The New Hockey Stick

Posted by Dharmesh Shah writer of OnStartups.com

The New Hockey Stick

Why not work for yourself?

Amid the worst recession since the 1930s and perhaps the worst ever for the construction industry, I was somehow able to find work today. Not from one of those big corporate conglomerates for whom we have been taught to work tireless and give everything we have. Until, of course they decide that your salary is no long worth it's weight in the liabilities column of their balance sheet and they discard you like the wrapper to a tootsie-pop. At which time we are taught to hit the streets with ambitions of again becoming a salary that may or may not be worth hanging on to when things get a little rocky.

Rather, I found work through a Craigslist ad I put up shortly after I was laid off for a partner in a proposed design build operation. Rich Sanford is an architect who was laid off from BLT Architects and was incidentally working on the same casino project as myself prior to our unfortunate temporary dismissal from the working world. However, Rich pulled himself immediately out of the dumpster for construction professionals and decided to look for work on his own with the creation of Sanford Consulting performing architecture and drafting.

While Craigslist has had some unfortunate press recently involving their erotic massage services, Rich is certainly a much better contact than that nerdy guy from Boston. Rich landed a job drawing site plans and details for the installation of fiber optic telecommunication lines into an apartment building. Television and Internet seems to be recession proof. The job consisted of a survey of the existing site as well some more detailed drawings showing locations of fiber distribution terminals outside the building. You don't need to be Harvard educated (thank god) to do this job, but its solid work that has potential for repeat business. Perhaps this is why Rich asked if I could help him with the survey and drafting on a subsequent project.

Rich and I visited two sites today for which we will be supplying survey and fiber distribution terminal drawings. It was fun, interesting, and liberating all at the same time.

While Rich and I both intend on moving more into commercial architecture and construction (perhaps independently, perhaps not) this a great job to give us both some much needed income in a time when income is more elusive than an honest bank executive.

You should try this self-employed thing - it's fun as hell.

Why not work for yourself?

Do construction companies subscribe to the "Attila the Hun" method of leadership?

Here we go with the generalizations again. But this topic is one of particular interest to me because it was brought to my attention by one of the readers on LinkedIn. My last post was titled "7 dimensions of great leadership from Vail, CO" and was commented by Bruce Hanawalt as follows:

John,
As a consultant and transpersonal advisor, I have found very few Contracting firms that consider the people/subcontractors anything more than a means to an end. The Companies which subscribed to any form of employee growth or well being talked the talked but in practice fell far short of the vision statement of the founders/Execs. This is not only true in the construction industry but the business environment on a whole. Maslow has been in play for decades and Drucker is considered the Guru of 'good" management practices, yet the evolvement of Upper Management has been far too slow or uncaring to institute programs which identify and encourage those who attain to self-actualization. Additionally, the narrow materialistic philosophies discount or ignore the spiritualization of the workforce and this in and of it self causes the workforce to be neurotic and unsure of their place in the way of management or life. We both know that Atilla the Hun is the prescribed management technique employed by far too many of the Contracting firms. This mindset has decades of history and will take years to incorporate a new belief system which embraces the worker in preference to the project. The pendulum will eventually swing back to center. In whose lifetime is the question.

Right on Bruce! I hope it's during my lifetime. I always used the analogy of that guy from "Inspector Gadget" that sits in the chair and strokes the cat while mayhem ensues on the television screen before him, but the Attila analogy is probably the best one I've heard.

For those of us who are not familiar with Attila the Huh, which included me before a late night Wikipedia educational session, Attila with his 400+ wives was the barbaric leader of the Huns and self-proclaimed "Scourge of God" who sought nothing less than World conquest during the fifth century AD. His leadership style was given some investigation in the 1987 book "Leadership secrets of Attila the Hun". An online book review summed up the leadership style of Attila the Hun in the following 11 items. Note the difference between Vanourek and Attila (as if I had to tell you).

