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By Morgan Stinson | Great leaders do not chase comfort – they choose difficult conversations, hard decisions, and accountability before crisis forces them to.

By Sara Grayum | AI is accelerating fast, but in AEC the real opportunity lies in using it to expand capacity, not replace people.

By Matt Verderamo | Turn your team into talent scouts and build your own recruiting ecosystem from the inside out.

By Ricardo Jesus Maga Rojas | In today’s AEC talent market, belonging may matter more than pay, perks, or policies in keeping young professionals.

By Stefanie Richter | Firms at the frontier of change thrive by pairing AI adoption with a culture of agility, data trust, and teams built to adapt at scale.

By Mark Zweig | Never give up, act decisively, share the numbers, and lead by example to build a stronger, more resilient firm.

By Janki DePalma | A manager’s guide to building a culture where recovery is respected, contribution is sustainable, and being seen doesn’t require shattering.

By Sara Parkman | Zweig Group’s 2025 Rising Stars share what inspires purpose, loyalty, and change in the AEC workplace.

By Niknaz Aftahi | Solving the silo problem in AEC firms starts with a connected tech stack that boosts collaboration, efficiency, and profit.

By Brandon Pinkerton | Power struggles are an inevitable part of leadership, so expect challengers and be ready to defend your seat at the table.

By Stuart McLendon | In uncertain waters, let strong financial leadership be your north star.

By Mark Zweig | These qualities will be essential for entrepreneurial leaders in the AEC business to have in the coming months and years ahead.

By Mark Zweig | Having little understanding of banking could result in missed opportunities for growth or thorny problems that could put your firm out of business.

By Chad Coldiron | Takeaways from Zweig Group’s 2024 ElevateAEC Conference & Awards Gala.

By Mark Zweig | This is the math that firm owners who pursue mergers and acquisitions use to create a lot of value in their businesses.

By Matthew Miller | By understanding and addressing the factors that contribute to scope creep, project managers can mitigate its impact.

By Eric Tuthill & Jordan Wilson | It’s become increasingly apparent that Section 174 may be around longer than anyone believed possible.

By Javier Suarez | Mentorship relationships are mentee-driven – so, it’s up to you to not only establish one (or more), but to make it worth your while.

By Shelby Smith | Although change can begin with one person, monumental, industry-altering change must be a cohesive, collaborative team effort.

By Brent Schniers | Though there’s no roadmap for navigating grief, there are steps leaders can take to manage their own emotions and guide their organization through a tough time.

By Mark Zweig | Entrepreneurial firm owners understand that marketing is an off-balance sheet long-term investment in the firm’s future.

By Jennifer Haddad | When leaders combine a strong company culture with workplace flexibility and employee empathy, they can create an environment where hybrid work can thrive.

By Mark Zweig | There are things firm owners can do to awaken the latent entrepreneurial spirit lying dormant in some (if not all) of their people.

By Keith Sequeira | Those who, adapt, organize and pioneer new workflows will excel in this new era of possibilities.

By Mark Zweig | There are a number of strategies one can employ to make lots of money in this business.

By Mark Zweig | Work should be an integral part of life, so why do so many people working in AEC firms clearly not feel that way?

By Dawson Fercho & Jordan Wilson | Year-end Congress faces challenges in repealing R&D amortization rule, with political divisions, tax revenue impact, and party dynamics at play.

By Danielle Eisenstock | Three questions managers should begin asking themselves and their team to ensure employees are growing and enjoying the work they do.

By Mark Zweig | Owning a firm that will be profitable and grow over time requires a longer term view and a willingness to invest in the people who generate the revenue.

By Ezequiel Tovar | You must consider the financials before you can fully understand what it takes for a succession plan to be feasible.

Zweig Group announces the release of the highly-anticipated 2023 Information Technology Report of AEC Firms. Representing a comprehensive comparison between 2019 and 2023, this report offers a striking snapshot of the industry's technological evolution from pre-pandemic...

By Travis White | If you want your firm to be an early adopter, you must be aware of this new technology and be willing to adapt.

By Kraig Kern | It is essential for companies to reevaluate their meeting culture and prioritize efficiency and effectiveness for long-term success.

By Adam Bugielski | Burnout is a serious condition that can lead to decreased job satisfaction, productivity, and overall well-being – but there are steps you can take to prevent it.

By Jim Bushong | What happens when decades of consistency and cost expectations in the building trades are suddenly changing in real time, based on market forces that are completely out of control?

By Adrian De la Garza | Insights and considerations that can help you decide if you’re ready to buy another firm.

