Guest Viewpoint: Steven Leuck

The following is a reprint from the November/December 2014 edition of The Documentor, the newsletter of the Willamette Valley Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute. WVC/CSI president Steven Leuck wrote the piece as his monthly message to the WVC/CSI membership. 

With Steven’s permission, I’m republishing his article here on SW Oregon Architect for the benefit of those who read my blog but who do not receive The Documentor. I admire how much he personalizes his commentary on work-life balance and the perspective the younger generations in our workforce bring to that issue. 

Steven happens to be one of the founders (along with Jeff Brown) of Contractors Electric, LLC here in Eugene, a company he has poured his heart and soul into. If anyone understands the value of balancing one’s career with the other things in life that matter to us, it’s Steven. He knows the millennial cohort may be young, naïve, and idealistic, but it is also like most every generation that proceeded it. Young people have always wanted to challenge the status quo and question why things can’t be done differently. We (graying baby boomers like Steven and me) may believe we know how things should be done but that’s exactly the reason why it’s good to listen to the younger professionals who work with and for us. 

Here’s Steven’s message: 

Life Balance
By Steven Leuck, President WVC/CSI

Some months ago I read an article re-posted to Facebook by my grandnephew titled “Why the Millennial Architect Won’t Be Your CAD Monkey” (read the complete article here: http://architizer.com/blog/why-the-millennial-architect-wont-be-your-cad-monkey/). My grandnephew received both his bachelors and masters in architecture here at the U of O some eight or nine years ago. He felt the article had some merit. I was astounded and dismayed by both the tone and the content of the article—which was, essentially, that the “millennial” architects now coming up through education and into our ranks are not satisfied with much of the old model by which experience has been traditionally gained through the current model. 

At first I was incensed over the article and took my grandnephew to task that he would actually believe what I saw as complete drivel and nonsense. But now, some months later as I re-read the article, I am seeing some truths poking out here and there to which we should be paying attention. The main one, and the one I’d like to bring to our attention here, is that of a notion of some sort of life-balance between our jobs, our projects and the quality of our personal lives. 

While there is quite a bit of this article that I just outright reject and condemn as “stinking thinking” there is at least one aspect of it that we should be paying attention to: life-balance. Not just as it applies to them but to us as well. Those coming out of school now and joining the ranks of the building construction professionals are part of a whole new world that has changed and is continuing to change at a much more rapid pace than we have ever seen in the past. It’s not that they expect more for less—it’s that they want and expect different things to meet their needs in a quickly changing world. We need to be keen to their desires to have some sort of balance in their lives such that they (and we!!) don’t feel as though our workaday activities are sucking the life out of us. 

I am, quite possibly, the worst example of not doing better at having a quality life-balance. Recognizing what would be required to get a construction company off the ground during an economic recession, I committed myself early on to spending enormous amounts of time at work and even more time after normal work hours to build community relationships with the end goal of building a successful business. We have reached most of our goals during these first four and a half years so far. But at what cost? At the time we started out, my wife and I were empty-nesters and we mutually agreed that this would be a good time for us to start a business, because the need to have me at home was not as great as the need to have me working our business plan. Now that we’re raising a grandchild we have to adjust this thinking—drastically. 

The new upcoming generation (now officially known as the “Linkster” generation) has a much different outlook on what they need for life-balance than many of us did when we started out. Some things remain and always will but we need to listen to what they’re saying to better understand them. Do we know what it is they’re really asking? How do we respond to them? Can we apply these things to ourselves and our own situations? 

I’m not saying I have the answers. But take a moment and read the original article. As you do, try doing so through a different pair of colored glasses. Try seeing it from the view point of someone just starting out and the way the changing world is now and will continue to affect them as they travel the road most of us have already traversed. See if you can find enough in here to re-create for the better some of what we do in order to achieve better balance—for ourselves and our companies.

What is Missing?