#1: YOU'VE GOT TO WANT TO BE IN CHARGE -- You've got to be ruthlessly ambitious. Never be bored, disinterested, or cowardly in any way about always strengthening your position. Good leaders are lustful leaders. Power is like sex, but don't appear overeager, just extremely determined to succeed under any circumstances, fair or unfair. [This will inspire confidence in those you lead]

#2: ALWAYS APPEAR AS THE ONE IN CHARGE -- Dress appropriately for your high station in life. Own the biggest horse and sword. Be first in everything, but never appear pompous. [Be marked with armament that distinguishes you from the masses]

#3: MAKE OTHERS ADAPT TO YOUR "CUSTOMS" -- Make people do things your way, not their way. Make them adjust or adapt to you. Express this as the way things are going to be from now on, or pretend it's the way things have always been. Refuse to acknowledge any other way of doing things other than the way you do things. [This will extract tribute and praise from those you lead]

#4: NEVER CONDONE A LACK OF MORALE OR DISCIPLINE -- Terminate people at the first sign of disrespect for the common good, but by no means stifle individualism or punish the innocent who don't know the common good. Definitely, do not allow uncontrolled celebration. Pillaging and looting are only fun if done in the name of nationalism. [Discipline will build morale]

#5: NEVER TOLERATE ANYONE WITH THEIR OWN AMBITIONS -- People who are "cunning" are dangerous, especially new people who have just joined the organization. Be vigilant about how people lose their ambition and become team players; that is the pattern you want everyone to follow. Never reward anyone for what is a common effort. [The spirit of unity must prevail]

#6: PERPETUATE A LEGEND OR REPUTATION FOR YOURSELF -- Find out whatever it is that your worst enemy calls you, and try hard to live up to it, with a passion. This will have its advantages to you whenever you need to use your fury and power, and it will accumulate minor privileges to you along the way. [You are your reputation]

#7: PICK YOUR ENEMIES WISELY -- Do not consider all opponents, or everyone you argue with, as enemies. These are accidental enemies. Choose your enemies with purpose. They may be people you have friendly relations with, and in fact, you should let them think of you as a friend, all the while never telling them anything, and lulling them into a state of complacence and acting prematurely. [Do not make enemies unless you mean it]

#8: EXPECT CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT -- You must encourage learning and innovation among those you lead. This can be done in several ways, by creating competitions among the people. Never allow them to wander aimlessly. Regularly upgrade your standards of performance. [This fulfills most of a leader's duties]

#9: USE TIMING IN MAKING DECISIONS -- Never rush a decision, although sometimes you have to because the moment is ripe or an omen exists. It's better to use timing, to find the obscure places and critical elements needed to ensure you always make the right decision. This way, you ensure that even a less-than-perfect decision is followed. [Time your decisions]

#10: EXPLOIT THE DESIRE TO ENJOY THE SPOILS OF WAR -- Harness your peoples' desires for short-term gains. Grant small rewards for light tasks. Reserve heaps of booty for other times, and be generous with items that hold a value to yourself. [Never underestimate the ability to buy obedience]

#11: ONLY ENGAGE IN WARS YOU CAN WIN -- Use diplomacy, negotiation, or other techniques of conflict in battles you cannot win. When in a political war, always keep an eye to your rear. When in an external war, go all out. [Waging war is a natural condition]

Power is like sex? Perpetuate a legend for yourself? Never tolerate anyone with their own ambitions? This guy sounds like a jerk. And although there are some historical reports that Attila has surprisingly shown some traits of compassion and emotional control, the more likely scenario is that Attila was an ego maniac with a bad case of short man's complex. I'll take Vanourek over Attila any day.

Do construction companies subscribe to the "Attila the Hun" method of leadership?

7 dimensions of great leadership from Vail, CO

I spent three long, cold years working on the construction of the Arrabelle Hotel and taking advantage of the occasional powder day in Vail, CO from 2005-2008. While I certainly got my fair share of drawing coordination disputes, contract interpretation arguments, schedule over-run lashings, fishtails down I-70, and Yeager shots from the top of a ski, I was also exposed to some fantastic leadership education at Colorado Mountain College from Bob Vanourek.

Mr. Vanourek is a Harvard grad and ex-CEO of several troubled companies where he performed dramatic turnarounds and brought these organization from the point of tarnished ethical reputation and barely being able to make payroll to a position of sustainability. All of this is fantastic accomplishment, but what most impressed me with Mr. Vanourek is the style of leadership he was presenting and his excitement about sharing his application of experience with the community of the Vail Valley.

