BuiltEnvironment

Effective and efficient

On page 16 of the November 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review, under the heading "Your Voices," it says:

"A poor idea worked on by the right people is salvageable. A good idea worked on by the wrong people is not."

That's a very interesting observation. Certainly a good design team can take a mediocre idea or plan and make it better as they go. In fact, one of the marks of a good design team is that they can, and generally do, refine the plan as they work on it, thereby making the final product so much more than was originally envisioned during the early planning stages of the project.

Many people in the A/E/C industry use the words "effective" and "efficient" interchangeably. In truth, the two words are not interchangeable. To be effective means to do the right thing; to be efficient means to do the thing right. In other words, the former is about doing the correct thing, while the latter is about doing a thing in the correct manner.

When the poor idea mentioned above is sufficiently improved as the project progresses, the idea will likely become effective. But if the good idea is worked on by the wrong people, the odds are it will never be efficient.

Both -- effectiveness and efficiency -- are necessary, but neither is sufficient (my old economics professor would be stunned that I remember this concept!).

Therefore, before you worry about doing the thing right, always make sure you are doing the right thing!

Information becomes knowledge!

I always used to tell people that it was easier to learn something if you had to turn around and teach it to someone else. I don't know why I believed this (strongly, like intuition), but I always found it true for me, so I always assumed it would be true for others.

In the February 2011 issue of Structural Engineering & Design, editor Jennifer Goupil, PE, quoted Neil Fleming of Lincoln University (Canterbury, New Zealand) as saying, "Only when we do some work on information do we shift it to knowledge." She goes on to say, "Hence, the way we use information and organize it into the context of our being is what gives us knowledge."

So information only becomes knowledge when we do something with it -- use it for a purpose, organize it to interact with other stored information, teach it to someone else.

Notice that I said "teach" and not simply "present" or "share." When someone makes a presentation that involves the rote sharing of data, that reflects no more than a transfer of information. If people take notes, close their books and go away, that confirms the transfer and receipt of information but not much else.

But if I present information and then actively discuss it with my audience, so that people integrate and synthesize the information, and develop and share new ideas based on that information, then it is not a simple sharing of data or information. It is a sharing of KNOWLEDGE.

All it takes to share information is an email program. But sharing knowledge requires interaction and so many other cues and clues besides the written word or picture. All sorts of non-verbal communications come into play -- facial expressions, posture, gestures -- and all make a contribution to the way the information is received and processed into a growing body of knowledge.

It's so nice to discover -- in print, no less! -- that I've been right all these years!

Eloquent young engineer - any firms paying attention?

FIRST, A JOKE:

Question:  What's the difference between an introverted engineer and an extroverted engineer?

Answer:  An introverted engineer looks at HIS shoes when he talks to you; an extroverted engineer looks at YOUR shoes when he talks to you!

SECOND, AN OBSERVATION ABOUT A NEWS ITEM FROM LAST WEEK:

A now-viral clip on youtube shows Zach Wahls, a 19-year old University of Iowa engineering student, speaking to the Iowa House of Representatives about his same-sex-parents family, how normal and ordinary it is, and how much like every other family they are. He speaks with passion and eloquence, and seems comfortable standing in the House chambers addressing his state's elected representatives.

WHAT DOES IT SIGNIFY?:

Wait a minute! An engineering student? Speaking eloquently and passionately, and seeming comfortable about standing and speaking to anyone, much less his state's House of Representatives? And speaking before a battery of media cameras and microphones as well?

I cite this here not because of any political or sociological agenda. I just take this opportunity to point out to local Iowa and other engineering firms that this is a young man engineering firms should all be tracking. Engineers who can comfortably stand up and speak to an audience -- ANY audience -- are few and far between. In fact, engineers who ENJOY doing this kind of speaking are even more rare.

I hope a bunch of firms are pursuing Zach Wahls with offers of internships or outright scholarships in return for his agreement to give them a certain number of years after graduation. This is a young man who is not afraid to stand up and speak his piece. He even seems to be enjoying his moment

This is the kind of young engineer who would be part of your firm's next generation of senior leadership, because he has good people skills in addition to (what I hope are) good engineering skills. This is the kind of young engineer a firm fights to recruit and then falls all over itself to retain.

That's a hint ! ! ! !

Showing up

Somewhere over the Atlantic, on my way to South Africa, I read an article that included the following sentence: "The world is run by those who show up!"

My first thought was, "Duh, that should be obvious." But then I thought, "consider how many people complain about the government and 'bad' laws and ordinances -- but NEVER show up at the polls to vote in an election."

My father said that, when I moved to a new city, I should register to vote as a member of the local "in" party, so if I ever needed a favor from an elected official or political appointee, I would be on their donor list and more likely to get the help I need." Cynical? Yes. My 60+ years of watching government work tells me that money talks!

What does this mean for the A/E industry? Here are some things to consider.

When you show up at a client's office, particularly when there is no RFQ/RFP "on the street," you demonstrate your desire to develop (or strengthen) a real relationship, leading to respect and trust, and ultimately leading to projects for that client.

When you show up at a city council meeting, you demonstrate your desire to be part of the workings of that local government, and your desire to develop (or strengthen) relationships with elected leaders.

When you show up at a pre-proposal meeting, you demonstrate many things: To the client, you demonstrate your desire to work on their projects and your willingness to invest your time in their processes. To the WBE, MBE, HUB, 8(a) or other firms who might be subconsultants, you demonstrate your intention to pursue the project, your need for subconsultants, and your desire to be approached by these firms as potential teaming partners. To the competition, you demonstrate that you are in contention for the project and intend to win it.

When you show up to visit the client's project managers, you demonstrate your desire to have a real relationship with them, to be more than just a consultant who does the work and submits a bill. If you show up when there is no RFQ/RFP "on the street" and you have no current project, you demonstrate your desire to be a friend, and to have a relationship outside/beyond the confines of a contract. You might even get the opportunity to help write the next RFQ or RFP, or to comment on an early draft, either of which gives you a competitive edge in pursuing that project.

All of these things are part of the client relationship, and we all know that relationships are as important as technical credentials in winning work. Therefore, you must get in your car, travel the miles, and put your butt print in the client's guest chair (my favorite phrase to describe this activity!), because showing up is half the battle!