Zero to One - Advice From Peter Thiel

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

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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? "




2024 Contractor 5-Year Growth Rates (ENR Top 400/600 Lists)
"More companies die of indigestion than starvation." - David Packard (Founder of HP). Growth is challenging for all contractors. The decision to grow must be intentional and aligned with strategy and capability. 5-Year growth stats from 2024.
Cascading Goal Setting and Management (Objectives and Key Results - OKRs)
Successful outcomes begin with goals being integrated across all parts of a construction business, including multi-company project teams. Management is what ultimately ensures these goals are regularly reviewed and adjusted to stay on track.
Retirement Onboarding and Ownership Transitions
The onboarding and integration of a new team member is something the best contractors rigorously manage as one of the 9 critical talent processes. What we don’t always pay as close attention to is what Sue Weiler-Doke frames as “Retirement Onboarding."