Architecture & Engineering Business Strategies

Latest Episodes:

KatalystDI: Organizing Work Towards Adaptive Organizations (w/ Libo Li) Nov 08, 2021

Show notes

The world is changing fast. In order for your practice to survive, you’ll have to change along with it. New technologies and new ways of communicating can be scary, but humans have always evolved and adapted by using new tools. During this Section Cut interview, Libo Li, CTO of KatalystDI, talked to us about how becoming an adaptive organization has to start from the firm culture, how better organization tools can lead to better design, and how experimentation and permission to fail is key to improving.

Interview Takeaways

Adapt to survive
Organize for better designs
Move past paper-based communication
Be a tool maker, not just a tool user
Create an adaptable culture
Experiment and iterate
Adapt in the right direction
Reduce blocking events & introduce independent action
Create tools within Notion
Use templates for repeatable work
Code what you know
Keep a growth mindset and allow failure

Show Links

Check out KatalystDI
Connect with Libo Li on LinkedIn or Twitter
Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
Check out Monograph
Check out Section Cut
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Talentstar: Marketing for Talent (w/ Marjanne Pearson, Linda Wallack) Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

Finding and hiring top talent is a challenge for any company, especially in today’s competitive hiring environment. To give your business the best shot at attracting and retaining great employees, you have to know how to market your business to job candidates. In this Section Cut interview, Talentstar’s founder Marjanne Pearson and Principal Connector Linda Wallack share how to attract potential hires by knowing who your brand is, what values you need your employees to share, and how to utilize every company resource.

Interview Takeaways

Acquire talent through effective marketing
Know your brand
Share core values and a common approach
Stay competitive by following industry shifts
Keep up with the latest technology
Hire people with compatible goals
Look at future potential
Take care of your current team
Cultivate diversity by getting involved
Make every member a marketer
Utilize a nontraditional workforce
Ask tough questions

Show Links

Check out Talentstar
Connect with Marjanne Pearson on LinkedIn
Connect with Linda Wallack on LinkedIn
Connect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Check out Section Cut
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Workshop/APD: Success Stories (w/ Thomas Julliard Zoli) Oct 29, 2021

Show notes

How can you finally say goodbye to an unwieldy spreadsheet system and streamline your operation from start to finish? At Workshop/APD, the team develops strategic and custom solutions at scale. When they doubled their team over the course of the pandemic, a smooth project management system became more important than ever. Thankfully, they already had their “secret weapon” in place in the form of Monograph. During this Section Cut interview, principal architect Thomas Zoli shares how the once boutique New York design firm is now bigger and better than ever.

Interview Takeaways

Grow your verticals as you grow your firm
Foster cross-pollination
Scale your custom work
Use Monograph to enable data fluency
Let Monograph be your secret weapon
Say goodbye to Excel spreadsheets
Don’t throw meeting money out the window
Create an internal workflow
Enable ownership of time tracking
Drive meetings with Monograph

Show Links

Check out Workshop/APD
Connect with Thomas Zoli on LinkedIn
Connect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Check out Section Cut
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Traverse Landscape Architects: Success Stories (w/ Arthur Eddy, Marie Eddy) Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Architects don’t receive a lot of training on business and finance. And staff members with business experience don’t often understand the design side. So, how do these two groups collaborate and run a practice? During this Section Cut interview, Arthur and Marie Eddy of Traverse Landscape Architects shared how they’re using Monograph to speak the same language across groups and get things done faster. From better understanding the project process to determining what’s working and what’s not, Monograph has allowed them to streamline tasks and educate their staff.

Interview Takeaways

Use Monograph to take stock of business operations
Educate people in the whole business
Streamline reporting and accounting with Monograph
Understand what’s working
Speak the same language
Reduce time on monthly invoices
Do revenue forecasting as a team
Collaborate across projects

Show Links

Check out Traverse Landscape Architects
Connect with Arthur Eddy on LinkedIn or Twitter
Connect with Marie Eddy on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Check out Section Cut
Connect with Joann Lui on LinkedIn or Twitter
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Verdant Studio: Success Stories (w/ Jessica Hester, Natasha Brand) Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

How do you operate a national practice that encompasses art, architecture, historical preservation, and construction documents all under one roof? That’s the task of Verdant Studio, an Arkansas-based firm with incredible breadth and reach. Founder Jessica Hester credits Monograph for keeping the team on schedule and on budget while shaving hours of meeting and accounting time off their plate every week. In this Section Cut interview, Jessica and colleague Natasha Brand shared how Verdant Studio tackles complex projects and uses Monograph to pave the way.

