Synopsis
Creating Wealth: Principles and Practices for Design Firms

Creating Wealth: Principles and Practices for Design Firms by Ellen Flynn-Heapes
By Kristen Richards
December 11, 2000

Check out a new book on a subject dear to many hearts.

In Creating Wealth: Principles and Practices for Design Firms, author Ellen Flynn-Heapes, a veteran industry consultant, takes design firms to task for lapsing into generic and benign practices rather than building highly defined, focused, and energetic businesses. The book lays the strategic groundwork to move away from 'the shortsighted mistakes made by firm after firm,' according to Flynn-Heapes. 'Most desperately try to run faster in the hamster wheel.'

Flynn-Heapes wrote the book in response to the serious failure of firms to behave strategically. 'Sure they want a vision, but most are so consumed by their service-mentality that they lack the courage of conviction. They react slavishly to the client-god and his deadline, or fall into the diversification trap, believing the seductive myth that bigger-is-better. In either case, they avoid creating new value, which is a product of being exceptionally good at something. In today's global scene, the only successful companies will be those known for their distinctiveness. The alternative is a burgeoning e-technology auction block for goods and services. Yes, services.'

The problem, according to Flynn-Heapes, is that many professionals avoid talking about wealth-creation. And, she says, 'They're dead wrong. Wealth is a great thing.'

Intuitively, everyone knows that the higher negotiated fee, the more influence there is in the client relationship (consider your lawyers). 'Better listen to these guys, they're important!' To contribute one's best, there must be a high degree of respect – a condition that says 'we're worth it.' This worthiness does not result from short-term tactics for beating the competition, or good accounting for that matter. And worthiness shows up in our society, for better or for worse, with financial trappings.

Creating Wealth offers a simple concept: wealth results from choice, the decision to be masterful at something -- a technology, a building type, a client type, a niche, a locale -- something that you continually strengthen and build to a high level of worth. Only when you choose are you in a position to create real value. Why? Flynn-Heapes posits that the narrowing of focus forces creativity to flow into experimentation, yielding innovation. This is the engine of a wealth-building organization.

Flynn-Heapes begins the book by blasting seven common assumptions in the industry that keep us from gaining real ground:

-- Bigger Means We're Better (and Safer)
-- Diversification Will Help Hedge Our Bets
-- Fortune 500 Advice Works for Us, Too
-- We're Problem-Solvers and Can Do Anything!
-- Gotta Get Cheaper
-- 'Real Work' Means Doing Projects
-- At 50 We Can Start to Cruise

She lays out the essentials of industry economics, and then reveals four pivotal wealth-creating behaviors: 1) Passionate Focus, 2) Rigorous Client Selection, 3) Systematic Innovation, and 4) High Credibility. Each of these principles are illustrated by examples in today's market, with firms such as Gensler, HOK Sport, and Duany Plater-Zyberk used to illustrate how deliberate application of these four principles can generate exceptional value.

Flynn-Heapes rails against monolithic bromides and answers that are supposed to fit all firms. A special feature of Creating Wealth is that she outlines how six archetypal practices approach each of the wealth-creating principles, again with liberal examples.

The last pages offer a workbook. When used in a firm's training program or company retreat, the questions can spark a rich debate about how the firm creates value. It can form the groundwork for excellent strategic planning as well as operating guidelines in marketing, project delivery, human resources, finance, and leadership.

Creating Wealth: Principles and Practices for Design Firms
160 pages, $29.95. Copies may be ordered direct on-line at
www.ForSparks.com

Published by SPARKS: The Center for Strategic Planning, 132 King Street, Suite 200, Alexandria, VA, 2000. Telephone: 703-838-8080

Ellen Flynn-Heapes, president of SPARKS, pioneered the current generation of strategic planning for design and construction firms. An MBA and 20+-year veteran in the A/E industry, Ellen grounded her early career with HOK and Skidmore Owings and Merrill. Today she consults with firms throughout the nation, and is a committed contributor to the industry's advancement. She has written or contributed to seven books and over 100 articles on company growth and transition, and has taught courses for PSMJ Seminars as well as national conferences for AIA, SMPS, ACEC, PSMA, and A/E/C Systems. Academic lectures include the University of Denver, the University of Wisconsin, and University of Phoenix. E-mail for Ellen Flynn-Heapes: Ellen@ForSparks.com

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