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ON THE MOVE WARE MALCOMB PROMOTES ERICA GODUN TO DIRECTOR, REGIONAL OPERATIONS FOR NORTHEAST REGION Ware Malcomb , an award-winning international design firm, today announced Erica Godun has been promoted to Director, Regional Operations for the Northeast region. In this role, Godun oversees regional operations for the firm’s offices in Newark, New Jersey, Princeton, New Jersey, and New York, New York. Godun joined Ware Malcomb in 2015 as Studio Manager, Interior Architecture and Design as part of the firm’s interiors practice in New Jersey. She brings over 20 years of experience in all phases of interior architecture and design and construction to the Ware Malcomb team, and has worked on a wide range of projects including corporate office, government, and education. “Erica’s talent for design is matched by her extraordinary leadership and mentoring capabilities,” said Michael Bennett, principal of Ware Malcomb’s Northeast region. “With such a strong combination of design, leadership

and business acumen, Erica is well-positioned to take on a new operational leadership role for Ware Malcomb’s Northeast offices. I’m confident her guidance will result in continued strong growth and the ongoing development of our teams within the region.” Godun is a licensed architect in the states of New York and New Jersey. As a WELL and LEED accredited professional, she is dedicated to advancing the knowledge and practice of sustainable design by advising design teams on appropriate green strategies based on each project’s unique requirements. She has worked on numerous sustainable design projects and participated at both the national and local levels of the U.S. Green Building Council as well as development of the mindful MATERIALS Library. She holds Bachelor of Architecture and Fine Arts degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design. Godun is based in Ware Malcomb’s Newark office, which recently expanded and relocated

to a new, larger space located at 110 Edison Place, Suite 303 in the iconic Ironside Newark building. The firm’s move to Newark was driven by the growth of its local employee and client base, as well as the opportunity to be closer to clients in a vibrant growth market. Established in 1972, Ware Malcomb is an international design firm providing planning, architecture, interior design, branding, civil engineering and building measurement services to commercial real estate and corporate clients. With office locations throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, the firm specializes in the design of commercial office, corporate, industrial, science & technology, healthcare, retail, auto, public/educational facilities and renovation projects. Ware Malcomb is recognized as an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private company and a Hot Firm and Best Firm to Work For by Zweig Group.

CLAY HARRISON, from page 11

team responsible for making the final assignment of work to specific performers) to learn how to make immediate changes and transform their projects. “Since biblical times, when parables communicated religious philosophy, stories have been used to engage audiences and help them comprehend even the most difficult or esoteric of concepts. More recently, fables have been used to communicate management principles.” Why use creative storytelling to communicate a concept like Lean? Because the real-world impact on your projects can be substantial. For example, Skiles Group implemented the practices outlined in The Lean Builder on a very complicated vertical expansion of an existing hospital, Methodist Richardson in Richardson, Texas. The application of Lean construction techniques enabled the team to complete the hospital expansion project 75 days early, 10 percent under budget, and with no man hours lost due to injury. Those kinds of numbers translated directly to the bottom line and would not have been possible without front line workers having a real-world, intuitive understanding of how to use Lean each and every day. So, the next time you have a critical project or important concept to communicate, forget the jargon and consider telling a story. You might just be surprised at how much more effective and impactful you are in getting your point across. CLAY HARRISON is CEO of Skiles Group. Contact him at charrison@ skilesgroup.com.

technique of storytelling to make Lean principles and practices relevant to those in the field. The Lean Builder: A Builder’s Guide to Applying Lean Tools in the Field tells the story of Sam Brooks, a young construction superintendent who has been given responsibility for the largest and most complicated project of his career. Through different events and stories, Sam’s friend, mentor, and co-worker Alan Phillips shares his experience and knowledge of Lean construction tools and processes to help Sam learn how to improve the performance of his project. In the novel, Zandy and Donarumo use real-world scenarios to teach core Lean principles, including: 1) Daily huddles 2) Visual communication 3)The eight wastes (through the lens of a construction project) 4) Constraint management 5) Pull planning 6) Last planner system and look-ahead 7) Root cause analysis through percent plan complete The secret to The Lean Builder ’s effectiveness in communicating these somewhat esoteric concepts is that it uses language and situations with which the “boots on the ground” – onsite construction superintendents, foremen, and tradesmen – would be familiar. As opposed to a dry instruction manual of Lean concepts, Zandy and Donarumo distill down Lean construction theory into an engaging, easy-to-read story that delivers practical, usable tools. In addition, they recognize the importance of field personnel developing a holistic understanding of Lean – starting with “why” and ending with “how” – thus they provide a true bottom-up version of Lean construction, enabling Last Planners (the people on a construction

THE ZWEIG LETTER JUNE 1, 2020, ISSUE 1347

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