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ON THE MOVE CHRIS MASTERS, P.E., JOINS LAN AS VICE PRESIDENTANDTRANSIT LEADER ChrisMasters , P.E., joins planning, engineering, and program management firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam Inc. as vice president and a transit leader in its Transportation Business Group. In this role, Masters will be responsible for expanding the firm’s transit practice. Masters, who worked for LAN early in his career leading construction management for light rail programs, has 20 years of experience managing engineering, construction, and complex capital improvement programs. Previously, he served Parsons Transportation Group as a vice president responsible for the pursuit, development, and delivery of rail and transit projects throughout North America. Prior to that role, Masters served as an assistant vice president for the Dallas Area

said Dennis Petersen, P.E., LAN’s president. “Chris has significant experience leading transit projects in both the public and private sectors, and has proven skills in managing people and resources. With his addition, we are looking forward to further improving our service to our clients and aggressively growing our transit practice.” Masters graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and his commission as an engineer officer. He served in the U.S. Army in various roles such as facilities construction management engineer, special projects engineer, and vertical construction platoon leader. Masters was also listed as one of the Top 20 Under 40 leaders by Engineering News-Record in 2014. He is a licensed professional engineer in Texas.

Rapid Transit responsible for delivering the agency’s rail expansion programs. Masters has managed some of the most high- profile transit projects in the Dallas Fort Worth area, including DART’s first design-build light rail expansion program (Orange and Blue Lines), which added 20 miles to the light rail system at a value of $1.53 billion. He also provided project controls, disputes mitigation and technical services for DART’s $1.8 billion, 27-mileGreen Line light rail expansion program. Most recently, Masters led the final design for the Fort Worth Transportation Authority’s TEX Rail Corridor, a 27-mile commuter rail system connecting downtown Fort Worth to DFW Airport’s Terminal B. “North Texas is one of the fastest growing regions in the country and is investing heavily in its infrastructure to deal with this growth,”

What can you do to slow your firm’s aging process? ❚ ❚ Move! Keep your firm in motion, and as car aficionado Mark Zweig says: “Don’t let up on the gas!” Slowing down to bask in the glow of last year’s successes accelerates the aging pro- cess by forcing you to work harder to catch up with the fast- growth competition. ❚ ❚ Develop a growth plan and stick to it. Don’t get too com- fortable with the status quo. Push yourself and your firm beyond the “business as usual” mentality. View every decision your firm makes from the lens of, “Will this contribute to the growth of our firm?” If it doesn’t contribute to your growth, it could be slowing you down and causing you to age faster. ❚ ❚ Stay engaged. Continue to improve the skills of your prin- cipals, project managers, and team members by ensuring they’re educated and trained in the latest concepts and tech- niques. Attending conferences to stay abreast of the current issues in the industry will keep your eyes fresh. ❚ ❚ Read. Constantly read to keep your mind active. It doesn’t matter whether you’re reading a newspaper or a physics book. Reading exercises the synapses in your brain and, according to one study, can rewire your brain and transform you into a continuous learner. Create a “Recommended Reading List” for your firm. Which path is your firm on? Are the decisions you’re making today designed to keep your firm young, vibrant, and competitive, or is your firm simply lying on the beach growing old? BILL MURPHEY is Zweig Group’s director of education. Contact him at bmurphey@zweiggroup.com. “Reading exercises the synapses in your brain and, according to one study, can rewire your brain and transform you into a continuous learner. Create a ‘Recommended Reading List’ for your firm.”

BILL MURPHEY, from page 3

number of hours each week, but it’s also likely that Ben’s work hours were more productive with a flurry of activity. Not the 186,000 miles per second speed of light kind of flurry, but it sure felt that way to Ben. I’m sure Andrew was busy, as well, as he enthusiastically prepared project proposals with the uninspiring lead in: “We provide innovative solutions to give you a competitive advantage.” It’s no wonder Andrew’s is a slow-growth firm. Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity states that when two bodies later converge, the slower-moving body will have aged considerably relative to the fast-moving body. Indeed, when Andrew and Ben meet again at Zweig Group’s Hot Firm and AEC Industry Awards Conference 10 years later, there’s a distinct difference between the two firm owners. “Slowing down to bask in the glow of last year’s successes accelerates the aging process by forcing you to work harder to catch up with the fast-growth competition.” Both are now age 60, but look at the work years remaining. Andrew has only a few years left to increase the value of his firm before he reaches normal retirement age. At this 20-year point, the revenue at Andrew’s firm is the same as Ben’s firm at the 5-year point. In other words, Andrew’s slow-growth firm will have aged 20 years to Ben’s fast-growth firm’s 5 years. To me, that sounds exactly as Einstein predicted when he published his theory over one hundred years ago! With a much higher firm valuation, Ben is in the driver’s seat and can command a better price for his firm when he decides to sell. That would afford him the opportunity to move to a place where it’s always sunny and warm and he can hit the surf every morning. Andrew, on the other hand, will have to decide between working late into life or retiring and selling his firm at a much reduced price relative to Ben’s firm.

THE ZWEIG LETTER April 25, 2016, ISSUE 1149

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