BOND Regional 2019

Synopsis

Have you ever thought to yourself “when did that change?” I had no idea that was an issue or a problem. Then this is the class for you. We will discuss the on-going needs and risks within our practices and some of the ones coming your way soon. What does the #MeToo movement mean to our firms? Equity by Design? Why can’t someone just be an independent contractor if they want to? We will also delve into the key elements of culture. How to test your theories of staff Happiness. Elements to maximize staff retention. Where is your next staff member right now? Is it human or AI? How do you win a bidding war? It will be a lively discussion and we can learn from each other.

Synopsis

Learn from Dr. Eisenberg how all four parts of GDP will perform in 2019, including household consumption, corporate investment, government spending and net exports, and what the likelihood of a recession occurring in the next 12 months is. Eisenberg will also focus on population growth and the aging of the US population and its relevance to construction.

Eisenberg will also focus on household balance sheets, energy markets, auto sales, consumer and business sentiment and corporate profits. Eisenberg will then look at how labor markets and wages are performing, what the likely path of inflation will be and how the Federal Reserve is likely to respond in terms of interest rate hikes.

Eisenberg will then focus on all types of relevant construction activity including residential, commercial, industrial and public by examining many trends as well as leading and coincident economic indicators of such activity and the likely path forward. Eisenberg will also look at sale prices by regional and property type, capitalization rates, the labor shortage, demographics, the changing face of retail sales and more. He will close by looking at current and future economic conditions across all 50 states.

Synopsis

Predictable Outcomes are the holy grail of the design and construction industry. To be able to determine, in the project planning stages, exactly where you wish to complete a project with regards to quality, schedule, and cost, then to be able to drive to those specific goals without fail should be a minimum level of performance for any industry. For the design and construction industry, it seems to be nearly impossible to deliver predictable outcomes on a consistent basis. The Economist reported in August of 2017 that more than 90% of the world’s infrastructure projects were not meeting schedule goals and more than 60% of the UK’s building projects were not meeting budget goals. Predictability seems to be an impossible dream in the design and construction industry, known as the least efficient and productive in the world.

The primary reason for this lack of predictability is the search for predictable outcomes usually starts with the selection of process, design-bid-build, IDP, Design-Build, or GMax. Most players in the design and construction industry believe in the magic of selecting the perfect delivery process. However, it is well documented that a great team can overcome the deficiencies of a poor process and even a poor contract, but no process can ever overcome the deficiencies of a lousy team or an owner/client that does not take their responsibilities seriously. Predictable outcomes for projects are a product of culture, not process.

More specifically, the Culture of Predictable Outcomes is a culture built from sophisticated consistent, caring leadership, high-performing collaborative teams, and “Hyper-track/Master-Chef-Level” decision-making discipline. If any of these elements are missing, predictable outcomes will be compromised, even corrupted. With these elements, predictable outcomes, baring natural disasters, are guaranteed…yes, I said, guaranteed.

I have seen many projects that have one or even two of these components. Very few have all three. Most often, the element that is missing is “Hyper-Track/Master-Chef-Level” decision-making discipline. In The Owner’s Dilemma, the book co-written with Canan Yetmen; I spent many pages discussing the power of decisions in the project environment. In high-performing, collaborative environments, decision-making becomes even more impactful, driving the pace of the team, the quality of performance, and even the culture of the team. A team with leadership and collaboration but without a focused decision-making culture is a frustrated team, often stalled or valiantly striving for goals that are just out of reach.

Why are decision-making cultures so hard to develop and to put in place on projects? Decisions are scary, risky, and carry responsibility. Also, very few organizations or teams stop to understand the risk nature of decisions or to create a roadmap for making decisions. Once these steps are completed, decisions can become more manageable, more understandable, and friendlier. More importantly, once these steps are taken, the consequences of not making decisions become apparent and part of the decision-making calculus. When decisions are made within a project in a timely manner using decision-ready information, the team has the fuel needed to perform. When the decision culture is truly effective and when it is carefully designed with decision-ready information at hand, then this Hyper-Track decision process can send a team into true high performance and predictable space.