IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE

“I just love deadlines, especially the sound of them whooshing by” – seen on a refrigerator magnet

As we near major deadlines on multiple projects, our staff is working long hours to get the work done. I have two comments for our team response to this:  1. I appreciate your effort toward producing excellent work, and 2. Take care of yourself while you work hard.

The first of these two statements is more than an exercise of good manners. Expressing appreciation for what people do is good for their mental health.  We all need to be appreciated.

The second statement is not so obvious, but is none the less true.

First of all, when we work ourselves to exhaustion, we often make ourselves susceptible to illness due to lack of rest. Studies will back this up, and I have observed it empirically over the years.

I also have found that when we keep our noses to the grindstone, we often miss the obvious. My best empirical evidence of this comes from my own experience about 30 years ago in the early days of being in practice.  In those days, when still a one man firm, I would often find myself struggling to solve a design problem – it simply wasn’t coming to me.  With no colleagues immediately available to bounce ideas off of, I would put the pencil down and go outside and mow the lawn or do some similar mindless chore that would consume an hour or two.  I would find that when I went back into the office, the solution to the problem would pretty much bounce off the drawing board at me, and I would be able to complete my task.

As a practitioner of a profession that is notorious for abusing its employees, I make a deliberate effort to safeguard the mental health of the people around me. When we sit for hours on end in front of a computer screen, and the temptation is there to do exactly that, we lose perspective.  In the effort to solve a problem so we can move on, we find ourselves tempted to settle for a mediocre solution to the problem at hand at the expense of good design. This can be avoided by balancing our hard work with a deliberate period of rest – whether twenty minutes or the occasional three day weekend.

So to my professional colleagues out there, I offer this piece of advice: work hard, but balance it with a due portion of rest, relaxation, prayer, meditation, humor, or whatever it takes to get you through the day.  It will keep your axe sharp and your product worthy.

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SWEATING MORE SMALL STUFF

With my last post I spoke of the necessity of members of the AEC industry to sweat the small stuff; to consider all of the issues related to putting a project together. This week, I will explore the best way to accomplish this.

We often hear about how graduates from architecture and engineering programs have very little practical/technical knowledge in their field. The complaints seem to be loudest from seasoned professionals such as myself.  In response to this, I concentrate on mentoring young professionals in an effort to pay forward the mentoring I received in the late seventies and early eighties as a young professional just getting into the field.

That said, new graduates and young professionals come armed with the most recent thinking on theoretical issues and solutions to some of the issues we all face. They have so much to offer, that we need to listen to what they have to say.  We need for mentoring to be a two way street, as we can all learn from one another.  Example: the seamless transition of our practice from hand drafting to CAD back in the nineties was made possible by a young professional with knowledge that I didn’t have.  She made it possible in a two week time span to have our electronic drawings look like our hand drafted work.

The best way I know of to make the two-way intentional transfer of knowledge happen is through CSI. In order for the two way exchange of knowledge to take place, we have to make certain that we get the young professionals to our meetings.  The invitation needs to be made on a personal basis, regardless of how the invitation is delivered (face to face, e-mail, social media, or even (gasp) a phone call.  The future of the industry depends on it.

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IT’S ON THE INTERNET, RIGHT?

My membership in CSI paid for itself again last week.

“I can find the information on the internet.” I hear this statement often, and to a large extent, it is true.  But not all of the information is necessarily in one place, and it can be very difficult to connect the dots.  To my point, yes the information is there.  But knowing where to find it and what the limitations of said information are is not necessarily discernable from a single website or multiple websites.

With that said, I ran across an issue last week where a client was looking to do something that was apparently a code violation. Given that the issue involved electronic access/egress control and related fire safety issues, I reached out to a fellow CSI member and CCPR that I knew would have the answer.  Of course, he was eager to take my call and discuss how to meet my client’s intent.

As I suspected, the client’s original suggestion turned out to be explicitly prohibited by the International Building Code. As the conversation progressed, I was asked the appropriate questions about the client’s specific needs, which we discussed at length.  The response was immediate, as this particular issue is often a problem within my client’s industry, and my colleague often has to address this issue.  The solution to my client’s problem involves integrating my colleague’s product with a product of a different manufacturer, as neither company’s product would solve the problem in isolation.  By combining the two systems, the issues of security and life safety are both addressed and the client’s needs are met.

You would not find this information on a manufacturer’s website. Had I not been an active CSI member, I would not have been aware of who to call to get the needed information.  With apologies to Mastercard, the information available from a CCPR is priceless.

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THE STONES WERE WRONG

We all remember the Rolling Stones Song which states “I can’t get no satisfaction”. I’m here to say that they were wrong, or at least not completely correct.

I had the privilege of attending a grand opening party at one of our projects Tuesday evening. The guests gathered in and around the clubhouse at The Apartments at Goose Creek in Fishersville, Virginia. The building proved to be exactly the right size for the gathering and the design was well received by the guests as they wandered around checking the place out.

It would seem a no-brainer that this was a satisfying experience to the architect of record.  Seeing people’s reaction when they entered the building where they could immediately see a panoramic view of the Alleghenies in the distance and the half dozen geese hanging from the ceiling makes what we do worthwhile.

As the evening wore on and the sky made its transition from day to evening, the exterior lights came on and changed the building to its nocturnal persona which was also well received by the guests and confirmed that the design lighting levels were correct. The use of photometric software proved to be valuable, as the lighting levels made the trek between the clubhouse and the model apartment comfortable for the guests.

I have to admit that I received a lot of complements on the project as the evening progressed, but I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the team that made the vision a reality. Goose Creek is the second consecutive collaboration between the three participants. I have to acknowledge our client, Denise LaCour of Denstock LLC whose vision over our 25 plus year collaboration has changed the landscape of our community in very positive ways. I would also like to acknowledge our contractor, KBS, Inc. that transformed our documents into reality. Their management and on site teams were top notch. My partners and staff were instrumental in producing the design and documentation. This collaboration bears out the quote attributed to Tony Bennett of the University of Virginia Men’s Basketball program which states “If you want to do something fast, do it alone. If you want to do it well, do it together”.

So as our practice of architecture continues, it is impossible to avoid the feeling of satisfaction that comes from watching the work of a great team perform well.

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