Still from Maya Lin’s video Unchopping a Tree

Acclaimed artist, architect, and designer Maya Lin (best known as the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC) delivered the Oregon Humanities Center’s O’Fallon Memorial Lecture this past Thursday at the University of Oregon. I fully expected to be impressed by a review of Lin’s extraordinary oeuvre. What I and the many others who packed the EMU Ballroom didn’t expect was to come away both shaken and moved by what she has described as her latest and final memorial project: What is Missing? 

What is Missing? blends art and science to raise awareness about the ongoing loss of biodiversity and natural habitats. It is a multi-media, multi-site memorial that aims to build awareness about species loss and highlight what scientists and environmental groups throughout the world are doing to protect species and habitats. Maya Lin’s intent is to bring the magnitude of the sixth extinction to our attention through artistic means. 

Many of us are fully aware that we’re on the brink of a sixth mass extinction on par with the five others that have punctuated our planet’s history. I fear we may have already passed the tipping point insofar as large-scale climate change (and its concomitant and exponential acceleration of habitat and species loss) is concerned. It is beyond tragic. What is Missing? alerts us about the very real immediacy of the crisis and how catastrophic and dreadful its impacts will be if we choose to do nothing. This shouldn’t be necessary, and yet there I was in the audience shocked again by the magnitude of the calamity unfolding before us. It’s far too easy for me—for all of us—to ignore or forget our responsibilities to protect our planet when our day-to-day concerns are so distracting. 

What is Missing? debuted in 2009. Since then Lin has continuously been working on the ambitious undertaking in the form of multiple permanent and temporary art installations, more than 70 videos, and the What is Missing? interactive website(1). Among other things, she uses her work to emphasize the importance of preventing deforestation as a way of reducing emissions and protecting animals and habitat. She engages her audience through interactive media, asking visitors who view (and listen to) her work to contribute their own stories of loss and or recovery in the natural world.

I’m surprised I wasn’t previously aware of Maya Lin’s What is Missing? project. I like to think I’m pretty well-informed when it comes to the activities of the most notable thought-leaders in the design universe but I obviously wasn’t paying attention to what may prove to be her magnum opus. 

Lin did not devote the entirety of the lecture to What is Missing? She initially offered a brisk overview of her career’s work, glossing over her most familiar pieces (such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, the Women’s Table at Yale University, and the Wave Field at the University of Michigan). She did dedicate more time to the Confluence Project, perhaps because of the relative proximity of that series of outdoor installations and interpretive artworks to Eugene. Of these, I found the yet-to-be completed Celilo Park site the most intriguing, in part because of my familiarity with its important story(2). 

 

Celilo Falls, before the falls were flooded by The Dalles Dam in 1957.

Maya Lin is obviously brilliant. She’s been blessed with opportunities to deliver her messages in ways that are impactful, perspective-altering, and thought-provoking. She is the rare personification of a total artist, equally at home with a variety of media at all scales. What is Missing? may be her “last” memorial but I fully expect she’ll never finish it, at least without the confidence that humankind has taken heed of its message. 

 

Click the link below for a video of Maya Lin’s complete November 20 lecture:

http://media.uoregon.edu/channel/2014/11/10/oregon-humanities-center’s-2014–15-o’fallon-memorial-lecture-maya-lin/

 

(1)    Curiously, the What is Missing? website appears to be inactive at the moment.

(2)    Years ago, my wife worked as an archaeologist on digs in the vicinity of where the now-lost Celilo Falls once served as a gathering place for thousands of Native Americans and an important salmon fishery.

2014 Eugene Gingerbread Competition

 

Are you ready for the holiday season? If not, you need to be because the third annual Eugene Gingerbread Competition is quickly approaching! This year's event will take place on December 13 at The 5th Street Market.

 

AIA-Southwestern Oregon or CSI WillametteValley chapter members can enter a gingerbread creation into the Professional Category, vote for their favorite entry, buy a house during the silent auction, or simply enjoy the festive atmosphere. The Professional Category is for teams or individuals that include architects, landscape architects, bakers, contractors, or designers. 

 

My firm, Robertson/Sherwood/Architects, proudly submitted an entry for the first contest back in 2012. Cleverly disguised as a fun time together, designing and assembling our sugary sweet project proved to be a great team-building exercise. We didn’t take home an award but we thoroughly enjoyed the agreeable distraction from our workday concerns. 

