Stealing from Broadway. How to get the best ideas and do better architecture. Consider this a reminder — you should already know this. — I’ve never directed a stage show, let alone created one from scratch but in my imagining there’s much in common with architecture. They’re visionary experiences with many moving parts and challenges. Both involve teams of highly creative as well as technically minded humans, with their own opinions, ideas and needs…

Generosity creates goodwill and lifts everyone up. Thoughts on why Architects should prioritise generosity. — Last week’s post, “They’re not a very good architect” took off and I’m going to continue its thread. If you haven’t already read it, go back before reading this one, it’s worthwhile context. Generosity is something shared, kind or a contributed. Whilst generosity and sharing are not interchangeable, sharing is…

It was a puzzling proclamation, I heard from an architect. I was curious what they meant and the broader implications for the profession. — It’s a statement disappointingly short on generosity. Frankly, the profession could exercise a little more generosity. Generosity creates goodwill and lifts everyone up. It’s deserving of a post of its own. To understand what was really meant, we need to understand their criteria. What criteria were they using to define…

Avoiding becoming an owner-builder of your practice. It’s better to consider who not how - stealing from Dan Sullivan and Dr Benjamin Hardy. The majority of architects will advise their clients not to take on projects as owner-builders, unless they work in construction. It’s because they have no expertise in…

Architecture is its own discipline. Calling it art does not allow for the profession to flourish. — Many architects consider architecture an art. Not in a broad sense but in the narrow definition with architects as artiste and their buildings as artwork. It’s contentious and without the detailed explanation of my argument, my two cents worth is that there are artistic qualities to architecture but it is…

In a crowded marketplace why would potential clients come to you instead of the architects next door? — It’s fair to say many architects struggle with the question above and about what their particular point of difference is. It’s a difficult question to answer in a meaningful way. Often the focus is on the practice: award winning, experts, portfolio, and so on. When the focus should be on…

Should the architecture profession seek broader and further cultural additions? Building the culture rather than buttressing existing biases. — As I was writing my previous post Architects Hiring Better I began to consider the composition of the architecture profession. In particular, I become curious as to whether the profession was predisposed to maintaining cultural fit across the entirety of the profession — from university through to practice. …

Instead of hiring for cultural fit, architects should be hiring for cultural add. Building the culture rather than buttressing existing biases. — When hiring staff architectural practices tend to focus on skills first. You’ll see job ads for positions emphasising the skills required and experience (an implied skill level). More progressive practices might focus their job ad on the culture of the practice, looking to fill positions based on cultural fit. Both…

Using Game Theory to understand why architects still persist on doing work for free or at discounted rates and proposing ways to overcome it. Preface: I’m no expert on Game Theory, nor mathematician or psychologist. This post, using the Prisoner’s Dilemma to explain the behaviour of the architecture profession, is…