Whether or not you decide to stay within architecture (and I agree, we need talented folks to reinforce and build the profession), the advice at 20:40 is helpful:

“Don’t be the person who’s out there looking for a job – be the person out there doing something interesting.”

Find the movie on Hulu here:   http://bit.ly/aYxu2n

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Image courtesy www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives

A recent article on the Design Intelligence blog (http://www.di.net/blog/2009/12/intern-to-architect/) analyzes historical data from Oregon, New York and Nebraska to show that the time it is taking architectural interns to achieve licensure is longer than anticipated, and appears to be increasing over time. Below are a few potential reasons.

1 – Intern Development Program (IDP)

The 2008 article “Licensure and Time” from the AIA California Council posits IDP as part of the problem, noting that “In the 1990s, the time it took for a professional degree graduate to complete licensure requirements more than doubled.” Why would this be the effect of a program designed to assist interns in structuring a more complete internship? “…IDP placed additional requirements on interns to get specific work experiences that they were mostly powerless to ensure….”

2 – Computer-based exams

The move from a paper based exam to the multiple-choice ARE increased cost, while perhaps unintentionally reducing support from within firms. A comment from from an intern in the above article is revealing: “I think that architecture firms were more supportive of the time and other needs when 10 or 15 interns were taking the exam all together. Now it’s one here, one there, and it’s like the firm is doing you a favor.”

Without a groundswell of camaraderie within a firm, interns are often left on their own to find the time and motivation to schedule exams.

3 – Insufficient Financial Incentive

In other professional fields like law, medicine, accounting, & engineering, there is a typically a substantial financial incentive to pursue and achieve licensure – salary increase, promotion, job title, increased public role within the firm. Depending on the company, the rewards in an architecture firm upon receiving one’s license may be small, if indeed they exist at all.

One architect once told me he looked at getting his license as just the pre-requisite to quitting architecture. Perhaps said facetiously, but hardly encouraging to someone in the midst of the licensure process.

4 – Supplementary Exams (CA Orals)

In California, the CA Supplemental Exam is one additional barrier. The California Architect’s Board announcement that the exam is moving to a computer-based format (www.cab.ca.gov/pdf/publications/csefaq_newformat.pdf) recognizes that a multiple-choice “exam will be more defensible”, indicating that the current system is somewhat less so.

Indeed, criticism of the subjective nature of the oral format has long dogged the CAB, memorably in the editorial in the AIACC’s 07.04 “PreFABiana” issue of their quarterly publication, arcCA, an issue that is sadly not available online:  After describing the exam as an opportunity to  “haze the incoming generation”, the editorial concludes:

“What can the Supplemental Exam judge that a computer-administered test can’t?  Well, it can judge whether you clean up nice, it can judge your hue, it can judge your gender.  It can judge whether you sound intelligent….  It can judge how well you handle pressure, which is perhaps relevant to architectural practice but is hardly a criterion for licensure.”

“In other words, it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen, and it should be discontinued.  Architecture school is hellish enough.  We don’t need a belt line too.”

Image courtesy flickr.com/photos/shedboy

I don’t come from a rural background, but strange as it may seem, I find swinging an ax enjoyable, and I could spend an hour a day at it and not get sick of it. In fact, I did just that one summer. And having done so, I now realize there are some simple problem solving skills and lessons one can learn from splitting wood.

You may not use an ax as a part of your daily chores. Perhaps the closest you come is watching the Stihl Timbersports Professional Series, a pseudo-sporting event sponsored by the chainsaw manufacturer that I used to watch as a teenager back when I wasn’t the one paying for cable. Some of the events of course feature chainsaws, both of the manufacturer’s stock variety and some that are basically a small motorcycle engine attached to a six foot long blade. But the events that were the most interesting to me were always those that required more manual skill. The underhand chop, in which two men each stand on a ~3 foot long, 12-14” diameter log, chopping between their feet – a sharp ax and clean cuts matter in this event. World record is 12.11 seconds (2003) – look it up.

I have, of course, no intention of competing in that event. However, while in college I had some friends that had recently moved into a new home that had several trees cut down in their backyard. The log pile was probably 20 feet wide and 10 feet high, and each day after work I would drive over and split logs for an hour or so before helping them out with some home fix-it project, moving in, unpacking boxes, or just having dinner together. It is one of my fondest memories of that time.

A chore or an meditative task?

If you have ever split logs, you may understand why it is considered a chore – it’s repetitive labor, takes some physical exertion to lift and swing a heavy axe and come down with enough force to break a log apart. It always seems random whether this swing will be easy or hard, is your aim good enough to hit the log again where you just made an unimpressive dent?

What is interesting to me is how much the mind can make this an enjoyable, easy task. No Jedi mind tricks here, just a bit of logic. There are 3 main lessons I took from splitting logs and they are applicable to any kind of problem solving.

1. Find the right tool

Maybe an ax is the tool you have – maybe it’s not the right tool. Maybe it’s a hatchet, a smaller tool more suited to close handwork with small logs or branches, good for making kindling. Maybe for larger logs, a maul or a sledge hammer and wedge are what is needed. A traditional axe has a narrow blade, which, depending on the logs you are working with, may not have the required width of angle to split the log, but would just bite into the wood repeatedly.

Do you have the right tool to solve your problem? If the tools you have been trying aren’t working, do you have something else you can try? Perhaps the grudge match you are in with a co-worker isn’t being solved by you trying to explain in great logical detail all the ways in which their actions have been incorrect. Maybe a simpler approach is needed. Try a different tactic.

