Fast Future: Big Changes, Just Around the Corner

Business Improvement, Planning

Over the last year I’ve been delivering around the country a new seminar entitled “Fast Future! Fifteen Uber-Trends that Will Rock Our World, and What Professional Firms and Leaders Must Do to Survive and Thrive on the Road Ahead.” Of the fifteen uber trends I’ve identified (all important and often intertwined and interconnected) I highlight five:  technology, information, globalization, meritocracy, and change – as the “Big Five,” the uber among uber forces driving a profound transformation of society and humanity – right before our eyes. We know these trends, because we’re all a part of (and affected by) these seismic […]

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Your Competition – Is Who?

Business Development, Business Improvement, Operations, Planning

Can you (and others in your firm) accurately identify and describe your competition? In my experience (with hundreds of organizations and thousands of professionals) the common answer is no. Truth is, most professionals don’t spend enough time focusing on the competitive context of their business. Competitors they do know (the handful of firms seen at pre-bid meetings, conference sessions, or discussed in client conversations) represent only a small part of the story. Still, properly assessing the full range of competitive threats is a must to fully appreciate the market, and to plan for a purposeful and distinctive response.  Here are […]

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Thoughts on Organization Structure in the AEC Firm

Business Improvement, Leadership Development, Leadership Transition, Operations, Planning

This spring, a couple of my clients have been working to implement new strategic plans, both involving big changes (improvements) to their organization structure. Working with these leaders has reminded me (yet again) of both the challenge and simplicity of organization design. Some highlights: 1)      Strategy before Structure – Though it always makes conceptual sense that strategy should come first, in practice it’s tempting to reach for reorganization as the prescription for change per se. Resist this urge always! Instead, use strategy – the “Big S,” overarching, enterprise-scale strategy which defines the firm’s primary focus – to decide how best […]

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Push-Pull, and the Physics of Organization Alignment

Business Improvement, Leadership Development, Leadership Transition, Planning

In his 1989 work Mintzberg on Management, Henry Minztberg describes professional organizations as “seemingly upside-down organizations, where the workers sometimes appear to manage the bosses.”  Mintzberg notes that he himself works in a professional organization (at McGill University in Toronto) at least partially “because it is the one place in the world where you can act as if you [are] self-employed [and] yet regularly receive a paycheck.” My work with organizations yields a similar understanding.  One of the striking attributes of professional services firms is the incredible autonomy enjoyed by practicing professionals, often alongside an apparent ’line item veto’ on […]

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