AEC Business

In this podcast episode, I interview Joe Pulizzi, the leading content marketing expert. We talk about why content marketing is valuable for AEC firms, where to start, and how to stay successful.

Joe Pulizzi is founder of  Content Marketing Institute, the leading education and training organization for content marketing, which includes the largest in-person content marketing event in the world, Content Marketing World. Joe is the winner of the 2014 John Caldwell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Content Council.   Joe’s the author of four books, including his latest Content Inc.  His third book, Epic Content Marketing was named one of “Five Must Read Business Books of 2013” by Fortune Magazine. You can find Joe on Twitter @JoePulizzi. If you ever see Joe in person, he’ll be wearing orange.

I had a chance to listen to Joe live at Content Marketing Forum Helsinki, organized by Kubo,  in September 2016. Joe's presentation was very inspiring and hands-on, as are his books.

Go to Content Marketing Institute to learn more. Joe's home page is at http://www.joepulizzi.com/.

Listen to the interview (also in iTunes)

I met with Kasmir Jolma, a newly graduated Finnish architect, in Helsinki. We discuss his master's thesis on strategy and communication for architects and how clients see the architect's role. 

Here are snippets of the summary of Kasmir's thesis, published in May 2016 at Tampere University of Technology:

"Business development has not been a strength for architectural firms, even though it could help the firm to reach its other goals. Especially in Finland there has been little research about the value creation, strategic planning and communication of architectural firms. The goal for this thesis is to provide useful information for partners and employees of architectural firms, so that they could better support the objectives of the firm."

"One difference in opinion between clients and architects was the meaning of process in value creation: architects emphasized the importance of a final product more than clients, and some clients saw the process as even more important than the end result. Architects viewed that their profession is answering to many different stakeholders’ expectations, whereas clients expected the architect to be an expert in its own field and deliver solutions according to the clients wishes. Diversity in projects was an ideal for the architects, whereas clients saw architectural firms as segmented and expected specialization."

You can download the thesis in Finnish.

Email Kasmir at [email protected] or call him at +358 50 443 2710. You can also find him on LinkedIn.

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I had the pleasure of interviewing Guy Skillett, head of construction at Rhumbix, a construction industry IT startup. In addition to the audio interview, here's a summary of our conversation.

What is Rhumbix?

Rhumbix is a construction data platform that replaces manual reporting processes like timekeeping, daily reporting, installed quantities and production tracking.

The genesis of Rhumbix was a large construction project in Chile where Rhumbix co-founder & CEO, Zach Scheel, and head of construction, Guy Skillett, managed timekeeping for a craft workforce of 7,000 people using manual timesheets.

Being empowered to improve productivity, the two were looking for clues in the data that would help identify where performance issues were arising. Realising that performance data gathered from the field didn’t really deliver the sorts of insights that were required, they set out to build a platform that gathered better data, including all of the much-needed and usually absent qualitative context around performance and production issues, in one simple, easy-to-use platform.

What are the problems that you want to solve with Rhumbix?

The ongoing lack of digitisation of construction field processes and the problems that arise from not having access to reliable field data. The industry remains defined by slow adoption of technology and the enduring use of manual processes to gather vital production and performance data. If the industry wants to benchmark performance and move towards a more adaptable, robust industry that leverages data in a more effective consistent way, it has to first resolve the field data issue and replace manual processes with something more appropriate for the 21st century. This is the enduring industry legacy issue that Rhumbix is working hard to solve.

Can you describe how Rhumbix helps on a construction site and what are the main benefits it offers?

Rhumbix is a powerful reporting solution that can be used by foremen to automate field reporting of timekeeping, daily reports, field photos, daily production, impacts and delays and changed conditions. With this data foremen create a data-rich record of what happened on the jobsite during the shift. By using a mobile solution, Rhumbix keeps the foremen in the field with his crews, where he can be most effective and deliver the greatest value.

At the end of the day, the foreman’s field reporting and administration duties are complete. Accurate and reliable field data can be communicated immediately to the office for use. Rhumbix not only improves the quality of the data that is gathered, but automates the performance analysis that management teams need to understand what is happening on their projects. Questions like, were we productive today, and, how much money did we earn or lose, become far easier to answer with Rhumbix.

Who should take Rhumbix into use and what does it take to get the full benefits?

Any company that still struggles with reliable field data and uses manual processes for field data collection can benefit. Rhumbix is a pretty intuitive and easy-to-use solution so firms that are worried about the difficulty of deploying mobile technology can definitely obtain value from Rhumbix. The platform sits between the field and customer’s existing software tools for payroll and production tracking, augmenting existing systems, but not replacing them.

Companies can deploy Rhumbix without having to endure painful integrations, but of course we support integrations for companies that want to seamlessly include Rhumbix in their software suite. We believe that the greatest benefit from the Rhumbix platform comes from companies that use Rhumbix not only to manage timekeeping and field reporting, but firms that also leverage its strengths for daily production tracking and profitability analysis. In this way, Rhumbix saves foremen in the field valuable time, but also delivers real savings to supervision and management who are looking for reliable data and insights around what is happening on jobsites, and where to make critical interventions in support of project objectives.

