Why can’t an architect get a break?

We must be doing something wrong. It seems that architects always have to fight to justify our value. Perhaps we don’t do a very good job illustrating our value proposition. Or, perhaps others have done a better job bringing down the expectation of what a design professional can do. Consider all of the do-it-yourself home improvement shows. After a while, you begin to think anyone that has the motor skills to swing a hammer or pull the trigger on a drill can complete construction. And what the construction is to become is just a matter of preference. And as I found on my past vacation watching cable television with my wife, I can't help but look at approaches others are taking with owners that inevitably costs them more money, to end with a final product that looks nice, but most maddening to me is knowing they could have got more for those construction dollars if they invested in an architect at the beginning (we have subsequently decided not to watch those shows together for a while, my comments were a bit too distracting).

As an architect, we do bring that sense of design which has been taught and practiced to be more than just what we prefer. It is what has worked in the past, an understanding of scale obtained from completing prior projects, studying complete environments, and knowing the history behind architecture and why we enjoy the spaces we enjoy. But, more importantly, one of the architect’s best values is their extensive understanding of laws, codes, building regulations, zoning ordinances, and what design elements are hot points, while others could be submitted for variance. Nonetheless, we have to constantly explain to an owner why a fee of 6-7% is very reasonable when considering how we are the one team player that coordinates all of the other team players and can oversee the design and construction to be sure the owner knows what to expect before starting, and to know it won’t be shut down later because it was an illegal structure or missing critical life-safety items. Have you considered to the cost of not hiring an architect?

What blows my mind from a business standpoint is the fact a building owner doesn’t seem to bully the realtor to reduce their commission. Perhaps they do and the realtor is able to stand his ground, he knows no one else is going to do it cheaper, that 6% commission is sacred. But with architects, there always seems to be another cheaper designer who is willing to take a chance, not perform the due diligence, and really doesn’t care about the owner or the public, but just wants to make a few bucks. Yes, that seems to be one of the most challenging aspects to defining our value proposition, explaining why every apple isn’t the same. Just because she is licensed and I am licensed doesn’t mean we will give you the same service, or bring the same value to the table…

My Time for Transition is Now

I’ve spent more time soul searching recently than normal. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been really busy/not so busy/really busy so many times this year that it’s finally catching up that I should take a step back and evaluate where I’m at. I have a bad habit of getting so busy I can’t keep up with everything; just not enough hours in the day. But at the same time, I have the tendency to feel if I don’t step up, contribute, and lend-a-hand that many things which to me seem important will not get accomplished. I’ve became better at just telling myself, “it would be nice if this or that could happen, but if it doesn’t then I may be the only one to know what it could have been.” How do you cope? How do you take ownership, care, and strive for the best, but not over commit and under deliver because too many priorities are pulling at once? I don’t know the answer. I’ve been searching for years, always asking at roundtable events with professionals older and more successful than me how they balance it all. The overwhelming answer is they don’t.

So how do I do it? I’ve become more selective with my leadership duties. I care too much to commit to something I don’t care about. I have regrets for a couple places where I just had to apologize and walk away this past year, because I just knew my heart wasn’t in it and I wouldn’t be able to give it any priority. I don’t regret the walking away, I regret the earlier engagement, the plugging into their Tribe just to drift away and stop contributing.

My biggest issue now is where I’m plugged in. I love the organizations I’m most active in: my church, CSI, AIA, and DBIA. But, as I continue to try and expand my business opportunities, I’ve found that my desire to learn the profession and learn what it is to be an “architect” is where my energy is, but it needs to become where my energy was. I am an architect. I now need to be an architect and contribute back to society and hopefully find engaging opportunities to practice what I have learned. To implement my training and professional abilities; I need to stop talking and start doing. But here comes my dilemma: I don’t really know how…

I chatted with a business development friend for a construction firm last night and he asked how my own business development growth was going. I told him I’ve had a lot of swings and misses. Which is true, I’ve prepared and sent around twelve proposals and statements of qualifications for various projects in the past two years and came out with being selected for just one project. It would have been a nice project, but before I was ever able to get the signed contract the owner had a change of heart and never proceeded with the project. And I’ve continued to grow into business development while keeping a heavy load of construction document preparation for other projects in the office to keep my billable rate at an all time high.

Where I hope to go now, is to transition. To move from the young architect who has learned how to put a building and set of contract documents together from CSI; a little business best practice from the AIA along with the on-going AIA resources at my fingertips; and what an integrated team should be from DBIA, to become the best architect for my potential clients. Here’s to the future and my next chapter. Wish me luck, say a little prayer from me, and if I can help you with something in the built environment, please call. If you have any advice or words of wisdom as I move into this new direction, please post a comment here to my blog. Thanks for reading!

My Friends, Independent Consultants

This is a re-post for me from August 2009 with a few minor updates, but I think it is still very good advice and wanted to bring it to the forefront for everyone again. Post comments if you have any other suggestions. Thanks for reading!

I may know as many unemployed architects as those that still have a job working for a firm. About a year ago I was nervously considering how the economy dips every ten years or so and as the older architects would tell me “We’ve been through this before, just hold on,” I tried to relax and feel fortunate for my job. Since then, I really feel fortunate InterDesign is still producing work and don’t believe any of the older architects who are still saying, “This is no different than last time, we’ll all get through it.”

