The Zweig Letter

Most of us heard it from our parents at some point in our childhood: “You can grow up to be anything you want, but be the best at it you can be.” It’s a good...

One thing I have learned over the years is that how good something turns out depends on the sum total of many small decisions. Most of the time, as it relates to projects, it’s not...

I CAN ADMIT IT. I haven’t always been entirely charitable to business development people in A/E/P and environmental firms. I’ve met too many of them who were too good on the golf course, too quick...

Goodness, how times change. Can you imagine what your reaction would have been five, or even three years ago, if a management consultant advised you to get out of the environmental consulting business and move...

A funny thing happened to me the other day on the way to the office...... I pulled up to a stoplight. A few seconds later, another fellow pulled up in the lane next to me...

Why do some firms grow, have happy employees, keep satisfied clients, and make their owners rich, while others start up, muddle along, and then either continue to muddle along or fizzle out completely? If you...

In spite of my repeated attempts to educate our readers about some of the crazy things they are doing, it takes some people a long time to catch on. Here are few examples of what...

We just got back from the 15th Annual Inc. 500 Conference and Award Ceremony held in Philadelphia. Zweig White & Associates made it onto Inc. magazine’s list of 500 fastest-growing privately held firms for the...

We went to Scottsdale, Arizona, on a family vacation last week. Of course, we did the usual tourist stuff. We visited Montezuma’s Castle near Sedona and rode the stagecoach at Rawhide, the quintessential tacky tourist...

No doubt about it, all of us who are managers in an A/E/P or environmental firm have to face some tough situations from time to time. They aren’t usually “fun” decisions, or situations that give...

Every once in awhile I feel compelled to unload a few disconnected thoughts that might be of value to our readers. This is one of those times: Company cars: When it comes to picking company...

Let’s face it, readers— the A/E/P and environmental business just isn’t what it used to be. The old assumptions just don’t hold true. The old ways of doing things aren’t working. The people who can’t...

Oops.....I just used a four-letter word. Excuse me. But unfortunately, I don’t know a better term to describe people who constantly push the limits and question the status quo. In fact, I think having one...

I have long advocated the use of questionnaires as a marketing technique for A/E and environmental firms when they want to establish themselves as experts serving a particular client group. There really is something to...

There may be truth to the old adage: “Ignorance is bliss.” Because the fact is, there are a lot of people, many of them at the highest levels in A/E/P and environmental firms, who are...

You know, it drives me crazy when I hear some whiner complaining that you can’t make any money in the A/E/P or environmental consulting business. Sure, most people aren’t all that successful. The average firm...

You spend all kinds of money to get the phone to ring and to get on qualified bidders lists. Your best technical seller-doer-closers beat the bushes for new opportunities. Your glossy quarterly newsletters are mailed...

This week, I thought I’d dedicate my column to answering some of the recurring questions we are asked about the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry. Here goes: Should salaried people be paid for overtime? I...

If you’re not worried about who is going to take over when you’re gone, you should be. The second-tier management in an A/E/P or environmental firm is every bit as important as the first. This...

My daughter pointed out a great bumper sticker to me last weekend. It said “Stop Global Whining.” It got me thinking. With the state of the economy right now, it’s hard to understand how anyone...

Although conventional wisdom says that an A/E/P or environmental firm’s greatest asset is its staff, that may not always be so. I don’t want to diminish or underestimate the importance of the workers to a...

We’re seeing more and more multi-office A/E/P and environmental firms wrestle with this issue: should branch offices be profit centers or not? Or should some other organization units be the place where we measure profits...

One of the principals of a firm I have been acquainted with for a couple of years called the other day to tell me he had just left a board of directors’ meeting where they...

You’re all aware of it. The “circular theory,” otherwise known as “what goes around comes around.” It’s one of nature’s laws that seems to hold true as much as the laws of physics. If you’re...