Context & Clarity for Small Firm Architects

What are your goals for the rest of the year? Are you dreaming big or are you keeping it practical? According to Mark W. Schaefer in his latest book, your goals are a necessary part of the Cumulative Advantage, so let's talk about how your best ideas translate into what you'll accomplish the rest of this year. Mentioned in this episode: To Build is Human EntreArchitect

Is there a system for building momentum for our ideas or our business? Is there a method for getting noticed and spreading our ideas and our influence? There must be some reason that some people rocket into the limelight while we toil away in obscurity. The good news is that there is a system and a strategy and it's fairly simple to understand. Mentioned in this episode: To Build is Human EntreArc...

If you feel like you've been fighting the good fight, but toiling away in relative obscurity while others are being noticed, there may be one key character that's missing from your story; the influencers. If you want your work and your ideas to be noticed and take hold, you’re going to need influencers to help you spread the word. Who are the influencers that are important to your success? Mention...

The idea of adjacent possibilities that Steven Johnson talks about in "Where Do Good Ideas Come From?" Is a good illustration of why we need to connect with people if we want our ideas to be a catalyst for motion. If we want to build momentum for our ideas. So, where do you connect with people? I guess we're in an interesting time when your answer may have gone through some serious evolution over...

Shannyn Lee - Winning Work For Your Architecture Firm How do you win work for your architecture firm? That's the question we'll start with today on Context & Clarity LIVE. Katharine White MacPhail and I will welcome marketing and business development expert, and Head of Coaching for Win Without Pitching, Shannyn Lee to Context & Clarity. Join the conversation this week as we talk about mar...

Where do your best ideas come from? Many of my best ideas pop into my head when I'm in the shower? Does that ever happen to you? It's a topic that Mark W. Schaefer writes about in his most recent book, "Cumulative Advantage," and it's the title of one of my favorite reads from this past year, "Where Do Good Ideas Come From," by Steven Johnson. When I started reading 20-30 books every year, I reali...

I feel like I’ve gotten to know a number of people over the past 15 months that I’d call friends and that I could count on, even though for some of you, I’ve never seen your face, and for most of you, we’ve never met in person. So we've started a new regular Context & Clarity feature that we're calling Member Spotlight, and this week, Audrey Whisker will join Katharine and me. Join us for a lo...

Every time I bring up sales, I know I lose a few listeners. This is another one of those topics that I know many architects would rather not hear about because you’re not comfortable with "selling," but it’s one that you need to embrace. “The Win Without Pitching Manifesto" by Blair Enns is one of my favorite books when it comes to business development and sales for architects. In fact, if I’m pla...

Some architects do a great job of simplifying things and helping clients understand, some don't. Believe it or not, more words is not the key here, and I'm sorry, but an explanation of the 5 or 7 phases of architecture and a 36 page AIA contract usually don't contribute to helping mere mortals understand how you help them. So, what is the key to helping clients understand what they're hiring you f...

Today, we're talking about diversity in terms of what you do, not in terms of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. How do you diversify? Why do you diversify? I believe, especially if you're a small firm that you should go deep and then wide. Dig deeper on your expertise and then diversify the ways that you serve and solve problems for your clients. Mentioned in this episode: To Build is Hum...

When you read that question, you probably thought, ‘Well, demonstrating our expertise, of course.’ And yes, that’s the way to truly be seen as an expert, but it’s a path that’s wrought with ironies and problems. The websites of many, architecture firms proudly and sometimes loudly proclaim, WE’RE THE EXPERTS!!! So, they're definitely saying it. Are they also showing it? I also know that it’s reall...

How do you find the work you really want to be doing? That's a hard question, but a thread that runs through all of our topics this week is the idea of being intentional. You have to be intentional about finding the work you really want to be doing, rather than accepting the projects that find their way to you, or as one firm leader said to me, 'We need to go after anything and everything that we...