By Mark Zweig | Stop being so preoccupied with problem solving and instead focus on the things you can do to make someone’s day a little bit better.

By Ezequiel Tovar | Transition planning takes time, and the results are gradual – but if you do it right, the rewards are endless.

By Clay Worley | Don’t be paralyzed by the many workplace changes we’re experiencing; instead embrace new expectations to the benefit of your company and employees.

By Robert Speed | If you can make your culture about the employees, you and your firm will reap the rewards over the course of your career.

By Jodie Quinter | We have an opportunity to reset our company cultures in a way that recognizes adaptability, while prioritizing the ways in which our people want to work and live.

By Ying Liu | Use this tool to uncover the macro external factors that influence your company and understand how those factors could create opportunities or threats.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and chairman of the board at McFarland Johnson, a national consultancy providing program management, planning, environmental, engineering, and construction phase services.

By Mark Zweig | When used consistently, this strategy will allow you to grow faster, raise fees, shed bad clients, and ramp up your pipeline of job candidates.

By Liisa Andreassen | Project director at OBMI (Miami, FL), a leading global master planning, architecture, and design firm that has been creating timeless spaces for 85 years.

By Julia DeFrances | Giving back can be a valuable tool for attracting and retaining talent – and it gives employees a good reason to be proud of where they work.

By Liisa Andreassen | Partner at Method Architecture (Houston, TX), a full-service architecture firm that is uniquely ego-free in its commitment to a systematic, client-focused creative process.

By Derek Clyburn | AEC firms and the industry as a whole should be communicating the value we provide at every level of interaction and throughout the design process.

By Angelique Silvestre | Companies can still create strong team bonds by using technology to implement team building activities that foster company values, trust, and friendship among co-workers.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Campos Engineering (Dallas, TX), an MEP engineering, testing, adjusting and balancing, and commissioning firm.

By Henry Liang | Mr. Miyagi was right: Balance is key. So, make sure both sides of your work-life scale are balanced.

By Mark Zweig | If you are a leader in an AEC firm, it’s crucial that you stay positive in spite of all the bad news we’re seeing these days.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of LaBella Associates (Rochester, NY), a firm with diverse service offerings that can address any aspect of the built or natural environment.

By Michael Britt | It’s important to examine how your company can maintain culture and continue strategic growth in a new work environment.

By Liisa Andreassen | President at ELEMENT (Tampa, FL), an award-winning, certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and Minority Business Enterprise, consulting firm.

By Kevin Brown | Those companies that are resolute, agile, and creative will define the workplace rules of tomorrow, while the rest will be forced to follow or buckle beneath the pressure.

By Will Anderson | Five ways that inflation could be eating away at your firm’s growth and what you can do about it.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Lord Aeck Sargent (Atlanta, GA), an architecture and design firm with a history of creating environments people want to use and preserve.

By Kraig Kern | Too much of a good thing can lead to a crisis for you and your staff and dissatisfaction for your clients.

By Yukari Yamahiro | Four back-to-work-archetypes to help leaders better understand what employees want and need as they return to the workplace.

By Katie Harrel & Charlotte Knight | Finding commonalities can help you build trust and strengthen relationships in this changing work environment.

By Liisa Andreassen | Chairman and CEO of Landry/French (Scarborough, ME), a 100 percent employee-owned commercial construction company.

By Julia DeFrances | It’s natural to want to go back to normal – but remember that employees are your firm’s most important asset, and their needs are critical to your continued success.

BY RLG | Director of business development with RLG Consulting Engineers (Dallas, TX), a firm that specializes in civil, structural, survey, and forensic engineering.

By Mark Zweig | Whether or not the AEC industry experiences a ‘great resignation,’ there are some things you should do to keep turnover low.

By Kyle Ahern | This year’s Best Firms To Work For employee survey provided 1.8 million data points, providing insight into industry trends.

By Mark Zweig | Only a small number of people really get the idea that building a business is not a sprint – it’s an endurance race. It is all about who can last the...

By Mark Zweig | You need to be identifying your successor and preparing the road for them so they can be successful.

By Mark Zweig | Stop lamenting the labor shortage and start doing what you should to find and keep the very best people in spite of it.

By Jake Voorhees | Whether it be remote flexibility considerations, how firms make strategic growth decisions, or hiring tactics in general, engineering workplace culture is changed forever.

By Peter Atherton | Playing to win requires a real investment in organizational redesign, and the creation of both a vision and a culture that’s worth the work.

