Why Innovation Is So Hard In The Construction Industry

Following up last week's piece on Katerra's demise, here's an interesting piece on why innovation and increased efficiency are so hard to accomplish in the construction industry.

It's always fascinating to see a problem from an engineer's perspective.

"How To Build A Small Town In Texas"

An interesting thought experiment on how to build a vibrant town from scratch.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

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Thanks to Peter Longfield for the pointer!

Why Yell When You Can Whisper?

In this piece, Seth Godin (how does he come up with so many brilliant ideas?) talks about loud interruptions as a way to get peoples attention, but if you read the very short piece in it entirety, what he's really talking about is good design.

A well designed fountain doesn't need a loud sign telling people not step in it, it naturally prevents them from doing so by virtue of its design.

Marketing a design business is the same, you can either scream that you're best (what many firms do) or you can choose a niche, become really good at it and you won't have to yell as loud to convince people to hire you.

Your Burning Questions: Answered (Aug 2021)

In our last instalment of burning questions, I called for all your questions about copywriting, an often overlooked aspect of marketing, yet one that could spell the difference between and failing and successful business.

Yes, your website copy can directly influence your prospects decision to hire, despite the fact that most design firms aren't solely hired based on how good their website looks. But first impressions matter and sometimes getting the job hinges on one little thing... like the copy in your marketing.

This time, it's the question send by long-time reader and client Nathan Stewart picked my interest:

"I want everything I write to be a projection of me - my beliefs, my convictions... but i worry that i am writing 'out' the average potential client who may not resonate with it (which also clearly means I am speaking to a very specific audience and hoping to catch their attention!).

Do i write it for ME or do i cater to a larger 'general' audience?"

Nathan, this is a great questions that also touches on a few discrete elements of copywriting, so I'll try my best to break it down and then come up with an answer for all your very valid points.

Any marketing effort aims at doing one thing: bringing together a seller (or marketer) and a buyer in the hopes that a deal will be made. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about buying a Snickers bar or 6-figure professional services.

That you want your marketing and your copy specifically to resonate with who you are and what you believe in is perfectly natural and may indeed help you with a certain type of client who share the same beliefs, but the risk is that this type of clientele is too narrow a niche to sustain your business.

Instead, what I would suggest is that you proudly display your convictions, but when engaging with prospects, make your copy about them and what kind of painful problem you can solve for them. You see, psychology tells us that people want to know that you have the ability and experience to solve their most intractable problems, while not always explicitly telling you what these problems are.

Copywriting, in some sense, anticipates what those pain points are and preemptively addresses them before they come up. If at the same time you can sneak in something that speaks to your beliefs and convictions, even better.

To explicitly answer your last point, you have to know who your audience is before you write for them. At a basic level it can be done through empirical observation and informal polling of past clients or if you have the means, engage in proper market research, but that's very expensive.

Once you know who they are, you have to find out (If you don't already) what their biggest pain points are, whether it's aggregate information on your general market segment for the people who buy your type of services or just by talking to past and existing clients and ask them why they hired you, or more specifically what problem they hired you to solve for them.

In short, the best marketers speak to their prospects goals, aspirations and fears first and find ways to link those latent desires to their own personal preferences and beliefs.

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Thanks Nathan (of Escape Designs) for the pertinent question (don't forget to claim your gift)!

Calgary's Library

I'll be the first to admit that I can write stuff that's serious and intense at times. Therefore, on Fridays I'll be featuring something more lighthearted, fun or creative, so we can all end the week on a high note. Have a great weekend!

If you’ve been paying attention in the last few years, you will have read many articles about the the new Calgary Central Library, a building designed by a Snohetta-Dialog joint venture. While most of the press sung high praises of the building, nothing compares to experiencing it in person.

It is a very intuitive, light-filled, beautiful project that is so much more than just a library. One can tell that this is a civic building like they rarely make them. People like to come here and spend time, in spite of the supposed death of physical books.

In a very Calgary-like fashion, they also have a huge indoor playground for kids to hang out and have fun.

I’m rarely that impressed by public buildings but this one is a home run on all fronts: as a civic building, as a neighbourhood anchor, as a public space, a repository of knowledge and a great design where the building isn’t beautiful for its own sake, but a canvas for human activities.

RIP Katerra

A few weeks ago, Katerra announced that it was going bankrupt. Katerra had been discussed with Michael Green in an episode of Single Serves earlier this year.

