Every day, we hear that a recession is coming. What can we do to survive the rolling wave of economic change that may reach us very soon?

Back in December 2013, as the A/E/C industry was moving out of The Great Recession, Nancy Egan and I wrote an article for Marketer, the journal of the Society for Marketing Professional Services — The Hinge: Talent and Leadership in the Business Cycle. At the end, we said, “Luckily, the A/E/C world specializes in solving challenges in unique, creative ways.”

At that time, we added, “Over the past decade, we have seen an explosion of change — not only in the design and delivery of our services but also in what matters most to our clients in their own markets and segments. Disruption has become the norm, creative confidence is the new competitive advantage, and agility is our platform.”

We challenged our readers to ask whether we were really changing the way we work.

Learning from the Past

This morning, I was thinking about George W. Hellmuth, Sr., one of the three founders of Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK). I remember Bill Hellmuth, the current Chairman and CEO of HOK, mentioning an article that his uncle had written on “The Depression-Proof Firm.” I wasn’t able to find the original paper, but in 2020, Patrick MacLeamy, who preceded Bill as Chairman and CEO of HOK, chronicled it in his book on HOK, as well as in an article on LinkedIn — 5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Architecture or Creative Services Firm, It’s definitely worth reading again.

How are you preparing for a possible recession? What are you strengthening, and what are you attempting to change?

Recession Strategies

More than a decade ago, Nancy Egan and I wrote an article on recession strategies, also published in Marketer. It included information about the OECD Business Cycle Clock and business cycles through the years, as well as the seismic shift that hit A/E/C practices in The Great Recession. We included advice from Alan Murray — Deputy Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal and now CEO of Fortune. He called for “a new business model where managers think more like venture capitalists.” Applying that to the A/E/C industry, we said, “It’s time for firms to rediscover their startup mindsets and leverage evolutionary force to find new resources, processes, and markets in order to emerge from the recession stronger and more nimble than ever before.”

Then in December 2011, Guy Horton interviewed Nancy, Paul Nakazawa, and me for an article in Architect — The “R” Word – Looks like you might survive the recession. Now what? Guy wrote that Nancy, Paul, and I were “focused on new ways of thinking about what we called the ‘ecology of practice,’ including evolutionary growth and long-term strategies for practice management.”

Moving Forward

In The Hinge (2013), Nancy and I wrote that “the correlation between business cycles and the demand for talent and leadership in professional services firms seems obvious.” We commented on strategies that firms had used to reframe their marketing strategies to not only survive the recession, but to accelerate recovery and expansion. We also identified the challenges of tomorrow, which we have experienced in the decade since.

“We are once more at a hinge — a point or circumstance on which subsequent events depend.” And once more, we should ask ourselves whether we are prepared for the next seismic shift.

• How has disruption affected your firm and your clients?
• What performance outcomes are you rewarding?
• What are your strategies for creating the future for your firm and yourself?
• Who will lead change in your firm?
• Do you have the talent and leadership that you need now and into the future?

Learn More »

• 5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Architecture or Creative Services Firm — Patrick MacLeamy for LinkedIn
• Recession Strategies in a Disruptive Economy — Marjanne Pearson and Nancy Egan
• The End of Management — Alan Murray for The Wall Street Journal
• The Hinge: Talent and Leadership in the Business Cycle – Marjanne Pearson and Nancy Egan
• The “R” Word: Looks like you might survive the recession. Now what? — Guy Horton for AIA Architect

Please visit the Anthology section of this website for more articles on Markets, Strategy, People, and Practice.

“On a daily basis, what is the wake that you’re creating?”

— Chip Conley

This is particularly timely for those of us in the world of architecture and design, since so many of our friends and colleagues are celebrating the lives of several giants in our industry – Helmut Jahn, Art Gensler, Ed Friedrichs. All of them left great wakes behind them, for all of us.

What is it that will survive you? What are you creating on a daily basis with the work that you do?

I became a fan of Chip Conley when he founded Joie de Vivre Hospitality in San Francisco — “unique accommodations in vibrant San Francisco neighborhoods.” (Today the brand is JdV by Hyatt.)

When he wrote The Rebel Rules: Daring to Be Yourself in Business in 2001, I was hooked. In it, he “shares his success secrets. He focuses on the primary traits — vision, passion, instinct, and agility — that characterize today’s fast company leaders.”

After selling the JdV brand to Marriott, Mr Conley worked with Everfest and Airbnb in chief strategy roles. Then he began focusing on Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder, and founded the Modern Elder Academy (MEA) in Baja California Sur, Mexico. One of my “modern elder” friends attended the MEA midlife wisdom school last year, and it is now on my bucket list.

Chip Conley: A Wake

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Thank you for reading!

This year, most of us feel as though we’re coming out of hibernation. I’ve spoken with so many people who haven’t ventured beyond their own homes in months.

In today’s New York Times, David Brooks wonders “how a year-plus of social distancing has changed our personalities,” — the side effects of “this Groundhog Day life” that we’ve been experiencing throughout the past year. “I’ve learned this year how much having a feeling of purpose depends on the small acts of hospitality we give and receive each day, sometimes with people we don’t know all that well.”

And he continues, “People who have endured an era of vulnerability emerge with great strength. I’m also convinced that the second half of this year is going to be more fantastic than we can imagine right now.”

Our future begins today — for ourselves and our families and organizations. A new era is unfolding, with significantly more focus on health and wellness, fairness and equity, and sustainability. There’s a new playing field, with new rules. We’re the ones who will make the difference, but we need to look at “strength” differently.

I have great admiration for Rita McGrath, Professor of Strategy at Columbia University and author of Seeing Around Corners. I don’t remember how I heard about her Friday Fireside Chats, but I attended my first one on 8 May 2020, and I was hooked. Each session is an hour of new ideas for a world of possibilities — the perfect antidote for covid-induced claustrophobia.

In her Chat² today, Professor McGrath had a fascinating conversation with Charles Trevail, Global CEO of Interbrand Group of Companies, with much of the conversation focused on brands and culture. He noted that companies are making smaller moves to retain relevance in a field where relevance and responsiveness are critical. Other firms are making “iconic” moves to “stay ahead of shifting expectations and create category-defining results.” (Mr. Trevail’s example: Morgan Stanley committing $30 billion over five years for social and racial causes.) As he explained, brands today are built through action, behavior, and culture; and culture plays a critical part in relevance and engagement/interaction. “Winners” are innovating with their customers — as geographic boundaries have disappeared, companies are moving closer to their clients/customers and have become more agile, with faster response.

How will all of this affect who you are, what you do, and how you do it? Are you ready to welcome your future — beginning today?

Thank you for reading. Happy April, and welcome to our brave new world.

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¹ We also see aperire in words like aperitif and aperture.

² Friday Fireside Chat recordings are available on the Rita Gunther McGrath YouTube Channel, usually the week following the event.

Executive Education:

Learn more about Professor McGrath’s Strategy in Uncertain Times virtual program offered by Columbia Business School Executive Education, April 19–23 from 11am to 3:30pm EDT.

More ideas on this topic, from our Anthology:

• Eyes on the Future: Making Big Moves
• stok: the sky’s the limit
• Welcome to CX! Jobs and Titles of the Future. Now.

Image:

Photo by Євгенія Височина on Unsplash

Today, Krueck Sexton Partners is truly a practice for innovation, for impact, and for change.

Mike Plotnick told their story in the December 2020 issue of Marketer — The Journal of the Society for Marketing Professional Services. It has been a pleasure to work with them throughout this journey, with my brilliant and indomitable colleagues, Linda Wallack and Jean Mandel.

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