It’s Labor Day Weekend and there’s been a LOT going on lately, as you might imagine.
In the last week, I was proud and honored to attend my father’s Old Glory Honor Flight. I also attended a fund-raising event a few days prior. The people in charge of that organization do an amazing amount of work to provide an experience for those who’ve served this country, It was an emotional experience – even for those in attendance as observers.
How many times do we really dig deep down in the feelings to express just how much a loved one means? I wrote a letter that had me misty when I was writing it and was received in the spirit intended when my father read it on the flight back.
The ‘letters from home’ mailbag on the return trip is an experience in itself.
Additionally, I attended Monograph’s virtual conference titled Section Cut for Practice Operation professionals in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design, and Engineering.
By itself, it was worthy of a story and I scarcely know where to begin. The platform itself is a powerful way to track performance on so many levels of firm scale (the organization, the project, and the individual). The conference was orchestrated much the same way. There was ALWAYS something happening. With multiple virtual stages and speakers, side stages, the virtual water cooler with random chat… it was very cool.
I was exposed to SO many insights about the current industry and was able to chat briefly with many of the people that I don’t get a chance to engage with. Something that I’ve been missing from the day-to-day for a while.
The re-airing of the conference speakers are popping up on their YouTube Channel that you can find here
There’s so much uplifting information on this channel that’s abundantly useful, and stages that I may have missed that I’m grateful for the chance to re-attend these discussions, and I’ve watched more than a few of them so far.
The people who geek out on Practice, and the things behind the curtain, that drive the practice really need to watch these panel discussions.
I was specifically motivated by Libo Li’s talk on Organizing Work Toward Adaptive Organizations. Breaking down a path for reducing resistance in productivity at the firm culture level, as well as a quick walk-thru of organizing & using data in Notion.
Notion is something that I’ve started using, beginning first with Eric Reinhold’s Templates that he’s developed as part of how he utilizes the tool for personal and project organization. If you click the link, it’ll take you directly to his course and templates.
Of course, after Libo’s talk, I went from puttering around with databases and linked tasks to a full-blown interest in what else the tool could do. Last night, I was up late (naturally) watching tutorials on features, programming formulas, and building out these databases, specialized features, and review points.
While exploring this space and tutorials, I’ve stumbled on a common problem of nomenclature, and the pretty diverse methodologies that come with harnessing a platform allows you to do such a large variety of things, using whatever methods that you might want. Right now, I’m backing out of the specifics to better understand just how I want to organize the structure of these tools.
Backing up (Zooming out) to understand more about the platform, organization, and using the tools usually represents a productivity speed bump for me, and spins out to side-projects and distraction. While I gain knowledge of a resource, it pushes out the ultimate goal of setting up and using the tools with more immediacy.
As Libo put it,
“‘Move fast and break things’… well the key to moving fast is being able to safely break things. The safety net for failed experimentation is what allows each capable individual to take a greater risk, which carries with it a higher chance of discovering something that works much better than anticipated.”
I am without a particular safety net at the moment, which allows the freedom to experiment, but carries with it that massive problem of participating in scaling tools and participating in the revenue side of life that’s required to exist in polite society. Obstacles abound, and I’m learning that they’re mostly of my own making.
As a portion of my efforts to reach out, and expand my resource group beyond binge-listening to PodCasts and firing off resumes – I applied for membership in the JAMB collective.
JAMB is a small firm network resource & expertise sharing platform, with member firms in many locations in the U.S. and internationally. The impetus behind it was born from an AIA discussion about Practice.
In 2017, the Young Architect’s Forum – Practice Innovation Lab held a Shark-Tank style pitch session exploring ideas for new business models for architecture.
For anyone who might be interested – the link to the event can be found here:
Practice Innovation Lab – An industry disruption event hosted by the Young Architects Forum
The PDFs from the Lab Program and Findings are here:
JAMB collective was born here, and I’m excited to be a part of it. Frankly – I need better access to the greater AEC community, and I really want to help in whatever fashion I can participate in. I’ve been stuck in my own bubble for too long with the world bearing down on me. It’s tainted my outlook on potentials and possibilities – which led to this morning’s events.
Sort of buried the lede again, but this morning I got my ass handed to me in a brainstorming session about paths toward achieving my particular goals as an architect.
It was all things that I needed to hear, and the other participant was pretty well frustrated with me in my responses to the ideas and thoughts presented. I still swear that I wasn’t being contentious, and was approaching things honestly – but my mindset wasn’t right.
I’m sneaking up on the paradigm shift and that Eureka moment. Right at this moment, its the ‘Mona Lisa’s smile’ I’m currently wearing, where under the surface I’m gaining the enthusiasm toward that life-changing realization.
I got my ass kicked, and I deserve it.