Bob was presenting a style often referred to as the "new paradigm" of leadership focusing on collaboration, servitude, and alignment of the people. He does an analogy of people of an organization being pepperonis on a pizza pie and factions being bridged by going through the pepperonis (people). I found it very admirable for someone who admitted to being a subscriber of the "old paradigm" during much of his career where leadership was pegged as fearless, powerful, authoritative and all-knowing to now adamantly teaching the new paradigm and even developing his own 7 dimension Core Leadership Model which is described as follows:

1. Healthy personal core. The best leadership emerges when one has a healthy core for a foundation. Taking care of one’s body, having a “leadership mind” with ego minimized, being under emotional control, and a personal moral compass based on core values in your heart or spirit are essential.
2. Sincere belief in people. The best leadership has a true belief in the capabilities of other people. Yes, we are all human and make mistakes, and sometimes some negative action must be taken if someone is evil, but great leadership means being truly connected to people, trusting and being trusted, treating people with dignity and respect, helping people develop to whatever their greater capabilities are, and helping the group synthesize and operate by a set of shared values.
3. Skilled approach to work. The best leadership is often bundled with authority, power, and/or managerial roles. Learning effective techniques for improving these skills improves a leader’s effectiveness. These skills include planning, prioritizing, time management, delegating, being decisive in uncertainty, staying in reality to ensure results are achieved, and paying attention to how the results are achieved. Are the results accomplished in accordance with our shared values?
4. Effective communication. Excellent leadership is greatly facilitated by effective listening, motivational speaking from the heart, clear, crisp, incisive writing, and behavior that reinforces the central message and the shared values. Communication also involves the selection of the necessary topics without avoiding the tough issues.
5. Synthesize a shared future. Great leadership involves being in touch with people’s deepest needs and desires. It involves drafting and redrafting what the people truly want, even if they may not be able to articulate it themselves. It touches deep issues like purpose/mission, shared values, and an inspiring future vision. Great leadership synthesizes and articulates this shared future for the group.
6. Collaboratively align. Most organizations are dysfunctional even though people work hard and have good intentions. Great leadership involves a truly collaborative process that helps the group define and understand their purpose, values, vision, goals, strategy structure, metrics, action plans, and feedback systems. When groups are aligned, they can soar.
7. Willingness to risk substantive change. Great leadership involves the incredibly hard capability, after all this good work has been done, to realize that something has radically changed. Everything may have to be dumped, and one must start over using the same patient, collaborative process. Casualties may be involved and loss. Expectations may have to be changed. And the work must be done by the people themselves, not the authority figure.

Construction is an industry that has long preached the "old paradigm" where leadership pounds their fists, intimidates, and hollers their way around a job in an effort to motivate and align their workforce. While this method may show short term results, Vanourek and others (myself included) believe that a shift to the "new" paradigm of collaboration, emotional control, and servitude is the better, more sustainable path toward long term progress and success.

With our industry in near shambles and revolutionary change seeming imminent, a leadership paradigm shift could be just what we need. We have to at least do something.

7 dimensions of great leadership from Vail, CO

Construction Cartoon

Construction Cartoon

Talking 'bout my generation - How to deal with gen X and gen Y

I hate generalizations - especially when they involve a generation. However, ignorant generalizations about baby boomers, baby boomer's kids, generation X, and generation Y or even "kids these days" run rampant throughout organizations. Our minds have this endless need to put our world into easily organized compartments and expectations about groups of people. Unfortunately folks, our world isn't that simple. However, these generalizations exist, and at times could be at least partially true. So let's go ahead and discuss why people try to put us d-down, just because we get around.

And we'll temporarily allow generation generalization in this article for the glorious purpose of argument.

The baby-boomer laden top tier of companies could perhaps use a little education or at least some awareness of where gen X/Y's (or the new-age term of millennials) are coming from instead of moaning about how easy they have it or how tough it was back in their day. You're right, we didn't have the rags to riches story that you did, we didn't make a fortune in the stock market from 1982 to 2000, we were over-parented and at times coddled, we were put in every soccer camp, violin lesson, and SAT prep course any human being could withstand but really, the biggest difference between gen X/Y and the boomers is that we just don't care about money as much as you. And in the current economic crisis, many millenials are out of work due to a collapse largely fueled by baby boomer greed and corruption. You must understand that this is very difficult to swallow.

