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Self-centered introverts
The AEC industry is known for its inward-looking professionals. When it comes to marketing your firm to the outside world, that’s not a good thing.
I ’m sure everyone has heard the old joke: How do you tell the difference between an architect and an engineer? Answer: An architect will look at your shoes when he’s talking to you, while an engineer will look at his own shoes.
It’s a common issue. You spend a lot of time working on projects, focusing inward, and it’s very hard for you to accurately ascertain how your firm is viewed from the perspective of a client, potential client, or the general public. A lot of firm leaders make big choices based on assumptions (that may be quite false) about outside viewpoints, or without considering how the rest of the world views what they are creating. “If I’m going to stereotype, both engineers and architects tend to be more introverted than people who work in other professions ... A large part of the job is working on highly detailed plans. Alone.”
If I’m going to stereotype, both engineers and architects tend to be more introverted than people who work in other professions, like teaching, banking, nursing, law, marriage counseling, dentistry, or retail. A large part of the job is working on highly detailed plans. Alone. Even if you work on marquee projects, it isn’t typically a job that will put you in the spotlight. The New Oxford American dictionary defines introvert as “a shy, reticent, and typically self- centered person.” Self-centered? What? When I think of a self- centered person, I typically think of people who thrive off the attention of others and are willing to go to great lengths to achieve that attention. While that’s a definition that doesn’t fit the engineer stereotype, most people in the AEC industry are still self-centered to some degree.
Christina Zweig Niehues
See CHRISTINA ZWEIG NIEHUES, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER October 1, 2018, ISSUE 1266
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