The Zweig Letter

When design or environmental firms face problems, the first course they usually pursue is one of cost cutting. Obviously, there’s merit to it. I have recommended cost cuts to clients many times over the years,...

What is it with some people? We have all had the opportunity (or misfortune) to work with a man or woman who finds fault with everything and pours cold water on every hot idea. These...

No! I refuse to let pop culture permeate this temple of good management! It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s Jerri, Mad Dog, Kel, or Edna who gets booted off of the island. What I...

I have never been big on “business is a game” analogies. The people I have met over the years who’ve used this analogy never seemed to exemplify the kind of values that I think you...

Remember the story about the emperor who had no clothes? Everyone was afraid to tell him, though, so he paraded around in the buff and made a complete fool of himself. I see the same...

It’s becoming more apparent to me every day that human resources management as we know it needs a total overhaul. Many human resources experts (staff and consultants) are perpetuating bad advice, and the typical A/E/P...

We’re talking to a lot of company CEOs who aren’t the least bit concerned about the effects a recession would have on their firms because they serve government clients. But my experience is, if the...

With 2001 now underway, I want to share some lessons I have learned in the last few years with our readers. These are each important issues related to your success as individuals and as firms....

Let’s face it. In business, as in life, things don’t always go the way you want. There will be problems that you can anticipate, and there will be problems that you never expected. Either way,...

I came away from our first-ever Hot Firm conference held last week in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as impressed as I could be. Not only did our conference planning staff do a first-class job in terms of...

Is your firm a compassionate firm? Do you choose what’s humane over what’s best financially in certain situations? And what difference does that make, anyway? Business is business. And we all know that to be...

Now lie in it. I’ve been a believer in the adage that you make your own luck. But that’s not just good luck, it’s bad luck, too. Make bad decisions, do the wrong thing, and...

I just got back from the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) (Washington, DC) national convention in San Diego (held October 4-6). What a turnout! Their estimates were that they had somewhere between 1,400 and...

Everyone says they’re interested in it, and there are all kinds of articles out there on the subject. How to attract and keep an outstanding workforce is clearly on the minds of many principals and...

With all of the employment-related pressures that firms face today, it’s getting harder and harder to figure out what you really need to pay somebody to do a given job. There are so many ways...

I ran into a building contractor friend of mine in front of our office complex the other day. He is currently working on a project to convert a 16,000 square foot former women’s clothing store...

Sure, you can learn from a fool. But how much more can you learn from a smart person? That’s why we’re focusing this special edition of The Zweig Letter on hot firms— firms that have...

The amount of BS that exists out there on management and marketing for firms in our business is beyond belief. Just check out the program from the most recent American Institute of Architects (AIA) (Washington,...

When it comes to leadership, there are many different paths that lead to the same destination. Attila the Hun, Moses, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Tom Peters, and even our kindergarten teachers can all be pointed to...

I just got back from a 1,720-mile motorcycle trip with my wife on our new Kawasaki ZG1000 sport touring bike. It was fantastic! We went up the coast of Maine from Kennebunkport to Bar Harbor....

My 80 year-old parents just came up from Kirkwood, Missouri, for a short visit. As is always the case, my dad and I eventually got around to talking about business. I don’t know anyone who...

I have always been interested in design and construction. When I was as young as seven years old, I was drawing up floor plans for houses on graph paper and building them with my Legos....

When it comes to staffing your A/E/P or environmental consulting firm, it’s one thing to have all of your seats filled. It’s another thing to have those seats filled with people who are motivated— motivated...

Exit stage left. If you are like most of our readers, you are probably a CEO, managing partner, president, chairperson, majority stockholder, or major shareholder in the A/E/P and environmental consulting firm you work in....