 

As with the 2012 and 2013 editions of the contest, the competition judges will bestow awards based on the creativity of approach, quality of construction, and observation of the rules. The awards may include the following: 

• People’s Choice
• Best in Show
• Most Unusual
• Most Economical
• Most Innovative use of Materials
• Most Accurate Recreation of an Existing Building

Entry forms are due on Friday, December 12. Register your entry online at: http://tinyurl.com/eugenegingerbread2014. Act quickly as there will only be room for the first 50 submissions.

Start drawing your plans, heat up your ovens, and join what has become a delightful and welcome holiday tradition in Eugene!

Architecture is Awesome #7: The Process of Discovery

 

This is another in my series of posts inspired by 1000 Awesome Things, the Webby Award winning blog written by Neil Pasricha. The series is my meditation on the awesome reasons why I was and continue to be attracted to the art of architecture. 

 

Like most creative pursuits, the practice of architecture is fundamentally a process of discovery. Each new project seduces us with its promise. Inherent in every design problem are possibilities, inventions, and an order of systems waiting to be revealed. The means of their discovery necessitates the exploration and study of concepts. Ultimately, the process rewards architects who embrace opportunities, brave the unknown, and dispel preconceptions. 

 

Paul Laseau described the process of discovery as consisting of two parts: 1) invention; and 2) concept formation. In his book Graphic Thinking for Architects & Designers, he explained how invention seeks the basic discovery—the original idea for the project—whereas concept formation converts the discovery into a graphic and verbal statement that can give basic direction to the full development of the project. 

 

But the process of discovery is much more as well. Its course is seemingly capricious, full of twists and turns. There are often surprises along the way. Some are welcome epiphanies. Others are roadblocks, obstacles that momentarily frustrate progress. Along the way, the journey is its own reward, its route marked by leaps of understanding and creativity. There is a great deal to be learned, and the learning is achieved by doing. 

 

The greatest thrill comes to us when the process suddenly reveals a clear and obvious path toward the solution we have been seeking. What was previously inscrutable swiftly and surprisingly becomes a simple, elegant, and robust design concept. This is our eureka moment, that exhilarating instant of the judged truth being laid bare. The process of discovery has coupled the thrill of creative effort with the joy of achievement. 

 

Because it can so often be unpredictable, exasperating, and difficult, the process of discovery is inherently challenging. Then again, it is also a voyage every architect willingly embarks upon. Like inveterate explorers, we repeatedly seek knowledge, insight, and answers to questions of great importance. Architecture is as much about how we arrive at our design solutions as it is about the designs themselves. We trust the process of discovery to get us where we want to go. 

 

AWESOME!

 

Next Architecture is Awesome: #8: Transitions

Social Networking Basics

Cherise Schacter, CSI, CDT

 

For its October 2014 meeting, the Willamette Valley Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute enjoyed having Cherise Schacter, CSI, CDT deliver an excellent presentation on social networking basics. 

 

I previously described Cherise to readers of SW Oregon Architect as an “absolute dynamo” and a “real up-and-comer,” though she has now most definitely arrived and is leaving an indelible mark on CSI. After only three short years as a CSI member, Cherise is already the Portland chapter president, chair of CSI’s Certification Preparation Committee, and a member of the CSI Academies planning team. She is also the undeniable queen of the CSI Krakens. As I’ve mentioned before, the CSI Krakens are the loudest cheerleaders of a movement that exemplifies the collaborative ethos of successful project teams. Any and every CSI member who wants to likewise join the crusade can become a CSI Kraken. 

 

Undoubtedly, social networking media are helping to spread the CSI Kraken fever. As Cherise reported, social media have become commonplace means for members of the AEC industry to communicate and share information and ideas. The bottom line is that if you’re not already engaged online, you’re definitely behind the curve. There’s no time like the present to jump in, expand your reach, and grow your professional network. 

