Zero to One - Advice From Peter Thiel

Construction as craft and as a business has been around for thousands of years.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

Contractors build and maintain the infrastructure that enables society to grow.  That history comes a lot of pride. It also brings a lot of difficult to change habits.

Leadership Tools: Advice from Peter Thiel. 10 Years vs 6 Months. Book: Zero to One by Peter Thiel.

With the rate that technology is changing the industry leaders in construction companies should learn a little more about how technologists think.  It will make you think differently about your strategy; especially around talent development and technology adoption.  

Peter Thiel challenges some assumptions about how long things should take to innovate in the book Zero to One.  

"If you go back 20 or 25 years, I wish I would have known that there was no need to wait."

“You should take your 10-year life plan and ask:  Why can't I do this in six months?”

"Sometimes, you have to actually go through the complex, 10-year trajectory; but it's at least worth asking whether that's the  story you're telling yourself, or whether that's the reality? "




Tasks vs. Key Results
“Life favors the specific ask and punishes the vague wish.” - Tim Ferriss Excellent advice from the book Tribe of Mentors that can be applied to the hiring and management process for contractors.
Managing Dependencies and Grow Profitably
As projects and contractors grow in complexity it becomes increasingly more difficult to manage all the dependencies between tasks.
Grow Sustainably with Great Talent
The contractors who want to attract and retain the best talent must provide opportunities for their career growth and that comes from having a strategic growth plan. This means a tough and scary leap of faith considering the labor shortages being faced.