Studio Launch

"Teaming" Part Two

Zen Master, Dogen, wrote that every meal has to include a harmony of the six tastes - bitter, sour, sweet, hot, salty, and plain. No one of these is better or more important than the others. Each ingredient has a different taste and a different reason for being part of the meal; they're all important to the end result. And they are comfortably seen as different if only for the reason that the recipe calls for their application in different proportions and/or for their use at different times. Competing ideas or forces of will not with standing, team members, likewise, while all important, may be called to apply their talents and skills in varying degrees and varying times. No one of them will always be the most dominant taste in the final entree.

[Translation] In the studio, the old man and the youth both have to have a place. And given their vastly different perspectives, they must speak to one another over time to work out some degree of reconciliation. This dialogue demands expression and transparency of thoughts and opinions. Ideally, in the course of the debate, the studio and its individuals become more complex and spacious. Ultimately, this is only realized if we appreciate, even embrace, that complexity and accept active responsibility for it at the same time. In the best of studio environments, particularly collaborative ones, the conflict itself becomes creative and perhaps should never be resolved.

Wendy Ornelas, FAIA, offered another perspective: “We can love design and also passionately love management, engineering, construction, contract law, mechanical systems, good plumbing, and assiduous specifications. Can we elevate these different talents and expertise to the same status we traditionally reserve for ‘good designers’? The alternative is a naturally integrative, naturally collaborative, improvisational frame of mind—a jazz mentality—that cultivates invention in all areas of architectural knowledge and production. Great jazz ensembles give every musician an opportunity to riff and solo, not just Miles [Davis].”

As for the problems created by this kind of push and pull of differing opinions >>> Many religious rites begin with washing the hands or sprinkling of water to symbolize the cleansing of intention and the washing away of thoughts and purposes. I suggest that when we feel a “problem” coming on, we run to the washbasin to cleanse our feelings of the moment, and then step confidently back into the evolving stream of the studio.

"Teaming" Part One

(One person’s simple observations, Dr. Phil, or both. However you see this post, its origin came out of current personal ramblings on human potential and was sparked by recent interactions in the studio.)

It seems most of us bring to our studio experience… [scratch that] Most of us bring to life a somewhat naïve psychological attitude in our expectation that our lives and relationships will be simple. And more importantly we bring the expectation that they should be simple. We believe that others in our studio unnecessarily complicate our lives and the processes we are involved in. And if they would only change their attitudes and habits, our work would be much simpler and the goals we are trying to achieve more attainable. If only they preferred email like we do, if only they would stay after 5:30pm to socialize like we do, if only they would be as concerned about the design as we are, if only they communicated the same way we do…

Now certainly, a “well oiled” team, once you experience it, is something to behold. But, the process for making great architecture, the care, attention and love of our work, asks for some appreciation for its complexity. “Well oiled” may truly equate to “magical.” This is true of the studio. As each team coalesces, members bring his or her current stuff along with them. What was one’s stuff on the last project is another’s for this project. Each person is a changing and evolving entity, flexing their spirit in varying degrees. Some need coddling to bring forth their ideas. Others, seemingly dominating the project spew forth idea after idea. How can we accommodate this mess?

I am sure we can agree, that it seems at least, a life lived fully is not without its moments of darkness, and periods of foolishness. These problems, many times, though gut wrenching when they happen, are not only most often temporary, but sometimes-mere illusions we’ve created for ourselves. Remember Senior Prom? The choice of a partner to attend the Senior Prom was for many an anxious time. How much of an impact did your choice in Senior Prom date impact the long line of your life? (Those who had a memorably and traumatic Senior Prom need not respond.)

From this perspective, the problems that make us victims are actually not outside of us, caused by others, but concocted by our own minds. As the old man is often quoted, “I’m an old man with lots of troubles, many of which never happened.” So, enjoy the prom already and know that, well, that date may just not work out. Life is complex. And so are people. And so is the process of making great architecture.

What we say about ourselves

Nathan Speck began his first day as part of our studio...today. And on the walk home from work I was pondering what to tell him about our studio; what to tell him, specifically, to enable him in maximizing his success as a contributer to moving "us" forward.