What are the steps in implementing Rhumbix, where is it available, and what are the costs?

It is very easy to set up. You just download the app from the Apple store. Rhumbix is only available on iOS right now while we develop its full capabilities. You then load up your project data and your crew lists and get going. Rhumbix can be free for small crews, and enterprise costs for larger companies are based entirely on the number of workers whose time is recorded in the system. As many admins, managers and supervisors can use Rhumbix data so you never need to worry about seats and licenses, and you only pay for what you use.

Where can our listeners get more information and how can they contact you?

Feel free to connect on our website at www.rhumbix.com or for any specific questions around deployment and technology contact Rhumbix head of construction Guy Skillett at [email protected].

About Guy Skillett

Guy Skillett worked for Bechtel for ten years on five continents managing mega-projects in the civil infrastructure and mining and metals space. He left to pursue a MSc in International Construction Management and now heads up the construction department at Rhumbix where he assists in product development and the execution of interesting productivity study deployments.

Guy is a visiting research scholar at the Project Production Systems Laboratory (P2SL) at UC Berkeley where he researches how deployment of technology can empower the implementation and measurement of Lean Construction.

Product images courtesy of Rhumbix

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In this podcast interview Tobias Dahlberg, CEO of Wonder Agency, talks about branding. You’ll learn what a brand means, how to develop a brand, and why branding is a strategic question.

What is your definition of “brand”?

Assuming that I’m developing a new service in the construction industry, why should I pay attention to branding as part of my strategy?

Can you walk us through the process of creating and launching a brand for a service?

What do you think about the relationship between a company brand and branding individual services?

Do you have tips for naming a service?

Tobias also talks about his mission and future plans.

Wonder Agency partners with ambitious clients to create breakthroughs for their brands by fulfilling their true potential. The company mixes the disciplines of strategy, branding, design and innovation. Wonder has worked with brands such as Fiskars, Coca-Cola, Paulig, Iittala, and many more. You can learn more about Tobias at www.tobiasdahlberg.com and about the services his company provides at www.wonderagency.com.

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In this episode 52 of the AEC Business podcast I interview Barry Giles, CEO of BREEAM USA. We talk about BREEAM In-Use, a sustainability rating system for existing buildings. It has entered the American marketplace as a localized version, BREAAM USA In-Use.

Here's how BREEAM USA describes BREEAM In-Use:

"In 2009, BRE Global developed BREEAM In-Use (BiU), the scheme which just launched this year in the US. It is an assessment and certification process designed to help building owners, facilities managers, investment managers and building occupiers measure and reduce environmental impacts and improve the performance of existing commercial buildings in a cost-effective and low-risk way.

The scheme, although tailored for use in the US, employs international best practices that are applicable to any building. It employs a dynamic scoring platform and reporting section to enable the user to track and improve the performance of their building, and a common set of questions to allow an entire portfolio of assets to be compared with each other no matter where they are located. Buildings that initially score a low overall assessment rating have the opportunity to make future year-on-year improvements and buildings that score high in their initial ratings can strive to maintain their rating by making on-going improvements. It also builds on internal review processes to achieve optimal results in building performance and management. It has a structure that enables the standard to be adaptable to future changes and regulatory requirements.

To save on costs, the program is broken down into three parts: an assessment of the environmental performance of a building, the operations of the building, and how clients (occupiers) are managing their activities within the building. Owners or property managers can choose to complete one, two – or all three parts. What certification provides is market recognition by proving the building achieved the assessment score and deserves the BREEAM rating. Yearly re-certification confirms on-going commitment to achieving higher performing best practices.

With budgets being such a concern, BREEAM Building In-Use (BIU) is designed to be very friendly on the pocketbook. Once the initial registration fee of just $1,000 has been paid, access to the online measurement portal is available for a full year. It also provides guidance on what can be improved within available budgets to improve the building’s score. This is well below comparable systems’ costs, not to mention the barriers to entry are much, much lower – there are no prerequisites to receiving a building score or to achieving certification.

Really you only need to become fully certified to prove to investors, regulators, potential lessors, the general public, and other stakeholders that your asset is performing how you claim. A third-party independent assessor must be hired to complete certification, but is by no means required. However, if you want to tout your achievements in the news, we strongly recommend complete certification."

The first project to receive BREEAM certification in the USA is The Bloc in downtown Los Angeles (seen in the post title image, courtesy of BREEAM USA).

To learn more about BREEAM USA, visit www.breeamusa.com.

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In this interview with Gordon A Geddes, CEO of Lynx Systems, we talk about reinventing the building envelope. Gordon also gives great advice to innovators in the construction industry.

Here are our discussion topics:

Why Gordon became interested in innovation in the construction industry

What are responsive building envelopes

What it the problem with traditional building envelopes and how have companies tried solve these problems

Why the building industry has entered a season for disruptive innovation

What Lynx Systems is doing in regard to responsive building skins

You can contact Gordon via LinkedIn and Facebook.