Admittedly, I’m not 100% sure that I’ve ever answered this completely, and likely part of the reason that I’m floundering of late. (Using Jack Sparrow’s Compass again because it’s the perfect metaphor for my situation).
So, here it is:
Beyond buzz words, branding, and marketing statements – beyond all pretense of professionalism in the practice of higher-end architectural services… What I want to accomplish with all of this is offering design services to those who don’t always have access to it, (or the perception is that they don’t have access to it). My dream position isn’t dependent on physical location. Specialty services for a network of firms while providing for my own local client base. Smaller projects, community-based.
Inside of that statement is a massive problem set that actually borders on the ridiculous, in its complexity. I just chuckled while typing it. I’ve been doing this for a while – I have a reasonable knowledge base on how it all works. There are possibilities and there are obstacles. In my recent mindset – it’s been obstacles.
Thus far, I’ve unsuccessfully leaped. It’s that kind of jump that a small kitten makes, expecting to clear the object, with much different results.
I have an idea, I have the capabilities, the tools, passion, and the institutional knowledge base to make a dent in this big bad world, thru the practice of architecture & design. There are few things of which I am more certain.
And I’m doing it wrong.
Answering job postings, firing off resumes and praying that someone finds me worthy… This is NOT the way. Somewhere in the last 8-10 years, everything shifted, and I missed the memo. The head-down, east-sleep-and-breathe levels of dedication with a strong portfolio, doesn’t quite cut it anymore. I had no idea.
I’m a mid-career guy. I’ve been at this for a long time and maybe I’m out of touch a little.
The back and forth went a lot like this:
“Why don’t you explore_______?”
My answers were a myriad of statements you’d expect from a defeated guy who’s got difficulties with self-promotion & and deep introversion.
“I don’t know how to code”
“I don’t have a solid base in the requirements that they listed”
“It’s been a long time since I was able to engage and handle my own clients. I’ve been kept in a silo doing production.”
“I don’t have the background that they’re looking for. I’ve never specialized in ______/ I don’t know ____ software package, so I won’t make it thru the resume gauntlet.”
Am I full of crap? I don’t think so… but I’ve been wrong in the past. My mindset is wrong.
I’ve been advertising myself as well-qualified and capable, toward advertised positions. I’ve been reaching out to old friends, old markets, and places that I’ve worked previously just to touch base. A lot of smaller firms have closed up entirely, or the resources that I had is no longer there.
I’m a simple guy, who usually just shuts up and kicks ass, or engages with small teams. I was completely unaware that you need to do informational interviews to explore the edges & expand the network before learning of any position possibility.
I’ve been hell-bent on creating a marketable product to generate any kind of income, and lamenting the idea that I don’t survive the gauntlet beyond the salary part. I’ve been screwing up there too.
The world looks a little different when you’re not running 3 of your own social media platforms with a network of thousands already developed. A lot of what I’d answered, was both true, and an obstacle of my own making. I answered from a total place of someone with an uncertain future who’s been stuck in a room too long, worrying.
These last couple of months I’ve been dreading this week. The last of any financial lifeline. And as anyone would expect – it’s freaking me out.
I can own up to all of this. I’m not socially outgoing. I never really have been. Networking is difficult for me.
Sometimes I have a hard time understanding those who are socially outgoing. I used to ‘go out on Thursday nights when I lived in Milwaukee as a younger man. My entire social experience was crammed into a small bar, unable to fall down, in a room where you couldn’t hear or talk to anyone while spending 4x the cost on alcohol. None of that made sense to me, and wasn’t particularly ‘fun’.
Maybe I’ve always been an old guy. I certainly have always been claustrophobic.
I can see it. All those answers from today’s exchange are obstacles of my own making. Some behavioral, but most are risks not taken because of rejection and the based fear of looking stupid, or pre-determined rejections based on criteria. I operate within a set of constraints.
“I don’t have a background in ________, so I don’t stand a chance of working there.”
“I don’t have a base in ________, so engaging in that discussion is going to be over my head and make me feel/look stupid.”
“My solutions aren’t as elegant as ______, and competing I’m lacking a critical skill set in _____, so I’m pretty sure that’s going to go poorly.”
“I’ve been ghosted on 75% of the resumes I’ve put out there… applying for a position that I don’t meet the qualifications for is wasting someone’s time.”
I’m not going to rationalize or justify any of that. It’s a reaction to my perception of the present environment. It’s difficult when you don’t feel like you have a voice or a place in the conversation, but that’s another thing that’s my fault for having cut loose social media.
And as the saying goes:
“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”
—Albert Einstein
I’ve been building tools and applications for the generation of revenue instead of tackling my people problems to grow my personal network of possibilities.
I need to reach out more instead of quietly researching, making things in a vacuum, and lamenting jumping into a marketplace of ideas with a limited audience, no specialty, and competing with established people who I admire for their work in the AEC space.
It’s well past time for a shift.
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