The millenials are the first generation that is not exceeding the salary of their parents and the likelihood of them doing so over a grand scale is very low. It will be difficult for us to compete with anything that went on during the 1990's. This perceived lack of progress can lead the younger generation to define success in different ways such as progress in ethics, social responsibility, environmental conservation, and racial equality. Kids these days are looking to do more than just make money.

Now I'm not trying to cause a big s-s-sensation, I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-generation.

The boomers came from a sink-or-swim world where they were just happy to have a job. They were really the first generation achieving significant levels of higher education and during the the 80's and 90's our country took off like Micheal Jackson's Thriller for which the boomer workforce was certainly largely responsible (the economy not Thriller). But let's not forget the boomer driven years of protest, drug use, promiscuous sex, and general withdrawal from society. And now you guys are running the majority of organizations in this country - and that's fine.

But the boomers need to make an effort at understanding where the millenials come from. Books like Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida, which I suggest every manager in any organization read, can help shed a little light on some of the millenial's behavior that may seem peculiar to our older baby boomer colleagues. And remember, when we see old video of hippies with flowers in their hair it looks a bit peculiar to us a well.

We don't want you to f-fade away, and you certainly don't have to d-dig what we all s-say, you just have to make a little improvement at awareness and understanding - I'm just talkin' 'bout my generation. Or maybe I'm just talking about me.

Talking 'bout my generation - How to deal with gen X and gen Y

Entrepreneurs could be crazy like a fox

It's hard to do something that will most likely have a long term positive result when the short-term outlook seems bleak. For example, when the stock market is at very low levels and has recently dropped like an anchor, it's tough to muster up the courage to throw in money although the likelihood of it going up is probably greater than under normal conditions when it is overvalued. However, when the stock market was skyrocketing through the 90s people were looking under their couch cushions for every penny to invest. Human nature can be as detrimental and debilitating as it can be beneficial and empowering.

So can any right minded individual even think about starting a company now, especially a construction company when the market for construction work is quickly approaching never before seen levels of absolute zero? Regardless of whether you're measuring in Celsius, Fahrenheit, or Kelvin, absolute zero is as low as you can possibly go. Well, perhaps.

There are several advantages to starting a company in a very bad economy and we have to remember that work still goes on despite all the doom and gloom we read in the news (or blogs). As a start-up company your price is probably very low because of low overhead and a willingness to put in long hours. This could be very attractive to someone who is looking to build because they are most likely on a very low budget themselves. An owner may be willing to take a risk on a lesser known company in the interest of saving a dime or two.

If you are lucky enough to get work as a start-up and look into hiring employees now is probably the best time in the past seventy years to be hiring. You have the pick of the cream of the crop employees and they certainly won't be naming the price. If a small company can latch on to some good people now and grow with them, they will be in a fantastic position to be fighting with the big dogs for big projects when things improve.

The architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects which was recently employing about 800 people was started during the height of the recession in the 1976. Eugene Kohn discusses the start-up of his firm below.


I think it's interesting that Kohn notes that there was very little work going around but the good news was that there were plenty of people available to do no work. He seems like a pretty optimistic guy in the least.

A recent Inc. Magazine article titled "Is now a good time to start-up" cites a preliminary study by the Kauffman Foundation and though the research is still very scattered and ambiguous there is some evidence that companies started during a recession could be more likely to become successful. The author of the study also notes that this could be a time when the most innovative and successful companies of the next ten years are formed.

It just takes a little courage I guess.

Entrepreneurs could be crazy like a fox

Philly BIM conference encourages us to jump on the bandwagon

Bandwagon jumpers are typically not respected for some reason. If you snarled and muttered about the Boston Red Sox for 80 years and barked about how they never should have traded Babe Ruth, then you may not have been as welcome at the celebration party of their 2004 World Series win. However, if you cranked at the construction industry's switch from hand drafting to CAD about 30 years ago, and still cry about how good drawings were "back in the day" there is good news for you; you will be more than welcome in the wonderful world of Building Information Modeling - as long as you don't create more problems of course.