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This is the 50th episode of the AEC Business podcast! As a special guest, I have Gijs van Wulfen, a globally renowned innovation speaker and founder of the FORTH Innovation Methodology. We talk about his new book, The Innovation Maze, and how you can become a successful innovator.

Gijs was chosen by LinkedIn as one of the first 150 influencers. On his LinkedIn page he says: “Why is innovation made complex by so many people? My mission is to make innovation simpler, and inspire you with my lectures, interactive workshops and books so you and your team can innovate yourselves successfully. Yes, everybody can be an innovator. I help people in organizations worldwide to jumpstart innovation and create new products, services and business models.”

The Innovation Maze is a great hands-on guide for everyone interested in innovation (read my review).

On this podcast episode we talk about these topics:

The four different routes to innovation

The main innovation obstacles in an established firm and how to overcome them

The right focusing questions to answer when you start an innovation assignment

The most important innovation activity for an established company

Why focusing on operational excellence alone could put your company at risk

How to be a successful innovator in a company that does not feel the urge to innovate

The two sweet spots of innovation

Why funding startups is not the best way to innovate in a large company

You can buy The Innovation Maze at Amazon.com. Gijs’s home page is at www.gijsvanwulfen.com and the FORTH Innovation Method site is at www.forth-innovation.com.

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Stefan Engeseth is author, consultant, speaker, CEO and Guest Professor. His latest book is Sharkonomics. In this podcast episode, we're going to talk about what nature has taught Stefan and how that could be applied to the construction industry.

Sharks are not only nature’s most revered killing machines, they are highly strategic and efficient predators. Studying their

behavior and instincts can provide lessons for companies of any size who want to attack the competition.

Stefan Engeseth argues that taking market share from market leaders is about being aware, creating presence and punching above your weight. By applying the behavioral traits of the shark, Engeseth has created a number of highly practical business strategies which include striking unpredictably, developing a sensory system, hunting in packs and how to locate blind spots. The more competitive your marketplace, the more effective Sharkonomics can be. After all sharks have been evolving for over 420 million years and are still very much the leaders in their space.

Who are the sharks threatening the construction industry and how could disruption take place? These are the themes of the interview.

Visit www.sharkonomics.com and www.detectivemarketing.com to learn more about Stefan's ideas, books, and services.

Images are courtesy of DetectiveMarketing.

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I had the pleasure of visiting Pöyry's headquarters and meeting Jaana Tyynismaa and Jouni Honkala. In this episode 48 of the AEC Business Podcast we talk about circular economy.

Pöyry is an international consulting and engineering company serving clients worldwide across the energy, industry, and infrastructure sectors. Last year, the net sales of Pöyry Group exceeded half a billion euros, with around 6,000 employees.

Jaana is the President of Environmental Business in Pöyry Northern Europe. Jouni is the leader of the Mining and Metals Business in Finland, with operations in Scandinavia.

We discuss the following topics

What is the circular economy, and what are its main drivers

Why AEC companies should care about the circular economy

What are some ways for AEC firms to start implementing the new model

Pöyry is planning to build a 100 percent recyclable factory. Jaana and Jouni describe the project.

The future of the circular economy in Pöyry’s business

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Phil McKinney is an award winning innovator of technologies and products used by 100’s of millions of consumers and businesses worldwide. In this interview, Phil shares ideas on how to innovate in the construction industry.

In this interview, we discuss

What are killer innovations

Where to innovate

How to use questions as an innovation tool

How to brainstorm effectively

About Phil

Since 2005, Phil has shared his expertise in innovation and creativity, free of charge (in an approach he refers to as “paying it forward”) through his award winning weekly podcast Killer Innovations™. Phil has been credited with forming and leading multiple teams that FastCompany and BusinessWeek list as one of the “50 Most Innovative”. His recognition includes Vanity Fair naming him the “The Innovation Guru”, MSNBC and Fox Business calling him "The Gadget Guy" and the San Jose Mercury News dubbing him the "chief seer".

Phil shares his rule-breaking approach to innovation and creativity in his book Beyond The Obvious. Phil and his wife donate 100% of the author royalties to charities such as Hacking Autism.

Phil is the CEO of CableLabs, the non-profit research & development lab funded by the global cable industry. CableLabs is the “Bell Labs” of the cable industry. He joined CableLabs after retiring as CTO at Hewlett-Packard.

While at HP, McKinney created the Innovation Program Office (IPO). The IPO was/is chartered to identify, incubate and launch adjacent and fundamentally new technologies, products and services that will become the future growth engines for HP. Phil, and the success of the Innovation Program Office, are now shared in widely used case studies at Stanford University and Harvard Business School.

He oversees his family VC fund (Techtrend Group) that invests in for-profit start-ups that use their economic impact (jobs and profits) to address local social needs (e.g. Lakeside Fish Farm in Rwanda).

Phil volunteers as a board member at a number of non-profits including The Computer History Museum and Hacking Autism.

Listen to the interview (also on iTunes and other podcasting platforms)