18 lessons from 18 years of business (Part 2)

Following Mick Morrissey’s exploration of the initial nine lessons we’ve learned in nearly two decades of operation, here’s a look at the latter half of our collective experience.

10. Trust is so incredibly important: Leadership teams that are able to cope in any kind of weather seem to have one thing in common—relationships that are built on a strong foundation of trust. Team members are willing to listen to each other, accept opinions other than their own, and build on ideas together. They believe the words and deeds of their partners are motivated by good intentions, even when initial comments or actions might seem objectionable. Instead of assuming negative intent, which they know will make them angry and defensive, they focus on listening without filters. They don’t waste time and energy on misattributing comments or behaviors by dreaming up less-than-flattering stories in their heads. Instead, they talk it through until they fully understand what’s really driving the “situation”—and whether there actually even is a “situation.” While there may be stress from time to time within these teams, each member shows a genuine, mutual respect for their partners. They rarely go long periods without communicating with one another, and they don’t hold grudges. Leadership teams that have this foundation of trust hit issues head on and move quickly and eagerly to the next challenge. They realize that pointing their weapons at problems rather than each other ultimately propels their firms to greater success.

11. Utilization isn’t the Holy Grail: Most industry firms manage for resource efficiency. In other words, firms aim to maximize utilization. And that means keeping everyone busy. But what is actually getting done? Is staff working on things that add value? Are they getting the work done in a short amount of time? Most firms have so much design work in process it’s almost impossible to figure out what’s finished and what’s not. Managing for flow efficiency, on the other hand, is about finishing what is started and minimizing WIP. Multi-tasking and task-switching kill efficiency, which for many, including me, is a counter-intuitive concept—but it’s true.

12. Good food fast really does work: We’ve been in business for 18 years without ever making a cold call for work. Not a single one. What’s the secret? Creating a marketing machine that gets your knowledge out to your clients and potential clients in bite-sized chunks by executing a variety of coordinated activities such as e-marketing, consistent PR, original research, and consistent client perception monitoring. It’s not the only way for a professional services firm to position itself as an expert in its chosen market sectors, but it’s the best way. It’s important to know and accept that it’s a numbers game. If you have hundreds of names in your client database, make it thousands. If you have thousands, make it tens of thousands. Then hit that list with information your audience will value—over and over again. Stealth marketing doesn’t work in the AEC industry.

13. We can be sloppy with language: When you ask someone (anyone) in your firm to do something for you, how often are you satisfied with the outcome? How often are you surprised by that outcome—in a good way? On the other hand, how often do you find yourself muttering something along the lines of “I should have just done it myself”? If it’s more of the latter, you’re in the same boat with the thousands of smart, hard-working, well-intentioned professionals I’ve worked with.

The hard truth is if you aren’t getting what you ask for, look in the mirror. Are you being clear about what you expect? Is the timeline specific? Does the person you put on the task have the competency and enough time to execute? Are your conditions of satisfaction clear and acceptable? AE and environmental consulting firms are project-driven organizations, and projects are networks of commitments and promises—nothing more, nothing less. Very few firms realize this and practice at getting better at making and securing reliable commitments. But when they do, they find themselves taking better care of themselves and their teammates, their clients, and their companies.

14. Delegation is the key to retaining great people: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard clients tell me they lost good people because they weren’t getting opportunities to learn and develop. I get it. Firms pride themselves on the quality of their work, but that may lead some of the more experienced people in these companies to think they can’t delegate, particularly if they don’t believe the younger professionals are fully competent, whether due to inexperience or a lack of drive or intellectual curiosity. But delegation needs to happen if anyone else in your firm is going to learn and fully engage. And this learning period will almost always mean that quality, and maybe even creativity, declines at first. Eventually, the protégé may deliver even better than the mentor, and this potential may also be a conscious or unconscious inhibitor to delegation. In any event, delegation is necessary for the development of those employees who are looking to do something special with their careers—and those are the people who are most likely to become leaders, whether in your firm or someone else’s.

15. Declarations are powerful: One thing industry firm leaders can do that their employees cannot is make declarations. Owners make declarations—a company vision statement is one of the most important declarations a leader can make. That’s how they show up as leaders in their firms. Their lives are influenced by those kinds of declarations, and so are the lives of many others. Your future leaders can, and should, make declarations as well. As long as you don’t cut them at the knees and their declarations are supported, their direction will be taken. Once that happens, they start showing up as leaders to the rest of the staff—and they begin to shape the future.

16. Responsiveness never goes out of style: Showing up is truly half the battle. The more responsive you are, the more fiercely loyal your clients tend to be. It makes a tremendous difference. Regardless of your title or tenure or how much bureaucracy might exist in your organization, being reachable and quick to respond is a tough combination to beat.

17. When it comes to strategic thinking, next-gen leaders have work to do: Strategic thinking is not merely a desirable trait; it’s essential for creating and building long-lasting competitive advantages. Firms that only think operationally miss opportunities for innovation, misalign resources, and put themselves in mortal danger when their markets inevitably shift. Yet in my experience, far too many of our industry’s next-generation leaders think only operationally, focusing almost exclusively on tactical decision-making in their particular areas of expertise. The reasons for this propensity are many and varied, but suffice it to say that to break the chain, CEOs first must have clear expectations of their up-and-comers to think strategically—then give them ample opportunities to do so. Mastering the ability to analyze complex situations, identify opportunities and threats, and formulate effective strategies to navigate uncertainties is not innate. It requires practice—lots of it.

18. Growth matters: Without a focus on growth, firms fall behind competitors, lose market share, and fail to capitalize on emerging opportunities. Stagnation also signals to owners and employees a lack of innovation and forward thinking, eroding trust and confidence in a firm’s ability to thrive in good weather and bad. The lights stay on only so long for a mediocre firm.

Original content can be found at Morrissey Goodale.

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