By Mark Zweig | We create much of our own good luck – and a lot of that comes down to understanding probabilities and doing things that increase our odds for success.

Will Swearingen, an ownership transition advisor at Zweig Group, discusses how leadership in firms big and small are planning out their next steps in the face of continued uncertainty, and how company owners can take...

By Keyan Zandy | Many firms have been slow to engage in conversations with their employees about mental health. It’s time to make a change.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of BranchPattern (Overland Park, KS), a building consultancy dedicated to creating better built environments through its many interwoven specialties.

By Alexandra Pollock | With the vaccine rolling out and workers trickling back into offices, we need to determine what innovations we will carry forward and how we will continue to evolve.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Women in the AEC industry leave at a faster rate than men, and COVID-19 has only accelerated this phenomenon.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | The decisions firms make today will determine the talent available for the next professional generation.

By Liisa Andreassen | Managing partner and CEO of Croy Engineering (Marietta, GA), a multidiscipline consulting engineering firm that believes in engineering the extra mile.

By Keyan Zandy | The positive changes we’ve made will stay with us long after the days of the pandemic are over.

By Kyle Ahern | A good, standardized parental leave policy is a major benefit that can set your firm apart.

By Eduardo Smith | Strategic thinking enables us to enlarge the value and impact of our work, connecting it much more than a technical solution.

By Mark Zweig | How can we each achieve the lofty and satisfying position of knowing we have made a difference through our work in this business?

By Mercedez Thompson | Create client-focused cover letters that build trust, provide clear client benefits, and connect to your client’s broader goals or vision.

By Patrick Schultz | Achieve resilient, sustainable operations while navigating an unprecedented global pandemic and addressing complex disruptions.

By Stephen Lucy | In the past year, we’ve learned a great deal about how we can do better and have begun to seize opportunities created by 2020.

Through recessions and tough times, innovations explode as people are forced to slow down and think. Many are already working on the next big thing for their business. Are you?

By Chad Clinehens | 2021 is looking to be a year of increasing freedom, control, and opportunity.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of HEAPY Engineering (Dayton, OH), a leader in sustainability, engineering, and commissioning solutions with a vision to build a more resilient and sustainable society.

Chairman and CEO of Salas O’Brien, an employee-owned firm with no corporate headquarters that provides building and facility solutions to clients across the United States.

Contract disclaimers reflect the reality that estimating is an art, not a science – and that design professionals cannot guarantee or warrant the actual costs of construction.

By Mark Zweig | When times get tough, you have two choices: You can cut expenses and eliminate all investments, or you can double down on making improvements in your business.

CEO of Olsson (Lincoln, NE), an employee owned 1,300-person firm that is working to leave the world better than they found it.

We need to remain flexible for the foreseeable future as we continue to determine what is resonating with our clients.

By Will Swearingen | Don’t let the concept of treasury stock cloud your transition strategy.

The ways our businesses and facilities function in relation to employees and customers are bound to adjust due to COVID-19.

By Kyle Ahern | The impressive data collected from Zweig Group’s Best Firms To Work For and Hot Firms continues to provide valuable insight into the AEC industry.

By Mark Zweig | Firms seem to be doing better than most anyone would have predicted when everything had to shut down in March. Why is that?

President and CEO Ulteig (Fargo, ND), an employee-owned engineering consulting firm with locations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Montana, and Iowa.

By Phil Keil | Developing a legacy-building strategy requires looking within to the sources of your greatest purpose and potential.

By giving employees the opportunity to own company stock, you can develop a culture in which employees have a greater stake in the company and more opportunities to reap the rewards of capital ownership. 

By Chad Coldiron | Having a set strategy for when the internet is down will prove you are the leader you are striving to be.

President and CEO of CORE Consultants, Inc. (Littleton, CO), a professional services firm with a unique culture that empowers its people to thrive at home, at work, and in their community.

By Justin Ramirez | Nothing is as certain as death and taxes. But an owner’s retirement can be, too. If done correctly, an owner’s retirement and its benefits can be just as certain as death...

If we want to be in position to effectively respond and even get ahead of the curve, we all need to know what’s likely to come next.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | We each must decide what we can do, individually and collectively, to drive the kind of change we need.

Digital twins, photogrammetry, and analytics are paying off for owners and developers when this technology is in the hands of experts who push it to its limits.

By Mark Zweig | Getting on the phone right now may be the single most important thing you can do to bring in new work.

Founder of edg (New York, NY), a technology-driven firm that leverages the power of software and equipment to deliver higher quality projects in less time.

