9
O P I N I O N
The importance of failure The winning percentage in the A/E industry is not that good, so it’s vital that you learn how to take a punch and get back up to fight again!
Y ou’ve probably heard the quotes about Michael Jordan’s career shooting percentage being about 50 percent, meaning he missed 50 percent of his shots. Babe Ruth’s career batting average was 0.342, meaning he didn’t get a hit two-thirds of his time at the plate. And, after a 108-year drought, the Chicago Cubs finally won the World Series last year.
Matt Crafton ENGINEERING INSIGHTS
It’s a great feeling to get that phone call, email, or letter saying, “Congratulations, your firm has been selected.” As a business leader, we know that winning means we get to do what we love, and it also means revenue to keep our people employed. It also just feels good – that affirmation of, “We won!” But like Michael Jordan or Babe Ruth, more often than not in the A/E industry you don’t win. According to Zweig Group research, the median hit rate to get shortlisted on proposals submitted is 22 percent, and the median win rate is 41 percent of those shortlisted. Or, stated negatively, firms don’t get shortlisted on 78 percent of the projects they pursue, and when they do make the shortlist, they lose 59 percent of the time! That’s incredible!
Like many of you, I learned significant life lessons from my youth sports experiences and from the coaches I had. Sports will (or should), teach kids about hard work, hustle, teamwork, and picking yourself up when you’ve been knocked down. Learning those lessons can be a painful process, but well worth it when those kids turn into responsible, productive adults. My sports experience also taught me that I really like to win (and I really hate losing). That competitive drive to win certainly continues to play out in our firm when we chase new projects. “I learned significant life lessons from my youth sports experiences and from the coaches I had.”
See MATT CRAFTON, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER January 2, 2017, ISSUE 1181
Made with FlippingBook Annual report