I’ve had long conversations with well over 100 architects about the challenges they face in their practice. Most are infuriated by matters they have little control over. I know from my experience they’re the exhausting and mostly unavoidable challenges. The majority are the c-words, councils, codes, certifiers, consultants and clients. I am by no means suggesting they’re always dirty c-words but they present challenges over which architects have limited sway.
When presented with challenging conditions over which we have little control, my suggestion typically is to focus on those things you can control and ignore those you can’t. These challenges in architectural practice, however, can’t be ignored. Yet we can exhaust ourselves very quickly by becoming preoccupied by these issues and distracted from those parts of our practice we can control. Parts that miss necessary attention, to the detriment of our practice. They’re typically broader concerns, strategic vision, goals, managing staff, culture, business development, marketing and the like. They’re the parts that are important to the growth and development of practices. They can become starved from a lack of attention.
So what to do?
Where is your attention?
What is your attention focussed in your practice? What is getting too much and what is getting too little attention? What is getting the appropriate attention? These are choices.
We can convince ourselves that what we’re doing is important and making a difference to our work. Too often, however, we waste too much time and energy on areas where we have limited sway. They’re often Sisyphean tasks. We therefore need to be more strategic.
The things architects can control
Realistically, the only thing you have control over is yourself. Even then, if you’re anything like me, you’ll have your moments when you’ll do something that confounds even you. The next layer, if you run a practice, are the things that perhaps you can’t control, but you might be responsible for and manage. They include, design and production, office strategies, processes, leadership, culture, staff, marketing, who you choose to work and/or collaborate with and so on. These are the areas of practice where a big difference can be made and are deserving of more of your attention. This post is not about them, I simply encourage you to foreground them more.
The things architects can’t control
That’s everything! Control is obviously a loaded, even provocative, word too. This is not about architects being control freaks and calling them on it. Most would acknowledge the major irritants in practice are beyond their control, the c-words as mentioned above. They’re the aspects of practice that are located outside the office, both physically and metaphorically. They all involve dealing with other humans, except for codes. I’m assuming for now you’re not trying to change the codes, but instead dealing with those humans that administer and/or write them.
Human interaction
You can fight the system but ultimately what architects have some control over is the interactions they have with other humans. In some cases these are with people that have personal agency over decision making and the work they do: a client or consultant. In interactions with council, certifiers and sometimes clients, you might be dealing with agents for an organisation. Interactions therefore vary, they can be person to person, or personal to the agent of an organisation, a cog in a machine. Your ability to influence outcomes is dependant upon the agency of another person. You should use this understanding to influence how you interact.
The key is therefore to do the best we can with the interactions we have. Minimising the time required and maximising the impact. This requires developing your human skills – sometimes known as soft skills, with albeit nothing very soft about them.
Here’s five skills to assist you with managing those interactions. To better help manage the challenges in practice. You’ll note they interrelate, overlap and are interdependent. You’ll need to develop them all.
Curiosity
Starting with the seemingly easy, being curious. This requires asking questions of and about the people we’re interacting with.
What’s the hard part for them?
What do they believe?
What would change their mind?
How might they be right?
What are they not saying or the question they’re not asking? Why not?
What do the answers to these questions reveal? Do they give insight? Is there an alternate approach the task at hand? They’ll probably reveal constraints. Constraints are often helpful, as many architects will attest. Work within those constraints and don’t try to fight them.
Empathy
This is likely the hardest part. Having empathy for those you interact with. Especially the difficult people.
Empathy is the best way to find connection with someone. Problems begin with disconnection.
Remember if you believed what they believed, if you thought the way they thought and if you’d had the same experiences they’ve had, it’s likely you’d act the same way they do. It’s worthwhile taking the time to understand what they believe, why they might think the way they do and what experiences they might have had that contribute to their position. In doing so you’ll need to forget your own world views and beliefs. If you don’t all you’ll be doing is bringing your own position to the table.
Take the time to understand someone. It might be with this understanding you can find a way to work with them. What if you imagined they were afraid? What do you then see? Fear is often the motivator of our actions.
Humility
Spending the time thinking of all the reasons you might be right is rarely constructive. On the other hand thinking of the reasons you might be wrong is instructive. It allows you the opportunity to course correct, make something better and for personal growth. It creates space for negotiation, connection and an open mind.
Humility allows you to have a conversation in which the focus is on understanding rather than being right or wrong. This creates a space for learning, empathy and allows you to better see the other person. By showing humility you are better able to treat people the way they should be.
Hard conversations
There are numerous ways people suggest having hard conversations. The first thing to note about it is that it’s a skill. A skill you’ll need to practice in order to get better. So don’t be hard on yourself when the first, second or third conversations don’t go quite as planned or hoped. Take the time to consider what went well, what didn’t and what you could do better next time.
Here are some things I like to remind myself of in hard conversations. Go in being open minded and let go of any assumptions. Take as much time to listen and be respectful as possible (don’t interrupt). When speaking be as clear as possible. Stay calm. Don’t get emotional and take responsibility for your own emotions. Keep the conversation on topic and don’t let the conversation go into irrelevant territory. Clarify your understanding of the other person’s words. Do not invoke superiority creating a power imbalance. Reach an understanding and don’t leave the conversation before you do.
Don’t give up.
Steel manning
This may sound counterintuitive, steel manning (let’s call it steel person) is a practice of making a person’s argument stronger. It’s the opposite of creating a straw man (person).
You can use 4 steps to create a steel person according to philosopher Daniel Dennett.
Describe the other person’s argument succinctly and fairly – that way they know you understand their position.
Describe any points of agreement – at least then you’ll both see that there’s some common ground and it helps moving forward if it’s not all disagreement.
Note what you’ve might have learnt from the other person – this shows you’re open-minded and willing to engage in their point of view.
Those last two steps allow the person to save face too and they may no longer feel so defensive about their position.
It’s now from this point you’re free to begin to calmly rebut their position, argue your own or critique theirs. This should allow you to both work together in a more friendly and empathetic way to come to a point of agreement.
Conclusion
In architectural practice, it’s hard to avoid matters over which there’s little control. Whilst unavoidable, you should aim to spend as little time on them as possible. Instead putting your energy in, and focus on, those areas over which you have more control. They’re the areas that will have the greatest impact on your architectural practice. Remember you can’t control the humans you interact with but you can show some curiosity, empathy, humility and find connection in conversation. That should at least help you to better manage what you can’t control.
Image by Nikolaos Dimou
