Musings on Managing for the Long Term

Abstract

This article represents the juxtaposition of two vintage articles that originally appeared in The Zweig Letter: The Voice of Reason for Architecture, Engineering, & Environmental Consulting Firms. Though they were published several years apart, the articles complement each other in terms of thoughts on building A/E practices to endure for the long term. The essays are presented here back-to-back, and reprinted with permission from ZweigWhite Information Services, LLC. The first article, by Mark Zweig, is a whimsical observation regarding Frank Lloyd Wright, who despite the enormous legacy he left as an architect, was never terribly successful at building a real firm. The second article by Sam Liao presents some equally whimsical thoughts on the Zen of projects, and how they create the links that sustain and define a firm from day to day, week to week, year to year, and perhaps even century to century.