Do you have the right tool?

2. Sharpen the tool.

Once you have the right tool, it will work better if it is sharp. If it’s dull or blunt, you run a greater risk or injury, as the ax will have a tendency to bounce off the surface of the log, imparting more vibration into the handle and you as it does so. The ax might be more likely to break at a weak point in the handle. The effort required to get a blunt tool into the wood is greater, and the process is more dangerous.

Sharpening is a force multiplier – you can decrease the surface area over which the force is applied to the wood by sharpening the edge. The edge area gets thinner, the force is increased just on that basis – you don’t have to swing any harder. It is the difference between poking a dull pencil into your palm and poking a needle into it. The needle takes much less force before it will start to do some damage and cause you some pain.

Do your business’ marketing efforts never seem to get anywhere? Do you prepare proposal after proposal and yet you never seem to win a commission? Perhaps your approach is too blunt, too dull, not targeted enough. If you are pursuing work in an area where you aren’t an expert, where you can really shine, much of that effort is evidently wasted. Sharpen your focus.

Are your tools sharp enough?

3. Examine the problem

Before just hacking away at it, make sure you understand the problem correctly. When you put the section of wood up on the stump to be split, do you look it over first? If you spend any time splitting logs, you will appreciate that any areas of knots in the log will prove difficult, as the wood grows around the knot, making it stronger at that point. Are you looking at the problem correctly?

There is wisdom in how you chose where to attack the log – find some place it’s already starting to crack. Have you seen the small slivers of a crack already begun by the drying out of the log that you might use to your advantage? Sometimes you have to turn the log over, look for those weaker areas that you can exploit. It takes a good understanding of the problem, sometimes you have to turn it over, get a look at it from another angle, before you can see the right way to approach a solution.

Even if you have the right tool, and the tool is sharp, the effort is always served well by approaching it with wisdom.

It is often possible to push through a situation without the right tool, with only dull tools, and without the benefit of a correct analysis of the best method or approach;  We may succeed with enough effort and time, but think of the waste.  You can perhaps get through, but not profitably, not efficiently.  If you just push your way through with brute force and ignorance, you might make it, but the road is hard, and you may endanger yourself, and others.

Far better to take a lesson from the woodcutter, and take a moment to assess the appropriateness of your tools, to evaluate the keenness of their edge, and confirm you have the best approach to the problem.

Now, go make some kindling of your difficulties.

Greenbuild 2009
Green A-Ha!

HOK is turning the tables at Greenbuild ‘09. Instead of adorning our booth with OUR story, we’re creating a platform for telling yours. That’s right, it’s Open Mic Night in Booth 3442 at the conference and expo in Phoenix from November 11-13.

During the show, we will be inviting individuals to share their Green Aha!, the moment they first realized the importance of living or working “green.”

We will broadcast those inspiring tales at our booth, as well as uploading them to a YouTube Channel and listing them here so others can share the experience. The most profound Aha! moments will win a free signed copy of The Green Workplace, the new book by HOK’s Leigh Stringer.

So…please stop by and see us and we’ll add your green a-ha! moment to the collection.

Image courtesy flickr.com/photos/hvc

Professor Margaret Neale, of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, provides a scientific gutting of all the myths you probably think you should stick with when negotiating.  Particularly helpful when heading into a job interview, this mp3 is one to download and listen to prior to any major negotiation – contracts, performance reviews, anywhere you want to take control of the outcome and produce a result that feels beneficial for both parties and is beneficial for you.

Some gems:

• Myth- Never make the first offer. You should absolutely be the first to provide a number and anchor the discussion about what you are worth.  Where to set that anchor is a separate and tricky proposition, but you should set the starting point.
• Myth – Negotiation is a zero-sum game. It isn’t about you beating the other person, or just getting the other person to think you bargained hard, the best negotiations provide the other party with the feeling that they won.  In some cases, you need to engage in some value creation for your opponent, rather than just value claiming for yourself, otherwise, the opponent may feel taken advantage of.
• Myth – Never Show Emotions. If you focus internal energy on not showing your emotions, you may have taken up space in your cognitive capacity and may not be able to think as clearly as you need to about the content of the negotiation.  You can (and should) use emotion strategically.

Much more in this lecture from Social Innovations Conversations, an IT Conversations channel.

Direct mp3 link

Also available:  Negotiating Rationally, by Max H. Bazerman and Margaret Neale.

(Image credit:  George! That’s a Gas! under a Creative Comons Attribution 2.0 License.)

Image Courtesy flickr.com/photos/aussiegall

Whether or not you are currently looking for a new employer, it is a good idea to review relevant job postings as they come up.  It keeps you informed as to the nature of the current market and competitive salaries, and allows you to respond quickly to jobs as they become available.

Who wants to repeatedly go through the tedium of searching monster, careerbuilder, yahoo jobs, and the 10 or 20 other relevant websites on a regular basis.  Indeed.com aggregates most of the major job posting sites and allows you to set up a custom RSS feed on any search:

“Indeed gives job seekers free access to millions of employment opportunities from thousands of websites. Indeed.com includes all the job listings from major job boards, newspapers, associations and company career pages – and we continue to add new sites every day.”

Just drop the feed that indeed provides you into your favorite reader and get updates as soon as they are posted.

Indeed.com

(via lifehacker)