On Tuesday, I went to a panel discussion on BIM implementation put on by Microsol Resources who is a dealer for AutoDesk products. Microsol did a good job of making the event less of a sales pitch and more of an informational discussion with presentations from several members of the AEC industry including an insurance and legal representative. But really the best part about it was that it was free.

I attended a BIM conference back in March by McGraw-Hill Construction that cost me about $150 and really wasn't as good. But just as McGraw-Hill did, the first slide that went up was the productivity curve of construction vs. all other non-farm industries since 1964 done by the Center for Facility Engineering at Stanford University.


Basically, this tells us that according to the folks at Stanford, non-farm industry productivty has far exceeded that of the construction industry which has actually decreased it's productivity since 1964.

Of course there are many reasons for this including but certainly not limited to, weather, labor availability, and overall fragmentation of the industry. However, the progressives including those who presented on Tuesday are suggesting that BIM could be the breakthrough that we need to at least improve productivity instead of moving backward. Ben Ferrer from Turner Construction suggested that the integration of subs early on in the modeling process could be the most significant opportunity for cost and time savings associated with the implementation of BIM.

What I think is the biggest fear among architects and contractors about using BIM are the potential legal and insurance related problems. With such a collaboration of input from designers and contractors, it may be easy to assume that one party could become responsible for another party's negligence. A representative from the insurance industry, Kenneth Wortley, from WortleyPoole (no relation) presented a possibility of using an umbrella insurance policy over designers much like an owner controlled insurance policy (OCIP) is used for contractors. This would allow more free-flowing communication and collaboration between designer without the fear of excess liability. Also, two attornies gave presentations on the new AIA document E202 which is a contract addendum that pertains specifically to projects drawn in three dimensions. The legal representative explained that the E202 does not necessarily create a "United States of America" for the project team but rather a "Confederation" of united but independent entities.

Pretty soon we'll be drafting the "Declaration of Independence" and we can leave two dimensional plans on the other side of the Atlantic.

Philly BIM conference encourages us to jump on the bandwagon

Education in Construction - Revisited

The topic of education is always a very touchy one in the construction business because construction is one of those rare industries that can be equally lucrative for a high school educated carpenter and a Harvard MBA. There are construction companies that have been started by tradespeople who are just as successful (and perhaps more) as those who took the conventional path of going to college, then grad school and then climbing the greasy pole of typical corporations.

The debate about what level of education is required or beneficial to work at a high level in construction companies rages and could be the single biggest point of contention among employees that I have encountered in my still very young career. Those out of the "school of hard knocks" argue that a seasoned veteran can build circles around some hot shot with a master's degree who doesn't "really" know how to get thing done, while the more formally educated group claims that their background gives them the broad knowledge required to perform in the construction world where you're working with architects, engineers, tradespeople, developers, and bankers.

I'm of course biased, having been formally educated with a master's degree in civil engineering, I will tend to agree with the folks who think a formal education may be a bit more advantageous. This is not to infer however that those with experience over education should be kicked to curb and treated like they have the swine flu, but I do think that they should be encouraged to complete their degrees and the majority of this should be paid for by the organization. There is no worse situation than to be hired above a school of hard knocker who may have more practical experience than you and thinks they should have your job. Trust me, it's like a living hell.

This issue has been the equivalent of the pink elephant in the room for many construction organizations because it's really a tough one to deal with. Most organizations are requiring at least a bachelors degree and often a master's degree to move up in the company but have a very difficult time explaining why this requirement is in place. And frankly it is tough to explain. I've thought a lot about it, and I don't really know how I would approach this issue if I were to have to explain to an employee that they didn't get a particular promotion or raise because of their lack of formal education. Instead, I think I'd immediately book the next flight to Mexico regardless of any current pandemic in the area.

It looks like a more formally educated construction world is the direction in which companies want to move, but they need to figure out a way of explaining why this is true. And then, they need to offer employees the opportunity to pursue higher education with at least a partial reimbursement from the company. This will require companies to look beyond short term profits and think more long term about where they would like their company to go, but of course, I'm biased.

Education in Construction - Revisited