By Mark Zweig | For many A/E firms, it is going to take a lot of tough decisions, hard work, mental intensity, and help from everyone in the firm to get through this situation intact.

Most of these ideas take very little money – just your time. Invest in yourself and your business and you’ll be stronger and better for it on the other side of this.

President of Shield Environmental Associates (Lexington, KY), a full-service engineering and environmental consulting firm that seeks solutions of distinct value.

By Mark Zweig | “Profound changes are coming to our industry. As is always the case when the external market makes huge shifts, those companies that can adapt will do well.”

All of us in the AEC industry are being challenged by the disruption this virus is causing, but we got this. Solving problems is what we do.

Burnout prevention is the key to healthy, growing, and resilient organizations, especially now.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | What differentiates us now as leaders is our ability to roll with the punches and make sharp, sober decisions.

President and CEO of Ramey Kemp & Assoc. (Raleigh, NC), a transportation engineering, planning, and design firm founded in 1992.

“The new reality of living with the coronavirus is just getting started.”

As Zweig Group’s director of ownership transition, Will Swearingen understands the emotional stakes at play when a firm founder decides it’s time to pass the torch.

As Zweig Group’s director of executive search, Chad Coldiron’s passion is connecting top talent with AEC firms.

Exercise these 12 roles with care and you will be surprised by how many admire and understand why your firm has grown so successfully.

Many people can be apprehensive when faced with new technology. It’s important to address their fears and to have a plan for successful implementation.

President and CEO of Parametrix, a 100 percent employee-owned engineering, planning, and environmental sciences firm based in Seattle, Washington.

Unless you put yourself out there as perfect, courts will typically hold you to the standard of reasonable care if you make a mistake.

President of PDC Engineers (Best Firm Multidiscipline #45 for 2018), a 100-person firm headquartered in Fairbanks, Alaska.

CEO of ATI (Hot Firm #43 for 2018), a California firm rooted in philanthropy, and with a bright future on the horizon.

“This was the fourth or fifth time since 1997 that Zweig Group has done one of these events coupled with a racing school. They always get me thinking.”

President and CEO of Hitchcock Design Group (Best Firm Architecture #7 for 2018), a 35-person landscape architecture firm headquartered in Naperville, Illinois.

By Will Swearingen | If you develop a reputation for being less than forthcoming, you could derail a critical ownership transition – and even destroy your firm.

“When it comes to branding for an AEC firm, I wouldn’t look to other AEC firms. Frankly, we make a lot of branding mistakes in this business.”

“One of the things they teach you about entrepreneurship in business school is that you should have your exit strategy in mind as you start and grow your company.” One of the things they teach...

In the absence of extraordinary situations, the courts will rely on the contract’s terms, not the Impossibility of Performance Doctrine. My wife and I visited St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome a few years ago. A...

In this episode of The Zweig Letter podcast, Randy Wilburn talks about his experience at Podcast Movement, the world's largest and longest running podcast conference with more than 2,000 podcasters in attendance. This year, keynote...

Co-founder, president and CEO of WSB (Hot Firm #34 for 2018), a 475-person, full-service consulting and design firm based in Minneapolis. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Early on, I paid too much attention to those who...

The more you ask, the more you learn, and that knowledge can be driven back into your firm for the benefit of clients and employees. Maintaining a leading position in the AEC industry requires that...

Are all your processes in place in the event your firm is waylaid by a wildfire, earthquake, hurricane or flood? Things were pretty much business as usual in early December with sunny skies and strong...

The true character of any firm can be determined by how it responds to adversity, and that character is usually embodied in the troubleshooter. The troubleshooter. Every A/E and environmental services firm has at least...

To save scarce resources, provide enhanced services, and reduce costs, the trend is to look at multiples of buildings as a district with common utilities. The emphasis on water and energy conservation and enhanced security...

While clients want to be in the hands of an expert, they also want that expert to care deeply about the success of their project. A best practice in business development/project initiation that you can...

Autonomous vehicles are on the way, and when they arrive, parking decks will increasingly become obsolete, and will need to be repurposed. Cars that can drive themselves, using radar, LIDAR, and other imaging devices will...

Clients have evolved, and if you want stay connected with them, you have to learn who they are, what they want, and where you fit. Change – a simple yet loaded word, particularly these days....

It can be harder than writing more, but oftentimes it’s necessary, so learn how to cut without gutting your message. When I started writing this column in 2004, the size limit was 800-850 words. Sometimes,...

