Synopsis
Creating Wealth: Principles and Practices for Design Firms

"Smart, savvy, seasoned, full of wit and wisdom."
                Randy Pollock, FSMPS
                Editor, SMPS Marketer,
                Carlson, Dallas, TX

"Creating Wealth helps principals make the essential decision: who their firm is and where it's going."
                Ed Friedrichs, FAIA, IIDA, President,
                Gensler, Santa Monica, CA

"This book hits key issues head-on."
                Ray Messer, PE, President and Chairman
                Walter P. Moore, Houston, TX

"A must-read for all A&E leaders who seek success in the new economy."
                Rich Weingardt, CEO
                Richard Weingardt Consultants, Denver, CO
                ACEC, Past National President

"Ellen shares the secrets I wish I'd had 20 years ago."
                Scott Braley, FAIA, President
                Braley Consulting & Training, Atlanta, GA

Recent book reviews from Industry Publications . . .
1.        Building Design & Construction
2.        Design Architecture
3.        SMPS Marketer

Wealth is a great thing. It's the fuel that frees us to contribute our best in this world: to meet any challenge with vigor, to build meaningful practices in areas that matter, to attract the best and brightest people, to be selective in our clients, and truly, to enjoy what life has to offer.

To contribute one's best, we need a good degree of freedom, control, and respect within the client relationship. This worthiness does not result from short-term tactics for beating the competition. Instead, it results from choice, the choice to be great at something. Creating Wealth offers a simple yet breakthrough concept: Become masterful at something -- a technology, a building type, a client type, a niche, a locale -- something that you build to a high level of worth. Only then are you in a position to truly create value, sustainable value in the face of tough competition.

In Creating Wealth: Principles and Practices for Design Firms, Ellen Flynn-Heapes blasts seven common assumptions in the industry, such as the increasingly mistaken business advice of unrestrained growth and diversification. She also lays out the essentials of industry economics and trends, highlighting those that will prevail well through the internet age.

Her research reveals four pivotal wealth-creating behaviors: 1) passionate focus, 2) client selection, 3) systematic innovation, and 4) high credibility. She illustrates, through examples drawn from well-known firms, how six different company cultures can effectively apply these principles.

A special feature of Creating Wealth is its workbook. When used in the firm's training program or company retreat, the questions spark a rich debate about how the firm creates value. It forms the groundwork for excellent strategic planning as well as operating guidelines in marketing, project delivery, human resources, finance, and leadership.

Creating Wealth is a manifesto dead set against the commoditization of our industry. "No" to mediocrity, under-pricing, and over-serving. No more running faster and faster in the hamster wheel!

Contents

Chapter One: Wealth — What a Concept!

• Portrait of a Millionaire
• What is Wealth and Why is It Good?
• Wealth Criteria
• It Starts With an Aspiration
• Why Doesn’t Every Firm Create Wealth?
• The Wealth Equation
• The Sparks Framework for Value Creation

Chapter Two: Wealth 101 - Drivers of the Economy

• Supply & Demand
• The Product Life Cycle
• The U-Curve of Marketplace Efficiency
• Value Migration

Chapter Three: Clarity of Focus
Focus is a concentrated effort to bring about outstanding skill or contribution.

• Job #1 in the World of Consumer Products
• Success Stories in the Design Professions
• The Diversification Trap
• The Six Cultures and Their Driving Forces
• Tapping into the Passionate Interest

Chapter Four: The Willing Client Base
Not all clients are willing to pay for your kind of expertise. The key is to match skill with client agenda.

• The Match Game
• The Client’s Agenda
• Who is Not My Customer
• The Service and Quality Trap
• One-Stop Shopping
• International Practice

Chapter Five: Systematic Innovation
Firms that have ideas are more attractive to the marketplace.

• The Technology Gap
• The Staff: Inspiration for Innovation
• The Client: Inspiration for Innovation
• Innovation and the Life Cycle Curve
• How the Six Cultures Approach Innovation
• More Inspiration for New and Better
• Think Again About Spin-Offs

Chapter Six: Credibility
For all the talent you have, you must be visible and convey high credibility.

• Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
• The Big Voice
• Branding
• Writing the Book
• The Ten Principles
• A Lesson in Chemistry

Conclusion

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