Interview Takeaways

Create places people love
Enable public art
Bring historic projects to life
Marry research and art
Enable innovation with Monograph
Reduce meeting time with Monograph
Streamline billing with Monograph
Use saved time to recharge

Show Links

Check out Verdant Studio
Connect with Jessica Hester on LinkedIn
Connect with Natasha Brand on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Check out Section Cut
Connect with Joann Lui on LinkedIn or Twitter
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Krueck Sexton Partners: Success Stories (w/ Tom Jacobs) Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

When an architecture firm is just starting out, almost anything goes in the quest to get up and running. But once you’re more established, two things need to become foundational to how you do business: transparency and discipline. In this Section Cut conference interview, Tom Jacobs, co-managing partner at Krueck Sexton Partners, discusses how these two values were key to the firm’s success story—and how Monograph has helped make it all possible. He explains why embracing data-driven project planning and performance allows you to scale your business while also scaling your time for creativity.

Interview Takeaways

Stay transparent
Define your spheres of activity
Create a nimble value proposition
Share documents widely
Monograph links data with project performance
Upgrade your resource planning with Monograph
Organize planning and execution
Monograph is a technology accelerator
Fuel innovation with greater purpose
Choose collaboration over competition

Show Links

Check out Krueck Sexton Partners
Connect with Tom Jacobs on LinkedIn
Connect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Check out Section Cut
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Talentstar: The Future of Practice Operations (w/ Marjanne Pearson) Oct 18, 2021

Show notes

When you think of practice operations, you may think of the tools, information systems, and resources that have to be managed on a daily basis. But Marjanne Pearson, founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Talentstar, wants you to reframe how you look at practice operations. It should be about mobilizing all those resources to create value and seek opportunities for transformational change. As a speaker at our Section Cut conference series, Marjanne talked about the future of practice operations and how firms can position themselves for long-term, sustainable growth.

Interview Takeaways

Look for ways to create value
Determine how to improve in the future
Reframe practice objectives
Leverage your developmental assets
Embrace transformational change
Focus on what’s next
Establish an energy grid
Get leadership support for innovation

Show Links

Check out Talentstar
Connect with Marjanne Pearson on LinkedIn or Twitter
Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
Check out Monograph
Check out Section Cut
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

RIOS: Silver Linings, Audacity and Joy - The New Practice Playbook (w/ Jessamyn Davis, Andy Lantz) Oct 14, 2021

Show notes

Have you considered a unique firm structure? RIOS’ practice structure might just take the cake, as it is unique at every level. Not only do they have two CEOs, but they have a multidisciplinary office with architects, interior designers, and graphic designers all working together. What really stands out about the practice is its values. Things like audacity, joy, and agility top a list of core values that are all about breaking the rules and doing something new. During this Section Cut interview, co-CEOs Jessamyn Davis and Andy Lantz discuss how those values are put into action and what they see as their practice’s playbook.

Interview Takeaways

Balance skills with co-CEOs
Create a management committee
Harness the passions of your team
Celebrate trying new things
Get clients to take calculated risks
Bring joy into the office
Break the rules with a multi-disciplinary office
Embrace change
Go global with your staff
Stick to short-term strategies to stay agile
Rely on data
Stand out by prioritizing joy

Show Links

Check out RIOS
Connect with Jessamyn Davis on LinkedIn
Connect with Andy Lantz on LinkedIn or Twitter
Check out Monograph
Check out Section Cut
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Adjaye Associates, Decanthropy: How To Build Communities As An Architect (w/ Farida Abu-Bakare, Ian Rolston) Oct 08, 2021

Show notes

Now more than ever there’s an opportunity to design with purpose, and with a goal of equity so that spaces are built for everyone. But in order to do that, we need to do two things: keep the new generation of young designers engaged and supported, and involve our clients and communities in the design process. In this Best Practice interview, Black Architects + Interior Designers Association Canada (BAIDA) co-founder Farida Abu-Bakare and Director of Advocacy Ian Rolston explain how two-way mentorship, developing a voice, and learning from the communities you build in can transform the architecture industry.

Interview Takeaways

Be your authentic self
Collaborate at every level
Understand local building methods and environments
Share information in a mentorship
Keep the younger generation in design
Develop your voice
Look for a place where you’ll fit
Leaders should transform, not transact
Set out to achieve community impact
Bring clients into your process
Spend time in communities
Pursue equity in design

Show Links

Check out BAIDA
Connect with Farida Abu-Bakare on LinkedIn
Connect with Ian Rolston on LinkedIn
Connect with George Valdes on LinkedIn or Twitter
Connect with Chris Morgan on LinkedIn
Check out Monograph
Follow Monograph on LinkedIn or Instagram
Listen and read more about Monograph

Olson Kundig: How To Blend The Art Of Business With Architecture (w/ "HP" Hemanshu Parwani) Sep 29, 2021

Show notes

In a world of seven billion people and counting, innovative design has become more important than ever. From residential to transportation to healthcare, how can we create an innovative built environment that caters to humanity’s changing needs? These are the questions that occupy leading design firms. For Olson Kundig’s CEO Hemanshu Parwani, or "HP" for short, the goal is to source top talent and deploy staff in ways that solve specific problems for clients—and benefit the world at large. Here, HP explains why it's valuable to follow a design-led approach, ask the right questions, and embrace innovation at every turn.

Interview Takeaways