Last Thursday, I was spending some time with Jack Brittain, the Dean of the School of Business at the University of Utah. He's a student of organizational behavior, among other things. During the conversation we touched on how organizational change seldom finds its power [or its origin?] in the descriptions of organizational purpose derived from folks at the "middle" of the organization. Many people "in" the organization simply can't see out of it, or see the direction of it. Yet, for the folks who can see out, what they tell us about themselves is a complicated mix of who they are, and more importantly, who they aspire to be.

And as we talk with clients, we have to do the same thing. We talk to many of the people in the organization from helmsman to engine room. Each carries with them a different lens through which to see the organization and through which to describe it. And their statements about themselves are varyingly optimistic and pessimistic, far reaching and minutia focused, accurate and flawed, reality and dream. Some folks are simply more communicative than others, just to make it interesting. Its a tough social science we are asked to employ in designing for a crowd that has difficulty in simply asking for what they want. [Just see Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert]

So it remains up to Nathan, to decipher what I say, and what all the other members of the studio tell him, to determine which is description, which is conjecture and reality, and which is aspiration. Good luck with that, Nathan, it will be good practice for...well, the practice of architecture.

Working In Groups

I was reflecting on Greg’s recent observation, which I quoted in the last post when he stated that, “…if someone won't sign their posts, then they probably won't share their ideas face-to-face either, which limits the potential of our studios' creative environment.”

The discussion on whether or not someone should sign their posts on the web log ranged from lack of authenticity to simple generational differences. As we wallowed in pop psychology we did end up agreeing that honest dialogue demands expression and transparency of thoughts, feelings and opinions. One of the hottest topics in our studio has become, how can we challenge ourselves to engage in this honest dialogue?

Then…Tim Lies sends this quote from George Bernard Shaw: "Success comes from taking the path of maximum advantage instead of the path of least resistance." And I started thinking, actually, that the path of least resistance is the path that in human interaction can be the most dangerous, not just least advantageous.

An article, Repression Expression, published in The DailyOM last week suggests this might be true. Passive Aggressive Behavior is not a new concept, but it has taken on new meaning relative to my observations of group interaction. As you look around and observe behavior, particularly in group settings, you may find someone who is adept at engaging in passive-aggressive behavior.   As a coping mechanism some folks actually repress their feelings and behave in a variety of “indirect” ways to get their point across.

The big threat here in terms of “honest dialogue” is that according to the article, “such behavior has the outward appearance of being peaceful…” In other words, you can come off looking good, the peaceful one, the agreeable one, the good-guy.  The article continues, “yet it is really an attempt to express oneself in seemingly passive ways-usually without accepting responsibility for doing so.” And it is the accepting responsibility part that caught my interest the most.

They give an example, “someone who doesn't want to attend an event with a partner might engage in behavior that causes them to be late or miss the event without ever admitting to their partner that they never wanted to go to the function at all.” Without taking responsiblity for it.  And how many times do you see this in groups?

Has a group that you’ve been a part of reached an apparent agreement only to find out later that procrastination, inefficiency, talking behind backs and “being too busy” have undermined the groups progress? In this way, key members of the group are simply expressing their disagreement indirectly. That’s passive aggressive behavior of the most dangerous kind when it comes to organizations.  And the people trying to move forward find themselves confused because little gets accomplished between meetings.

“When we express ourselves directly, we are more likely to be heard by the other person. It also becomes easier for us to ask for and get what we want. By learning to express ourselves directly, we prevent misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and resentment from cropping up in our relationships. We also learn to communicate with others in healthy and productive ways.”

We need to work in groups, and our efforts ultimately are better for it. Let’s strive for honest dialogue. Let’s not kid ourselves or others. Let’s avoid the inertia, the drag on movement forward that passive aggressive behavior creates when we should be actively executing our decisions. It is never too late, to simply mean what we say and to reach conclusions as groups that we are all going to sincerely work towards.  We can start today.  I'm going to.

Cool Presentation Technique

This was originally passed on to me by Laura Brunow.  Since, I've tried this presentation technique and really like it.  Talk about having to know your material!  Here's what Laura said about it and links to find out more about it.

"It's no secret that many of us get lost during a normal powerpoint presentation. Start reading the whole slide, get ahead of the presenter, get behind the presenter, or just get lost daydreaming. There is a relatively new and effective way of approaching powerpoints called the Lessig method."

Read about it > http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/10/the_lessig_meth.html

...here > http://www.identity20.com/media/OSCON2005/