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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]