Project Firms Need Radical Change
March 13th, 2003 by HalI've been thinking about Mark Zweig's ZweigWhite presentation at Construction Summit 2003 that I called platitudes in an earlier posting. First the definition of platitude from Merriam Webster Online
- the quality or state of being dull or insipid
- a banal, trite, or stale remark
I mis spoke. The recommendations made were quite good (IMO). However, when I did a small poll of participants, they listened to the recommendations as platitudes. When asked, they all said they would not be taking action. I'm now wondering…why?
Here are some highlights from the presentation:
- There's a crisis in confidence in the industry characterized by flat revenues and reduced profits.
- Money is cheap; more industry consolidation is coming; more firms are for sale & there are fewer buyers.
- Unbridled growth will not continue.
Radical changes are required in
- how you do business planning & the importance placed on it
- All employees must have input & access
- Plan is broad & philosophical AND practical & implementable
- No bullsh*t — simple is better
- information tracked & how it's shared
- More is not better
- Information geared to heading off problems
- Continuous trend analysis
- how you market & sell
- It's all about market sectors
- Build your brand
- Teach everyone in the business to close business
- compensating & connecting people to the enterprise
- Widespread ownership (numerous firms present were employee-owned)
- Everyone connected to company profits
- Less segregation; less perks
- information technology
- All investment decisions can't be cost-justified
- It's all about communication
- Make it easy to support people
- leadership & management
- Give up on the notion of the infallibility of leaders; false idols
- Vision must be articulated by leaders
- Show confidence in the firm
(Remember this is advice to the architectural, engineering, and construction industry.)
So let's say there's something for everyone on the list. Let's also say that the people in the room were at the top tier of their firms. They are in a position to take action. And like me, participants were taking good notes. What gets in the way of taking action?
Is it resignation? Is there just already so much that needs their attention that they can't see their way to initiating one (or two) more actions? Or might it be confidence? Perhaps the actions they've taken in the past have not been well-received.
I don't think it's any of that. Consider this…there's so much inertia in the market, in the industry, and in the company that the maybe above actions don't appear to make a difference. Leaders look for ways to guide (steer) their businesses. Maybe that's the real issue. Read the recommendations again. The recommendations don't have steering qualities.
Mark Zweig is saying manage the business from the bottom up. When he said radical change he meant it. He just didn't share what was behind his prescriptions.
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