President and CEO of BSB Design (#87 Hot Firm for 2017), a 180-person architectural design and development firm based in Des Moines, Iowa. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “My advice is to get on it!” says...

We all need a lengthy, unadulterated turning-off of our brains. How do you start? Try taking a break from the lifelong grind. Sabbatical – rooted in the Greek word sabbatikos – the word speaks to...

If you’re looking around but not seeing many people like you, try Zweig Group’s new 2018 seminar, CEO Roundtable. Click here for more information. We hear it all the time: “It’s lonely at the top.”...

Architect Richard Cuebas is the co-founder and vice president of Integra Design Group, which has offices in San Juan, Santo Domingo, and Charlotte, NC. A native of Puerto Rico, Cuebas visited the island in the...

CEO of BIG RED DOG Engineering & Consulting (Best Firm Multi-discipline #47 and Hot Firm #65 for 2017), a 105-person multi-discipline engineering firm based in Austin, Texas. By Richard Massey Managing Editor “As individuals and...

Chairman and CEO of Maser Consulting P.A. (#12 Best Firm Multidiscipline and #16 Hot Firm for 2016), a 650-person firm with 22 offices across eight states. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The most important formula for...

The talent war is here. Building a bigger pipeline of leaders and doing it much earlier in their careers is critical if you want to win. We sometimes have too much tradition and are slow...

The first industries to adopt a new technology are the ones that succeed. Is your firm prepared for the age of artificial intelligence? According to Zweig Group’s 2016 Financial Performance Survey, net service revenue per...

99 is a lot of problems, how about 9 common problems and some solutions. 1) Difficulty making a decision. Engineers too often really struggle with this one. There’s never enough information. Therefore, it is deemed...

Growth is all but assured in a healthy market, but if a firm doesn’t watch out, it can grow helter-skelter to the point of extinction. Many firms are experiencing growth during this post-recession period and...

For the next generation of leaders to be successful, they’ll need a mindset sculpted by strategy, new ideas, and a willingness to embrace the unknown. I routinely hear AEC firm leaders express frustration about finding...

By William Quatman | We all know negotiating enforceable contracts is part of the game, but in case you forgot a few things, here’s a refresher.

The annual Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference in Phoenix was a success, and it’s heading to Seattle for 2017. By Richard Massey Managing Editor The 2017 annual Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards...

If you want to achieve great things and have fun in the process, it’s best to foster a collaborative attitude. Review and approval processes vary greatly around our country, and two extremes are California and...

Beantown’s tarnished redevelopment agency comes up with a new name, a new logo, and a new mission, but locals aren’t convinced it’ll do any good. By Richard Massey Managing Editor The Boston Redevelopment Authority may...

Arbitrary or unduly bureaucratic rules demotivate employees, impose unnecessary constraints, and can even spark an office rebellion. Years ago, I started work at a new office where I had two administrative assistants supporting me. One...

Complex redevelopment of a blighted area prompts team to be creative across the board – design, personnel, technology, and funding. While having a glass of wine with colleagues from New York, we reflected on the...

The act of priming your business for market increases its value, and helps you embrace an assortment of challenges and opportunities. I know what you’re thinking because I hear it all the time. “I’m not...

Billion-dollar redevelopment of the Nashville International Airport a boon not just for the city, but for the A/E/P firms handling the project. By Richard Massey Managing Editor Faced with unprecedented traffic that is only expected...

Change is a powerful force, so embrace it, learn from it, and by all means, take account of its effects and be reasonable in dealing with it. Life would be more comfortable if clichés helped....

While success and security are good things, they can also zap your energy, so find something new. Chances are, if you’re reading this, things have gone pretty well for you. The company is doing well...

My husband and I had dinner one evening last week at one of our favorite local restaurants, an upscale place with a gracious staff and fantastic fare. Or, at least, we went to the restaurant...

A/E owners should consider whether their ‘average’ income is contributing to a culture of mediocrity. It’s interesting to me to see how the owners of A/E firms seem to fit into one of two categories:...

Successful Project Management for A/E/P and Environmental Firms, 2nd edition covers projects from inception to completion and beyond. By Andrea Bennett Managing Editor On April 30, Zweig Group will release the second edition of its...

Four suggestions from Mark Zweig that will result in more work than you can handle. It’s interesting to me to see how many architects, engineers, planners and environmental consultants really don’t understand marketing. Many either...

Five facts to consider during the recruiting process at your firm. Managing expectations in an executive search process can be a burdensome task. After all, you’re eager to quickly find that perfect new team member...