While it's sad that this happened, I'm not familiar enough with the subject to speculate on the reasons of its demise. If you'd like to know more, this piece will give you some background information straight from the fingers of a former employee.

What was interesting about Katerra was the enormous ambition to vertically integrate all aspects of architecture and construction under a single roof in order to have more control over the quality of the product, as well as its price.

I'd love to see other companies learn from this and pick up the mantle as the construction industry has so many inefficiencies and is ripe for reinvention. I still don't get why every single building is a one-off, especially in the residential sector.

We think nothing of seeing two cars of the same model next to each other, and generally, there are enough differences in their appearance (colours, finishes, aftermarket customization, etc.) to not make the streets look completely uniform. Why can't it be the same with residential architecture?

{PODCAST} Single Serves ep. 212 - Goldreich on The 4.5-Day Work Week

Amos Goldreich graduated Architectural Association in London in 1999, and subsequently worked for a number of London firms, including the likes of David Chipperfield, Stanton Williams, Haworth Tompkins and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. In 2010, Amos established Amos Goldreich Architecture, which is heavily involved in social projects. Amos is also part of the think tank Architects Aware, actively working to fight London's growing homelessness.

I wanted to interview Amos about his recent switch to a 4.5-day work week for his entire office and discuss with him the benefits, drawbacks and challenges.

Check it out below, perhaps it will inspire you to do the same!

Since our interview, Amos has conducted a webinar on the subject that you can watch here.

About the podcast: Single Serves is a podcast where we interview experts on single issues of interest to architects and designers. The thought-provoking ideas shared here are intended to inspire our listeners to become well-rounded entrepreneurs who are the leaders of their field.

Credits: Produced by Révélateur Studio, ©2021 and edited by Chris Rodd.

Soviet-Style Surveillance Coming To An Office Near You

Smiling in spite of how you actually feel does not make you happy, contrary to what the people at Canon seem to think.

If you read the linked piece, you might think that this would only happen in china, but there are countless examples of western firms employing similarly ghastly techniques, sometimes even in more nefarious ways, as I've written about this before.

I personally think that if one has to resort to surveillance to ensure productivity and compliance, then it's the culture of the company that is the issue, not its employees. Humans will always be humans and do what humans do, no matter how much some wanna-be big brother think they can alter human nature with coercion.

I'm a much bigger fan of incentives, to get people to get you the results you want, not unlike good copywriting, which will nudge people to take the action that you want them to take, on their own volition.

The truth about being a reliable service provider

Seth Godin nails it again, this time with a piece about becoming a successful service provider.

Words of advice worth heeding.

The Smoky Rockies

I'll be the first to admit that I can write stuff that's serious and intense at times. Therefore, on Fridays I'll be featuring something more lighthearted, fun or creative, so we can all end the week on a high note. Have a great weekend!

While there have been many a wildfire in the BC interior and the Albertan Rockies and the entire land between Vancouver and Calgary is covered in smoke, I still had the privilege to witness some of the grandest landscapes that I’ve ever seen.

From someone who grew up in the French Alps, that’s no small feat, let me tell you.

If you haven’t been to the mountains out west and you like the outdoors, this ought to be on your bucket list, specifically the Banff, Jasper and Kootenay national parks, which are all contiguous with one another.

See You In August

I’m going away for 2 weeks to explore the rockies and the BC interior, driving from Calgary to Vancouver and back, also the reason why the blog has been neglected this week, as I’ve been busy preparing for the trip.

If you have suggestions of things to do and see, please send them to me!

If you have pressing needs in the realms of photography, media campaigns and marketing strategy, send me a note and I’ll get back in touch upon my return.

Stay cool!

My Favourite Marketing Tools And Systems For Architects - w/ Dave Sharp

My old pal Dave Sharp and I talk every month about all things marketing and communications. Until now these conversations were kept private, even though be both thought there were tons of great insights in them.

So instead of bitching and moaning to each other about what's wrong with the world (god complex, anyone?), we decided to tighten them up just a little for public consumption and release them on youtube for your benefit.

Our first convo was about marketing tools and systems for architects, we each discussed our respective top 5 favourites. I think these are very useful for anyone looking to improve their marketing.

Listen to it here.

Stay tuned for future conversations on the following: advertising, video, podcasts and measuring marketing success.

