
In this issue of The Friedman File, we assess the current state and outlook for the markets that AEC firms serve, as well as disruptors and catalysts that could dictate the health of the industry for the next several years.
Recovery in Full Swing
Since 2003, consulting and publishing firm PSMJ Resources, Inc. has surveyed its customers about the outlook for the major AEC markets, using […]
Confronting Loss in Your A/E/C Firm: One Firm’s Story
Loss was all around us in 2020. Recent polls found that between 20% and 33% of all Americans knew someone who died from COVID-19, while many millions lost jobs, life-affirming activities and other cherished freedoms during the pandemic.
In this installment of The Friedman File, we discuss how loss affects A/E/C businesses and the people who work in them. We examine this sad fact of life through the lens of a resilient architecture firm that encountered great loss in 2020, and – with strategic foresight and a rock-solid culture – expressed their collective grief and marched forward undeterred.
The Best Laid Plans…
JLG Architects was looking forward to a big 2020. The 150-person employee-owned firm carried a record backlog into the new year and was pursuing a jewel of a project – the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota. With 11 offices in Minnesota, […]
Lessons in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: stories from the front lines
Even before much of the nation erupted into protest at the brutal death of George Floyd last May, social justice was on the minds and tongues of Americans to a degree unseen since the turbulent Sixties. For much of the past decade, in corporate boardrooms and small firms across the United States, leaders assessed and addressed their organization’s commitment to DEI – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
In this issue of The Friedman File, we examine how socially conscious AEC firms are creating DEI initiatives that contribute to improvements in employee morale and overall financial and operational performance.
The Business Case for DEI
Whether driven by a grassroots effort among rank-and-file employees or a top-down strategy, even the most selfless pursuit of practices and policies that further the goal of DEI come with an undeniable incentive — businesses that embrace DEI perform better.
Global management consulting firm McKinsey […]
2020: Lessons learned and where we go from here
If there’s one phrase that describes 2020, it is not “business as usual.” The ways in which A/E/C and environmental consulting firms have fared in this unprecedented year have been as varied as the businesses that they run. In this issue of The Friedman File, we’re sharing some lessons learned, how firms have coped (or thrived) and what we see as ways forward in a still uncertain landscape.
Leading during crisis
While I’ve long advocated for transparent management, 2020 has required that on a whole new level. At times of economic uncertainty, employees look to their leaders to chart a course, to have a plan and to enact, if necessary, transformational changes or survival measures. It hasn’t been easy to be a leader this year, but many have risen to the challenge: enlisting staff in the need to create new services, implementing firmwide business development […]
Baking business development into your culture: how this firm did it
In my many years of advising AEC and environmental consulting firms on effective business development practices, I’ve seen that firms who are successful have several things in common:
- They understand the need to position themselves within their key markets using a one-to-many marketing strategy (instead of relying solely on 1:1 relationship-building).
- They put systems in place that allow that strategy to deliver valuable data that can drive and inform BD strategy and implementation.
- They align both business development and marketing efforts to clear and client-focused business plans for each of their key markets.
This level of strategy and focus is what allows firms to successfully drive growth, brand and client relationships. But it’s not always easy to implement. Trying to drive the effort from the marketing department without enforcement and accountability from the top is rarely effective. Employing marketing and BD tactics without clear […]
Client selection is more important than ever
When the economy starts to look rocky and project opportunities may be diminishing, it can be tempting to start saying yes to work that’s not a great fit (but it’s work) or chasing RFPs.
I saw a lot of this happening during the Global Financial Crisis (2008–2009), and I’m seeing it again now. In times of uncertainty, of course, we may be more willing to take on a project that is not ideal. But too often, firms start to convince themselves that throwing best practices out the window is their best option.
In this issue of The Friedman File, we’re talking about why that’s not a good idea and offering some helpful guidelines for creating and implementing a thoughtful client selection process, one that strengthens your firm for the future.
What we’re doing that isn’t working
Many firms do have informal go/no-go processes in place. But the […]
Thriving in a time of crisis and disruption
Few, if any, businesses can say they saw this pandemic coming. For some AEC industry firms, the business ramifications have been severe. While the market sectors you serve do play a role, there are other factors that can significantly impact the resiliency of your business during a time of crisis.
In this issue of The Friedman File, we’re going behind the scenes with one engineering firm that isn’t just coping with the COVID-19 disruption, they’re looking at it as an opportunity to reinvent their business.
Fortunately for 175-person engineering firm Borton-Lawson (Wilkes-Barre, PA), that business focuses on two client sectors with ongoing operations— public and private infrastructure, and industrial and energy. Three years ago, the firm also rolled out Beyond Engineering, a technology-focused initiative that is proving itself well positioned to meet the current moment.
To President and CEO Frank Joanlanne, the opportunity is not just […]
Client relations in the era of COVID-19
As COVID-19 turns business as we know it—and our global communities—upside down, there are no easy answers or sure projections. While some AEC and environmental consulting firms have not experienced a disruption to projects, others are seeing warning signs and are increasingly nervous about what’s next and some are already slashing costs to contain the bleeding.
Multiple industry surveys reveal that the business impacts, like the virus itself, could vary widely and may well get worse before they get better. I’m hearing from many firm leaders who are doing their best to balance the day-to-day pandemic response with planning for project delays and revenue declines.
None of us knows when our business life will return to any sense of normalcy, but we do know this: firms must prioritize their relationships with current and prospective clients now so that those relationships come out stronger on […]