Smart investments and ability to effectively manage debt are key to success at these firms. By Christina Zweig What are fast-growth firms doing differently than their competitors in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry? We...

While the loss of a beloved BlackBerry device is a traumatic experience for Mark Zweig, change is inevitable. The last week brought a lot of change into my world. That included moving to a new...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 990 Originally published 1/14/2013 (Doing the same thing but expecting a different result.) I just got asked why I came back to ZweigWhite...

One of the keys to success in business— all types of business, not just the A/E/P and environmental business— is practicing common courtesies (or perhaps they should be called not-so-common courtesies?). Architects, engineers, and scientists...

I was talking with an old acquaintance recently— a principal in a very successful international planning and design firm— about how things were going for him and his firm. In spite of some rocky times...

Everyone thinks they know why clients hire their A/E/P or environmental firm. Sometimes you DO know— but sometimes people make bad assumptions. Those bad assumptions will HURT your future selling efforts because you will be...

Bud Tomlinson was finally starting to feel pretty good about things again. Business was turning around. But the last eight months or so had been a real wake-up call... Back in July his firm, Tomlinson...

Things aren’t looking real great out there for a lot of firms in this business. The stock market is in a free-fall, we’re in the midst of pre-election paralysis, banks are failing, housing is in...

When it comes to A/E/P and environmental consulting firms, the difference in profitability and growth vs. marginal performance and no growth is very little. But that “little” difference may just be how your people feel...

Orville Honstater was starting to sweat a little for the first time in a long time. His company, Honstater & Associates, had enjoyed a long run (more than 10 years) of profitability and good, if...

Over the years, in the pages of The Zweig Letter, we’ve spent a lot of time trying to help companies grow. But the fact is many of those running and operating A/E/P and environmental firms...

My six month-old daughter Olive has already said her first word. It is “clock.” She says it practically every time we show her the black reproduction “Kit-Cat” clock on the wall in her bedroom. For...

As 2006 winds down and planning gets underway for 2007, I frequently find myself being asked about what the top trends are for our industry that future-oriented leaders need to be aware of. Where do...

Though I’ve always known it, I don’t think I’ve ever written about it— running an ethical business that is socially responsible can pay big dividends. The fact is that the more educated your clients are,...

I was talking with a woman recently who started her own design firm a couple years ago. Her passion for her work and her business was fantastic. She thought about it/planned/worked every waking hour. She...

I was surprised to see in our latest 2004 Principals, Partners & Owners Survey of A/E/P & Environmental Consulting Firms that the balancing of work and personal life issue was barely on the radar screen...

Ask any expert and they will tell you that you should be doing succession planning at all levels in the organization. What is succession planning? It’s simply answering who is going to take over when...

If you listen to Tony Soprano talking to his therapist about his rage in recent episodes of “The Sopranos” on HBO, he complains about all the B.S. It just makes him mad. And when he...

Human resources people are big on job descriptions. I was never that fond of them because it seems that they can always be used against you somehow. Here are some examples: “I meet the requirements...

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...

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....

The idea came to me at 3:50 p.m. on Sunday, January 2, 2000. It was a balmy afternoon here in the Boston area— temperatures in the 60s, sunny and bright. I took out my wife’s...

You want to know something that drives me crazy— right up the wall? It’s all of the darn committees that A/E/P and environmental firms keep creating for one reason after another. Most of the time...

“Training.” It sounds like a good thing, right? Everybody likes training. It’s supposed to make people better at their jobs, and that’s good for them. The business news media tells us that Generation X-ers will...

I am not proud of my five airline frequent flyer program gold cards. All that means is that I spend too darn much time in the air, when I’d much rather be someplace else. But...

Every so often, it becomes necessary for principals and managers of A/E/P and environmental consulting firms to remind certain staff members that theirs is much more than a technical service business. It is a consulting...

One of the great things about the A/E/P and environmental consulting business is that it always provides you with a challenge. Right now, many firms are feeling particularly stressed— with a higher than normal workload,...

Because marketing really is “where it’s at” for firms in this business, it’s hard for me to keep from writing about it. You see, an A/E/P or environmental consulting firm can solve just about any...

Road Warriors Square Off— One Monday a couple of weeks ago, I got up at 3:45 a.m. to catch a 6:00 flight from Boston’s Logan Airport, the start of a long week to come. After...

On Monday, December 20, 1993, William Edwards Deming, the 93-year-old management guru of Total Quality Management (TQM) died in his sleep. A statistician with a doctorate in Physics from Yale, Deming was credited with engineering...