Lessons From Racing A Bike Too Fast, Part Deux

Recently, I wrote a piece on lessons drawn from racing a motorcycle around a racetrack. Here's a follow-up piece with a few additional lessons:

Lesson #4: Being determined is a huge help when you're operating at the limits of your physical and cognitive abilities. Sometimes, the difference between making that fast corner at high speed and low-siding is sheer determination, or what some riders have called "L.L.B. - Look, lean and believe", which means that it will often be the rider's lack of skills that is the cause of the problem, not the limitations imposed by the laws of physics, and determination is the skill that allows you to overcome your own fear and test the limits of your machine.

→ Sometimes pushing for some extraordinary result on pure faith or intuition can be valuable in achieving the desired outcome. Being all rational and evidence-based all the time can be limiting in some instances.

Lesson #5: As demanding as riding fast around a track be, learning to ride with minimal effort and input allows you to ride longer and harder. That's why I was exhausted after 10 minute of riding and why the pros can do it for 4-5 times as long with ease. By the same token, doing some stretching and breathing after each session will keep you fresh longer.

→ When working on a demanding endeavour, taking the time to breathe, rest and relax leads to more productive outcomes. Being stuck on a chair 8 hours straight without standing up for a stretch or a cup of coffee should never be a badge of honour.

Lesson #6: Be prepared for the crash. While we hope it never happens, crashes are common around a racetrack, but thankfully, most of them only bruise egos and damage the machines. Wearing a good helmet and racing leathers will prevent 90% of the injuries, that's why tracks require them, because statistically one is bound to crash at some point.

→ Contingencies for unknown and unforeseen issues are the mark of a professional but also allow you to deal with 90% of issues without going into a panic. For the rare issues that are catastrophic, that's what insurance is for.

Ghost Dog

I'll be the first to admit that I can write stuff that's serious and intense at times. Therefore, on Fridays I'll be featuring something more lighthearted, fun or creative, so we can all end the week on a high note. Have a great weekend!

One of my favourite movies of all time, and the one I watched the most (I lost count after a couple dozen times). It is an obscure movie from the late 90s by indie director Jim Jarmusch.

A clever blend between the Samourai and mafia genres, it shines by its slow-paced, slick cinematography, sparse but really clever and funny dialogue, as well as a gritty soundtrack by RZA.

A movie that you've probably never heard of, but that's well worth watching, especially if you like new takes on old genres.

Lessons From Racing A Bike Too Fast

I recently took a motorcycle racing course at a local track and while it's an exhilarating experience in and of itself (hello, adrenaline!), there are a few lessons to be learned from it. This an attempt at drawing parallels between motorcycle racing and running a design business.

Lesson #1: you won't get any good around a track if you don't know what you're doing. This course was very well structured and the teachings became progressively more challenging as we ran around the track faster and faster, thanks to instructors with years of racing experience under their belt. I could have spent 6 months trying to teach myself these things on my own and I still wouldn't have made as much progress as I did in 2 days.

→ When one doesn't know something, there is value in paying a pro to teach it or do it for you.

Lesson #2: No progress will be made if one doesn't push past one's comfort zone. We started on a rainy (read: extra slippery) track riding twitchy motorcycles that go from 0 to prison in under 3.5 seconds. Needless to say I rode very slow initially, but under the expert's guidance and my increasing level of comfort with the track and the bike, I was able to push myself a little further at every lap, making mistakes along the way that I could then correct.

→ Repeated practice, analysis and feedback is what makes one ever better at something. Expertise takes time and effort.

Lesson #3: On a bike at speed, there can be no distractions as even a temporarily wandering mind can mean the difference between finishing a lap and crashing. We did runs of 10 minutes, and that was plenty. For those 10 minutes, one is 100% focused on everything relating to the bike: speed, braking, cornering, the shape of the track, etc. You come out of one of these session exhausted. I can only imagine what it means for the pros who do that for 45 straight minutes at a time.

→ Giving your all is exhausting, but it yields extraordinary results. Sometimes pushing past what is reasonable is worth it.

Stay tuned for a follow-up piece with more lessons.

The Most Important Social Media Analysis Of Recent Times

If like me you're still scratching your head as to why social media platforms are such a cesspool of trolls, weirdos and a seemingly endless parade of conspiracy theorists, you have to read this evidence-based analysis by Mark Manson.

The key takeaway? Social media isn't making people more extreme in their beliefs, it's just making them more visible. Meanwhile, the silent majority of people with a "moderate" range of beliefs are invisible.

