The Best Two Weeks Of The Year

Every spring, I look forward to the blooming of the magnolia tree in the front yard.  It arrived a full month early!  I sit at my desk and, as it is every year, watch the buds form, grow larger day by day before they explode - sometimes overnight.  It's glorious, and vaguely spiritual.

A few weeks ago, my neighbor asked if he could trim some of the branches that were hanging low over his driveway.  A reasonable enough request, but I was uneasy.  We cordially negotiated a compromise that  wasn't too severe, but I was still somewhat pained.  Fewer flowers to enjoy, I suppose.

Now, I see the petals starting to fall to the ground.  Sadly, it's the inevitable passage.  The coming greenery, of course, lasts all summer into the fall.  Pleasant enough, just not as exhilarating as these precious two weeks.  If I were more poetic, I might be able to aptly describe a metaphor for the seasonal change.  Lacking that, I just enjoy.

Each year I take a picture.  The most recent is shared above.  Looking close, you can see why the business is "No Left Turn".  The glancing morning sunlight caught the sign just enough to make it glow - almost ostentatiously.  The tree is more appealing, I think.

Happy Spring.

Equivalent?

Yesterday I attended a conference where an Architect and the College client proudly boasted about their new "LEED Silver equivalent" building under construction.

No - it wasn't LEED (c), or LEED Certified, or even generically "Green" - just "equivalent".  Now, although I'm a LEED AP myself, and committed to all the important design principles; I have some sympathy for those unprepared to deal with the fees and bureaucracy of the USGBC approval process.  Nevertheless, it seems disingenuous to use this "equivalent" phrase.

Let's say I graduated from Architecture School, went through years of apprenticeship; but didn't feel like taking the exam.  Would anybody care if I called myself "Registered Equivalent"?  I'm pretty sure the answer is yes.

Are we condoning the facilities version of street sale Gucci bags?  Who's to know?  The sincerity and honesty of the designers and clients are the only validation.  Is this good enough?

My suspicion is that it may resolve itself when the USGBC takes someone on legally.  It'll be an interesting fight to watch.

How savvy are you?

Me?  Sometimes not so much.

Imagine my surprise when I was the winner of my friend Joanne Linowes' monthly challenge question.  My prize is a copy of her book, The Savvy Presenter.

If you want to give it your go, you have to get on her e-mail list, which you can do at her website by the same name: http://www.savvypresenter.com/ .  It's there you can register for her Tip on the 10th.

It was my pleasure to work with Joanne as we were both hired as coaches for a CM hoping to gain an edge as they prepared for a crucial interview presentation.  I learned as much as our client, I suspect.

Take a look!

What's the Point? Power?

So - here we are.  There are two of us (my co-presenter and I), and nine of them.  We're seated at a reasonably sized conference table.  The room is well lit, and eye contact is easy to accommodate.  The content of our presentation is all verbal - no video or images required.

You'd think if ever there was a time to simply have a conversation, this would be it - but no.  My partner and the principal client contact person both made it clear they wanted a PowerPoint show.  I must admit, I was somewhat deflated.

Now, the software and format are routine for me.  This was not hard to accomplish; but all the time I was putting the file together, I was still wondering how this situation has developed to the extent it has.  Have we lost the ability to have a simple conversation?  Is the show now a part of the justification for the fees we charge.  Have our clients gotten to expect this, perhaps without knowing why?

OK, we did it, and things went well.  We had a good projector, and the lights could stay bright.  We encouraged interjected questions.  We handed out hard copy afterward, so the attendees had formal record of the proceedings.  Looking back, I must admit there were some advantages of such a simple format.

Each of our bullet points were brought in sequentially, as the presentation unfolded.  This technique kept our audience focused on the correct topic, without them jumping ahead to some other place in a handout or agenda.  Of course, if you can command attention, I suppose this could be done without all the hardware.  It's a shame, in a way.

Just another example of new technology changing how we converse.  It's like emailing your co-worker in the adjacent office.  What have we lost?

What do you think?

The Unfair Game

How often have you seen people move from one company to another because they're fed up being passed over?  How often have people moved because they're labeled or pigeon-holed into a specific category or task?  My guess: fairly often.

How could this be?  Ignore, for the sake of this argument, the times when the holding back or the labeling is justified.  But what about all the other times?

I blame the managers.  Threatened by competence.  Blind to potential.  Unwilling to make an investment.  Lazy.  Or just plain dumb.  Unfortunately, I can say that I have even had this happen in places where I was a manager.  So, I may have been part of the problem.  At minimum, I failed to persuade my co-workers of the foolishness of our actions.

Is there a way this behavior can be improved?  Sure.  However, effectiveness varies.  Training programs for both staff and managers.  Performance appraisals, again for BOTH staff and managers.  Third party evaluations.  But, what is the incentive that drives these programs?

Staff participates to the extent they are coerced or desire to advance.  But, they have the option of leaving when they get fed up.  (Less so, perhaps during down economies; but that is subject to change.)  Most of the time, they improve in their new setting.

Owners and managers, on the other hand, seek benefits that may be harder to measure, and harder to incent.  Less staff turn-over.  Higher productivity.  Improved marketability.

Here's a hair-brained idea: For every time a company loses a staff member who leaves out of frustration, the company has to make a donation to the mentor program of the staff member's professional association.

Would it help?  Would the game be any more fair?  

Zen Furniture

So much of what we do is mental, verbal or virtual.  Even when we get our buildings constructed, it's usually by the hands of others.  We have to derive satisfaction from seeing that the executed work comes together in a functional and attractive manner.  As satisfying as this may be when it comes off well, there's a missing element.

In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig explores the metaphysics of Quality.  The analysis was obscure and convoluted to say the least, and probably was well over my head; but there well elements I could relate to.  When he wrote about the majesty of engineered components fitting together, it rang true.  High function is high art.  The closest I can get, it seems, to achieving this is in the work I do designing and building furniture.

The effort is, without question, an ongoing work in progress.  Nirvana has not been has not yet been found.  Nevertheless, I persevere.  What's the right species of wood?  How are the pieces joined?  Is the finish durable and appropriate?  A thousand questions - with thousands of answers.  The fact that I can attempt to create the resolution with my own hands is the attraction.

Maybe this infatuation is genetic.  After my grandfather retired from his butcher shop, he made things in his basement.  Just be cause he wanted to - and because he could.  I remember fondly his living room fireplace standing against the wall.  It was furniture - connected to nothing; but it was beautiful.  Sure, it lacked my ideal of function, but he had other things in mind.  I can relate.

Regardless, the notion of furniture as therapy works for me.  I need to get into the shop.  I'm pretty sure my problem is more than S.A.D.  Wish me well.