 

Cherise has become an authority on the topic of online social networking. Her impressive Twitter statistics show she has tweeted more than 32,000 times, has 1,672 followers, and follows 1,910 others. Her LinkedIn connections number 1,580 professionals.(1) Additionally, Cherise is a fellow blogger. Her blog—entitled The Voices In My Head—may be new but Cherise displays an innate knack for writing engagingly about her life, work, and/or her appreciation for CSI in every post. 

 

Cherise is quick to point out that she is not a marketing professional. Instead, she has worked for more than 30 years in the AEC industry, presently serving as Standards Coordinator for Interface Engineering in Portland. In this role, Cherise’s responsibilities include writing specifications, developing standards, quality assurance/quality control, and construction contract administration. It is precisely this background that qualifies her best to talk about the value of social networking to CSI members. 

 

Cherise is enthusiastic about social networking because she’s living proof of its benefits. By her own account, she’s made incredible connections from all disciplines (worldwide), gained valuable education and experience from the information shared with her, amassed a wealth of trusted advisors for guidance, and made the most of opportunities that have taken her career to places she never thought possible. These benefits have accrued not only to Cherise personally but also to Interface Engineering as well. 

 

Twitter and LinkedIn are Cherise’s primary social networking tools, and she focused her talk on these two platforms. She packed a huge amount of information into a concise, fast-paced presentation suited to SoMe newbies and old hands alike. I don’t think of myself as a Twitter and LinkedIn novice, yet Cherise offered tidbits of invaluable advice about both networking services that were completely new to me. 

 

Here (borrowing liberally from her Powerpoint slides) are a few of the key points Cherise made:

 

About Social Media Networking:

• Social media networking is the practice of expanding your business and/or social contacts by making connections online.
• The potential is incredible but “potential” means nothing if you don’t do anything with it.
• If you’re a beginner, think of social media networking like starting a new school: At first, you don’t know anybody and have no friends. You attend some classes and start meeting people. As you meet people, you start associating with the ones with similar interests. This “school” is worldwide. You can interact and learn from like-minded professionals you never would have met any other way.
• Social Media (SoMe) and social networking have some overlap but are two separate marketing concepts. SoMe is a format that delivers a message like TV and radio; it is a system to disseminate information, which everyone can create and distribute. Conversely, social networking is an act of engagement. The main purpose of social networking is to connect with other people. People with similar interests congregate to share information of mutual interest.
• Social media, especially Twitter, can be like drinking from a firehouse. Refine your stream to dictate what you want to read.
• Social networking is career insurance you can’t afford to be without. It will help you maintain a robust professional brand. Power your career.
• Social networking is not the wave of the future; it is here NOW.

 

 

About Twitter:

• Twitter is micro-blogging, social messaging, news reporting, and social media marketing.
• There are more than 645,750,000 active registered users, who generate an average of 58 million tweets per day (9,100 tweets per second!).
• Twitter is free. The only price is your time and effort.
• Twitter is instant, quick to use, and can greatly expand your market reach.
• Your competition is likely already using Twitter, so you should too.
• Twitter allows you to engage your clients and customers on a regular basis.
• With only 140 characters, each tweet is short and sweet.
• Tweet Reach = total number of estimated unique Twitter users using the same search term.
• Exposure = total number of times tweets about the same search term were delivered to Twitter streams.
• Impressions = total number of times a tweet has been delivered to the Twitter stream of a particular account.
• Hashtags: Think of hashtags as a TV channel. If you want to find a particular program, you dial that channel. Same with a hashtag. If you type #CSIKraken into the search box, it will return all the tweets that include that hashtag.
• Don’t be an egghead. People are likely to ignore you.
• Create a great bio. People will use this to decide whether to follow you.
• Have a short, easy username that is easy to type and easy to remember.
• Tweet less than 140 characters. Leave room for others to reply or retweet.
• What you tweet about will choose your followers. Post cats—expect cat ladies. Post construction failures—expect construction professionals.
• Twitter is not a monologue; it is a social medium. Nobody likes to talk to a wall. Reply to tweets and participate in conversations.
• Share/promote others. Share and re-tweet information necessary to your brand or something you think will be interesting to your followers. People will remember you for sharing and respond in kind when you tweet something interesting. CSI has a lot of bloggers who use Twitter to promote their writing. When you re-tweet them, you drive traffic to them.
• Respond to others in a timely manner. Engagement only happens if you respond.
• Mind your manners. Ranting will get you nowhere. Stay away from conflict and controversial topics. Always be polite and respectful.
• Thank often. Thank your followers, especially for re-tweets. A small appreciation tweet can go a long way to building future relationships.
• Get signed up and get started. Follow people in your area of interest. Spend some time scrolling through tweets and getting a feel for the conversations. Remember, you grow slowly on Twitter. It’s all about building relationships and that takes time. Be patient, be consistent, and engage!