How can we help our friends who are now “Independent Consultants,” but not by choice or preference? Many articles are devoted to helping your unemployed friends by being a shoulder to cry on, don’t berate them for being upset, and don’t lend money if you can’t afford to just gift it. But architects are different. Not that the aforementioned doesn’t apply, but architects need to practice. As the "independent consultants" are holding on till a job pops, here are a few suggestions I have came across to practice:

Autodesk Assistance Program

Visit Autodesk for the opportunity to obtain a free student version of 30 of their leading design software products. While you can’t use this software to do projects from home you can learn the newest tools to be in a better position to market yourself. Along with the license, you’ll get access to free online training and discounts on software certification.

Stay Involved (or Get Involved) in your Professional Groups

Are you a current member or have you recently not paid dues for AIA or CSI? I am aware of assistance programs being offered by both groups to help continue your membership through this time of unemployment. Along with maintaining the membership, be sure you’re attending all the meetings (CSI Indy events and AIA Indy events). When an office does get busy, who do you think they’ll call first to come in for an interview? The silent resume/portfolio sitting on the desk, or the eager architect they saw last week who took an interest in the firm and has shown leadership in a professional organization? Be sure you’re not just staying at home, get out there and network!

Update Your Web Presence

Now is the time to take the assets you’ve gathered (images and text) to update your portfolio and build you’re web presence. Create a professional Facebook account. Update your LinkedIn profile. Start a blog and write about past experience and bits of advice. Join Twitter to promote your blog and provide “micro-blogging” in 140 character posts. Link everything together so once someone stumbles upon one of your digital identities, they can easily find all of the other instances.

In conclusion, be sure you’ve done everything you can to “have your house in order” so when a prospective employer Google’s your name; they have good things to read and see about you. Good luck!

Lesson Learned, Some Tribes Don’t Mix

I have started a second blog to return this one to its original theme and topic. When I started blogging in 2008 it was to provide an avenue to further develop my Personal Branding. While it has proven a challenging task (I’m not a writer, as you can probably tell), it has also been rewarding to receive a little feedback on what I do write. My professional interests revolve around being an architect and wanting to learn how to make my firm more successful. This is led me to increase our in-house learning while also finding more opportunities to represent InterDesign in the AEC industry and our community. I’m active in several professional groups, namely CSI, AIA, and DBIA. Through these groups, I get to hear the issues others in my industry are facing and try to contribute to solutions that benefit all of us. I’m now moving into the office of President for the Indianapolis Chapter, CSI and it will take most of my volunteer time for the next year. In keeping this blog’s theme on my brand, expect to see many more posts on my progress as President and lessons learned along the way.

Separate from my social life of meetings and programs about architecture, I also try to take an active role in my church, the Eastside Church of Christ. The two worlds are not entirely different, but the interest of those who followed this blog was… Through utilizing my blog for a resource to a high school class I began teaching this spring, I’ve driven away all of my followers. I had naively thought by using tags my readers would filter the posts to what interested them. What I didn’t take into account, many followers are like me and subscribe via RSS or using a blog aggregator. I had developed a small tribe, and when their leader began talking consistently about something they were not interested in, they all walked away. I don’t blame them. I follow many blogs because of the topic. When the topic changes, I drop the blog, who has time to read things you aren’t passionate about.

I’ve learned from this and will move forward. If you were someone interested in continuing to follow my study of the wisdom literature from the bible, or find the past blog posts related to the study, just visit my second blog at http://bible-blake.blogspot.com/.

If you’re still with me, I’m glad to have you reading. As always, let me know what you think. I don’t filter the comments posted to my blog (unless I have to remove advertisements or something obscene), so feel free to share your opinions with my readers as well.

CSI Officer and Chairmen Form

At the end of April, CSI Institute requires a form to be submitted listing all of the chapter officers, directors, and chairmen of the standing committees recognized by Institute. In preparation for this, in March, the chapter held the annual election for the Board of Directors to fill seats opening at the end of the fiscal year. As President-Elect and according to a tradition of the chapter, I was chairman of the nominating committee. This is the first time I had participated in a nominating committee, let alone chaired the group. To form the committee, I pulled in our Vice President, whom I was sure would become President-Elect for next year so he can get a little exposure to the process (this is now the blind leading the blind). I also used other existing board members to bring in experience. I worked my way around the active chapter members offering them a place on the slate, but received many declined offers for good reasons (next year’s election should have a boat load of candidates). We finally filled our slate of four.

One thing that was different this year, and only this year, the chapter is establishing an educational foundation. The chapter’s Memorial Trust was established 20 years ago, but never recognized as a separate charitable organization. We’re now making that transition, filed the paperwork with the State and IRS and now need the first Board of Directors for this new organization. I was nominated by our Board to be sure we had at least the minimum seven Board members, as well as create the ballots and mail them along with the chapter board election. This was a little more time consuming, I had to educate most of these candidates about what is going on with the trust becoming a foundation and how I can’t tell them what their obligations to the board will be, because I don’t know. I thankfully arranged for seven candidates and I nominated them from the floor at the February chapter meeting.

