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? "




Talent Funnel - The Macro Viewpoint
To better cope with some of the talent shortages that growing contractors are facing, it is important to look at talent through a similar lens as we would sales, putting them into a funnel and approximate timelines. We have to start with the big picture.
Definition - Organizational Development (OrgDev / OD)
Organizational Development is an effort that focuses on improving the organization’s capability through the alignment of strategy, structure, people, rewards, metrics, and management systems.
5T Evaluation of Alignment for a Person and a Role
Your growth will either be constrained or unlocked based on how effective you are at getting the right people into the right roles - including yourself. Learn what 5 basic categories you should start with.