Do you have trouble saying no? Many of us do. The problem is, that little two-letter word is one of the most important words and using it can be one of the most liberating actions you take. It’s hard to say no! You don’t want to disappoint people. You don’t want to miss out on an opportunity. You don’t feel like you’re entitled to or hold the power to say no… but you have to. You have to take cont...

I know I’m not the only one that opens my calendar and to-do list in the morning and wonders, ‘who in the world scheduled this?’ Most of us are over committed. I think one of the most important things I’ve ever learned is that on any given day, I can’t get everything done that “needs” to be done. So, how do you decide what gets done and what doesn’t? Mentioned in this episode: To Build is Human En...

It’s always interesting to find out how other’s got their start, but also why they took the leap. Maybe, if you’re the employee of a firm right now you’ll hear an answer, or some answers that will help you make a decision one way or another in the future. What’s your story? Did you start your own firm? When? And Why? If you haven’t started your own firm, can you ever see yourself starting one? Men...

How do you persuade clients to hire you? That's the question we'll start with today on Context & Clarity LIVE. Katharine White MacPhail and I will welcome communications expert, author of "The 3 Word Rebellion," messaging coach, and leader of rebellious movements, Dr. Michelle Mazur to Context & Clarity. Join the conversation this week as we talk about persuading like a rebel (even in a pr...

It's Memorial Day in the United States, so we won't have Context & Clarity on Clubhouse or in the EntreArchitect Community Facebook Group today. We'll take the day off, but I wanted to record this episode to say thank you for all who served. For our friends who aren't in the U.S., Memorial Day is a Federal Holiday where we remember and honor fallen military heros, so Thank You to all the mothe...

I feel like I’ve gotten to know a number of people over the past 15 months that I’d call friends and that I could count on, even though for some of you, I’ve never seen your face, and for most of you, we’ve never met in person. So we've started a new regular Context & Clarity feature that we're calling Member Spotlight, and this week, Kurt Neiswender will join Katharine and me. Join us for a l...

To make yesterday’s conversation more actionable, introduce yourself. Think like a Toastmaster, think about the change you create, think about describing what you do, without using the word architect, and introduce yourself, answer the question, ‘What do you do’ in a way that resonates with the person asking the question. Answer it in a way that they remember, that moves them.

I know a lot of people get uncomfortable when it comes to talking about sales or persuasion, but if you’re going to have clients to work with and projects to work on, you need to get them to believe in you and get them to hire you… you need to persuade them.

I focus a lot of time helping architects reposition their firms from service provider, or order taker, to trusted and valued advisor and one thing that I’ve learned is necessary is the ability to create change. If someone calls to see if you can give them a permit set, or if you talk about how good your construction documents are, you’re focusing on a very static idea, a thing, an object. You’re s...

What does a justice and equity-centered design process look like? That's the question we'll start with Today on Context & Clarity LIVE. Katharine White MacPhail will welcome architect, "Game-Changer", and founder of Equity by Design, Rosa T. Sheng to Context & Clarity. Join the conversation as we look for the answer to the question: What does a justice and equity-centered de...

I love asking, 'What if you couldn't use the word architect?' I don’t mean what if you weren’t allowed to use the word. What I mean is, what if the word architect or architecture for that matter didn’t even exist? How would you talk about what you do? If you met someone at a ball game or a cocktail party and they said, “So, what do you do?” How would you answer them without using the word architec...

We've spent an entire week defining JEDI, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion and considering what it means when we hire employees, and considering what it means when it comes to working in the profession, and thinking about how it could change the design process. Now, let's talk about what's inspired you and what you're going to do about it. Where do we go from here? Mentioned in this episo...

How do we put justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion into practice when it comes to the design process? Who needs to be involved, what needs to be considered, and what's everyone's role going to be? Does a focus on JEDI mean that the design process is bigger and more complicated? I may have more questions than answers today, so let's talk about what a just and equity-centered design process sho...