Following the election, the April board meeting is, as our bylaws state, the “organizational meeting.” We invite the newly elected board members who will begin their term on July 1st to hold our officer election. The current president had to miss this meeting, so I had the opportunity to run the board meeting and election. We only had one office contested by more than one candidate and everything went well. I advise future presidents to be sure they have began talking with the directors you want to be officers during your year as president a couple months before the April officer election. I waited until the week before, but everything worked out well.

To this point, we have officers and directors for FY2011, now I just need to verify committee appointments. One of my many goals is being sure everyone in leadership is supported, motivated, and empowered to be as effective as possible. To achieve this, I hope as president to understand what the goals of each person are related to CSI and then to guide and focus them based on our Mission and Strategic Plan. Rather than trying to achieve my own new agenda, I hope to advance the chapter’s agenda already established. To start this, while asking chairmen if they would like to continue another year, or appointing replacements, I also include a requirement to establish two to three goals for the year. I’ve followed up with most to discuss why I would like to know their goals, to be sure and provide the support from the chapter for them to be successful. I also get the opportunity to direct their attention away from goals that are not aligned with our chapter's direction based on the Mission and Strategic Plan.

Every position on the form is now elected or appointed, I've submitted my list to our chapter secretary who will submit these names to CSI Institute. These tasks immediately before I'm president will hopefully lay the foundation for a strong year. You simply can’t wait until July 1 and the fiscal year begins to think about what you want to achieve.

Explaining My Blog's New Dual Theme (Wisdom and CSI)

After a several month hiatus, I’m returning to my blog with a new dual theme for the next few months.

Theme One: Wisdom Literature Class
I will be teaching the Young Adults Class at the Eastside Church of Christ for the second trimester of 2010 covering Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon; also known as the Wisdom Literature. I’m really looking forward to this study as an opportunity to study in-depth some of my favorite biblical content and to share this treasure of wisdom on how to live your life with the young men and women that meet at Eastside. To save paper, and remove the typical student’s excuse of losing what we were going to do in class any given Sunday or Wednesday all class materials will be disseminated through my blog under http://dblakewagner.blogspot.com/search/label/Wisdom Feel free to follow along with us and don’t hesitate to comment to my blog if you have any questions or would like to debate some point I’m presenting. As a follower of the blog, you’ll miss the meat of the class, our live discussions, but you may enjoy reading how we’re progressing through the literature.

Theme Two: Journal My Year as CSI Indy President
At the same time, I will be moving up to President of the CSI Indianapolis Chapter on July 1, 2010. In preparation I’ve already appointed chairmen to the standing committees, served as chair of the nominating committee for our March elections to bring three new board members and one returning, and I’ve had a year to mentally prepare. My hope is to put in writing the thoughts and actions I’m taking as president to serve as a suggestion to other CSI presidents, future presidents, and a place for my chapter to go to see what all I have been doing/thinking in case I haven’t been very complete/concise/clear/correct in what I’ve told them. To follow just my CSI progress, follow http://dblakewagner.blogspot.com/search/label/CSI

I’m looking forward to the next year and I hope you’ll join me and provide any suggestions and discussion to make my endevours the best they can be. Thanks for reading!

BIM Isn’t for Whiners

I’m happy to report that I have another project running full steam ahead in Autodesk Revit. We are lining up our MEP and structural consultants with the prerequisite of working in Revit to gain the most value from 3-d coordination, interference checking, and referencing across disciplines. With BIM (Building Information Modeling) we are essentially building the project digitally prior to the constructors building it in the field. A wall in the model actually contains the components that make up the assembly, not just the visual representation on a screen or paper.

The question I have to ask though is why would anyone not want to be part of the move towards completing all building projects in a BIM platform? There certainly is a learning curve from both learning the software platform and making a mental shift from drawing representative lines to actually building digital assemblies, but the gains from increased productivity through the software managing all of the cross referencing when documenting the project to validating that the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, structural systems, and furnishings are not in conflict saves both time and money working through conflicts during construction.

My request to those in my industry, don’t whine about the change. Either change and make the necessary investments to be part of it, or don’t change and accept the consequences. As a graduate architect I worked on a project where the steel detailer did everything by hand drafting. The shop drawings kept coming back with errors that I would return requesting them to make the corrections noted. Eventually, they submitted a change order because we required them to “redraw” the steel members. In the meeting to review the request, they amazed us as the draftsmen told us how our notes to add length to a steel member required him to start the drawing over again… They only received a very small portion of the additional money because the industry had moved on. A change that would take someone computer drafting about 60-seconds it took a pen and ink draftsmen 4-hours. My owner didn't make the decision for them to use a more time intensive process, and it wasn't fair for them to pay for something that was behind the industry standard.

As Seth Godin posted this weekend, “Smart businesspeople focus on the things they have the power to change, not whining about the things they don't.” We don’t have the power to stop the industry around us from evolving, but we do have the power to improve our operations. If you don't like it, don't change, just please don't whine about it, that won't get you anywhere. Thanks.