Rethinking Design Practice: Books & Reports
Fast Future: Ten Uber-Trends Changing Everything in Business and Our World … and What the Coming Transformation Means for Your Business Today; John D. Doehring; Advantage; 2015. Totally timely – don’t fail to read this – your future may depend on it. ♦♦♦♦♦
Architecture 3.0: The Disruptive Design Practice Handbook; Cliff Moser; Routledge; 2014 ♦♦♦♦. Moser’s view is that the profession commoditized itself by gradually ceding responsibility for risk to other players, and then lost whatever was left in the 2008 economic meltdown. Thus disrupted, the only road back, in his view, is to become disrupters ourselves. Moser sees this as shifting away from the idea that we create buildings toward a role where we employ our problem-solving skills to a much wider range of problems.
Future Practice: Conversations from the Edge of Architecture; Rory Hyde; Routledge; 2012 ♦♦♦♦
The Reinventors: How Extraordinary Companies Pursue Radical Continuous Change; Jason Jennings; Portfolio/Penguin; 2012 ♦♦♦♦
The Future for Architects?; RIBA Building Futures report; Royal Institute of British Architects; 2010; free download from http://www.buildingfutures.org.uk/projects/building-futures/the-future-for-architects ♦♦♦♦♦
Impact 2020: Predictions for the Next 10 Years of the Design Industry; Frank A. Stasiowski FAIA; PSMJ Resources; Inc., 2010 ♦♦♦♦♦
The Next Architect: A New Twist on the Future of Design; James P. Cramer and Scott Simpson; Ostberg; 2006 ♦♦♦♦
Value Redesigned: New Models for Professional Practice; Kyle V. Davy, AIA and Susan L. Harris, PhD; Ostberg; 2005 ♦♦♦♦
In the Scheme of Things: Alternative Thinking on the Practice of Architecture; Thomas R. Fisher; University of Minnesota Press; 2000 ♦♦♦♦♦ Outstanding!
Rethinking Diversity and Parity
People are the most important resource of any practice, but there are still significant differences between the ways that men and women are promoted, paid, and their skills utilized in many design firms. “Old white guys” are still the norm at the helm of most design firms. The issue of Diversity covers a lot more territory than gender, and is equally important, but I prefer to not confuse gender issues with racial and other biases that come under the diversity banner, so I’ll label the men vs. women question as one of “Parity”.
The best source for information on the Parity issue is the website http://archiparlour.org ♦♦♦♦♦
Best Practice Books & Newsletters
Professional Services Management Journal (monthly newsletter) published by PSMJ Resources, Inc. http://store.psmj.com/publications/newsletters/professional-services-management-journal/ ♦♦♦♦
The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice; 15th Edition, The American Institute of Architects; Wiley ♦♦♦♦
Designing Your Practice: A Principal’s Guide to Creating and Managing a Design Practice; Norman Kaderlan; McGraw-Hill; 1991 ♦♦♦♦
Achieving Excellence in Your Design Practice; Stuart W. Rose; Whitney Library of Design; 1987 ♦♦♦♦
Leadership Books
Winning with Millennials; J. Tim Griffin; PSMJ Resources, Inc.; 2009 ♦♦♦
The Leadership Challenge; James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner; Wiley; 2007 ♦♦♦
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done; Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan; Crown Business; 2002 ♦♦♦♦
Leadership Without Easy Answers; Ronald A. Heifetz; Belknap/Harvard; 1994 ♦♦♦
On Becoming a Leader; Warren Bennis; Perseus Books; 1989 ♦♦♦
Good background on Practice Issues
Architecture: The Story of Practice; Dana Cuff; The MIT Press; 1992 ♦♦♦♦
Architectural Practice: A Critical View; Robert Gutman; Princeton Architectural Press; 1988 ♦♦♦