 

About LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. It helps connect you to trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities.
• LinkedIn is about finding and being found with other professionals in your industry. Get in touch.
• LinkedIn has almost 2 million groups with discussion boards, news boards, and job postings. Learn and share.
• There are over 100 million LinkedIn members and growing, over 48 million in North America alone.
• The average age of LinkedIn users is 45. The gender of LinkedIn users is almost evenly split. The average household income of LinkedIn users is $91,566.
• LinkedIn helps you to establish and maintain business contacts online, get introduced to professionals and service providers, recommend colleagues, and check references.
• LinkedIn is a forum within which to conduct research. You can receive industry news, and ask and answer industry questions. LinkedIn provides opportunities to publish articles or your blog.
• The fundamental purpose of LinkedIn is to present your professional, rather than personal image. Don’t confuse the two.
• Search engines LOVE LinkedIn, which is good for you, because you can control every bit of info on your profile

Additionally, Cherise provided the following list of helpful resources regarding Twitter and LinkedIn:

• Mashable Twitter Guidebook: http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
• Twitter Help Center: https://support.twitter.com/
• Newbies Guide to Twitter: http://news.cnet.com/newbies-guide-totwitter/
• The Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter: http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/03/the-ultimate-guide-foreverything-twitter/
• 13 Twitter Tips for Newbies: http://www.twitip.com/13-twitter-tips-andtutorials-for-beginners/
• Top 10 Tips for Using LinkedIn: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/tips/a/top-10-tips-linkedin.htm
• 5 Steps to getting the most out of LinkedIn Groups: http://www.business2community.com/linkedin/5-steps-gettinglinkedin-groups-0630628
• LinkedIn, the Beginner’s Guide: http://mashable.com/2012/05/23/linkedin     

There are critics of social networking who contend its technology is threatening to dominate our lives and make us less human. What these “nattering nabobs of negativity” (2) fail to recognize is how the intelligent use of social media—specifically Twitter and LinkedIn—can greatly enhance our ability to communicate and share on a professional level. Let’s not be Luddites and fail to recognize the vast potential of social media networking. Fundamentally, today’s social media is a collection of tools that create and support relationships. In this respect they’re just like the telephone—a tool for and not a usurper of social interaction. 

 

It’s neither a coincidence nor insignificant that Cherise and I first became acquainted through Twitter; in fact, we didn’t meet in person until just this past May at the CSI Northwest Region Conference in Portland. I truly believe both Cherise and I came to know each other as well or better as members of CSI’s very active community of “tweeps” as we might have the old-fashioned way. Seeing Cherise in person for the first time was actually very much like greeting a good friend I’d known for many years. 

 

Release the krakens!

 

Attendance at the October 2014 meeting was the best it has been in many months. Those who were on hand to listen to Cherise were rewarded with a perfect primer about the value and potential of social networking. Thank you Cherise for making the trip down I-5 and sharing your expertise with the Willamette Valley Chapter! #CSIKrakens rule!

(1)  To compare, I’ve tweeted less than 1,000 times (over the three-year period since I joined Twitter), have 657 followers, and follow 1,019 people. I have 355 LinkedIn connections.

(2)  I trust the late William Safire would not begrudge my use of the infamous line he wrote in 1968 for a speech by then vice-president Spiro Agnew.