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? "




Lean Principle - 5S Habits for Building a Productive Work Environment
5S is a foundational concept for creating a productive work environment and continuous improvement. The 5S process is to productivity what eating a healthy breakfast and exercising is to your health - daily consistency will change your life.
Setting the Conditions for Success
The contractors that will continue to grow profitably in the future are those that master talent development. Leaders must (1) setup the conditions for success with their team and (2) lead by example when it comes to their own development.
Stephen Schwarzman - Time Wounds All Deals
Speed is a competitive advantage and a capability that can be built. Contractors work through hundreds of deals each year, including negotiating to win new work, joint ventures, recruiting key talent, successions, and mergers and acquisitions.