Lorenzo Lopez, AIA, LEED AP
The AIA’s 2017 Knowledge Leadership Assembly (KLA) was held June 25th-27th in St. Louis, MO. KLA is a gathering for all of the leaders of Knowledge Communities (KC’s) like the Academy of Architecture for Justice. I was there with the other AAJ leadership group members, as well as about 150 other KC leaders.
In addition to allowing time for each KC to plan out their own events, the conference is a means for the AIA to unite different KC’s in shared efforts and push down the AIA’s campaigns to its members.
Diversity was the primary theme of a session titled “Implicit Bias” facilitated by Dr. Shirley Davis, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CSP. At first it started out somewhat like a political correctness sensitivity class (like most of us have seen before) but it quickly evolved into a very interesting session.
Outward appearances are important. The diversity of our firms’ leadership says a lot about who we are and the talent we attract. Leadership should reflect diversity in race, gender, and age—and these are all aspects that can be observed from photos of leadership on our websites. For example, some firms with female management attract the most qualified women architects, while other firms dominated by white males struggle to attract them. The same diversity can help us win over clients, and within 20 years there will be no majority race in our country.
There was quite a long discussion on age. The baby boomers are retiring quickly. Millennials are the incoming staff, and the Gen X’rs are bridging the gap. Additional considerations:
- Millennials, who have grown up with technology, are really able to leverage the power of the latest architectural software.
- Baby boomers and millennials don’t see eye to eye, but the Gen X’rs are good at understanding both. However, there are fewer Gen X’rs out there because many were lost in the recessions.
- Millennials tend to want work for two years and then want to move on, whether to another firm or another responsibility. They believe they can work smarter, not harder. They may view baby boomers as antiquated and not as tech-savvy, whereas millennials leverage technology to get things done much faster.
- The following points were part of a huge discussion within individual groups after the session: Unfortunately millennials sometimes think the work is complete when it may not be. They may not understand that additional detail is needed for design-bid-build projects which are often built by the lowest qualified bidder. This is readily apparent with Revit. Some millennials think a model of a building is adequate for the contractor to build it, but the older generations (with a multitude of battle scars) know that many details are required for contractors to properly construct it.
- Baby boomers and Gen X’rs are managing projects for now, and are providing the consistency on projects as millennials cycle through. However, what happens when the baby boomers retire and the Gen X’rs are outnumbered by millennials?
- Some firms are putting millennials to work on CA so they can see firsthand the level of detail that is required. This is a good idea, and something we should all employ. Sending younger staff to seminars on construction litigation is also worthwhile, so they can see what types of gaps lead to lawsuits, and how to provide the detail required to prevent them.
- We also discussed how technology may need to adapt. Why are we researching details on product websites and then redrawing them? Why can’t we simply attached links to details to the model? This idea is evolving and may one day be how construction documents are assembled.
- Additionally, as we use technology more—and depend more on a virtual model—AIA contracts will need to evolve. Until they do, we will need to maintain the level of detail we have provided in the past.
- Firms may also need to adapt their office culture in order to keep millennials for more than two years, especially in the architecture field where projects last for many years and consistency of staff is so important. Ideally firms are working to provide younger staff with a variety of experiences or they will move on. This may mean cycling them though different project types, not keeping them in one market.
In closing, it is important for firms to step back and recognize the value that millennials bring. While office culture may need to evolve, the benefits should be clear. In my own office, we understand that mentoring needs to go both ways, top down and bottom up. It is important to find those talented staff and provide them with leadership opportunities.
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Lorenzo Lopez, AIA LEED AP, is a Senior Planner Justice Lead and Associate Principal with Nacht & Lewis in Sacramento, California. Mr. Lopez is also a member of the AAJ National Leadership Group
(Return to the cover of the 2017 AAJ Journal Q3 issue)