Change your habits and your life will seem much more normal. I've been largely off of traditional social platforms for over 1.5 years and my life is noticeably better for it. The cure? Talking to people in real life. It's still as fun as ever.

Gerard's Cappuccino

You go to your local café and ask for a creamy cappuccino topped with cinnamon, without ever thinking about all the steps involved in making that delicious espresso shot made better by thick, creamy steamed milk. Heck, even the latté art still puzzles you even though you see your barista do it day in and day out. It takes real skills to pull this stuff off.

You could stand all day behind this behemoth of an espresso machine and not even come close to making coffee that's as delicious as that of Gerard the barista or as exciting as his expletive-laden Frenglish.

The perfect shot of espresso hinges on 4 main ingredients: the beans, the grinder, the machine, and the barista. The beans and the machine are often thought of as the only factors that matter in pulling a great shot of espresso and while they are extremely important if you use the wrong grinder or have a inexperienced barista, the best beans in the world will still taste like crap.

• You want freshly roasted beans, kept in a cool, dry place. If they've been roasted more than 3 weeks ago, they'll taste bitter and stale.

• A good grinder will allow you to fine-tune your grind to the perfect setting so you can pull your best shot.

• The right machine will allow you to brew coffee to perfection

• An experienced barista can fine-tune all the settings from the 3 aforementioned factors to make that creamy cappuccino you love.

That's why you think nothing of paying Gerard north of 8 bucks for a coffee that you could make for "50 cents at home". I know, because I spent an unreasonable amount of money on a proper espresso machine and grinder and my latte art still sucks. While I'm getting better everyday, I'm still years away from Gerard's beautiful leafy patterns made of frothed milk.

If you've read this far, you might be asking yourself, what does that have to do with architecture or design?

Well, on the surface, a perfect cappuccino is art, but if I left it at that you'd think that's a pretty tenuous argument. The truth is that good communications and marketing strategy, on a granular level is equally, if not more complex than a really good cappuccino.

Thinking that it can be done in house without spending money on people who know what they're doing is pure folly, as you'll always end up with a bitter, watery cappuccino with latte art equally as bad as mine.

If you're thinking that you can't possibly afford to hire someone to overhaul your messaging and set your marketing on the right path, think of it this way: you don't have to blow $50K at once on trying to do it all at the same time.

Just like you can start by buying freshly roasted beans and a good grinder (you can use a good grinder and beans with any coffeemaker). Then a little later on, you can invest in basic barista training and lastly purchase that sweet, sweet double boiler espresso machine, which ultimately will allow you to nearly rival Gerard, well except for the cursing.

Before you know, you'll have all the ingredient for a perfectly-made cappuccino, uhhh marketing and business development strategy and before long you shall see your sales and inquiries shoot up while you’re sipping on your frothy cappuccino.

ORCA Toronto

John Plumpton and I recently discussed the future of the ill-fated Rail Deck Park in a previous podcast.

Safdie Architects' alternative scheme takes the idea further by including a number of mixed-use towers, which as Plumpton explained in the podcast, makes more sense, as a big chunk of the included public space can now be financed by the developer.

I think it's smart and while we would lose a bit of the public space in favour of towers, the design seems to integrate both really well with one another and if the right blend of functions is achieved, could end up becoming a highly successful project without succumbing to crass commercialism.

While I'm always skeptical of unbuilt architecture, this one seems a little more promising than your usual pie-in-the-sky scheme.

What do you think?

Doctor Strange is Here

I'll be the first to admit that I can write stuff that's serious and intense at times. Therefore, on Fridays I'll be featuring something more lighthearted, fun or creative, so we can all end the week on a high note. Have a great weekend!

These "portals" between the cities of Lublin and Vilnius are a brilliant idea to connect residents of distant cities in a creative fashion.

While it gets us ever closer to actual inter-dimensional portals, the cool thing about it is that it is a clever use of technology that actually works at bringing strangers together, in spite of the fleeting nature of these interactions.

Plus, it is inherently pandemic-proof. I'd love to see the concept taken further. It would be so cool to have these pop up in different cities as a form of very public of videophone. I can imagine so many clever uses for this...

Good Copywriting

I recently wrote about why copywriting is important for creative professionals.

Here's a great example of good copy. The writer takes you on a journey to make a very valid point at the end. I'd be surprised if you didn't feel the urge to read it to the end, even if you're not the target market.