I know that the title of this post is “You should say ‘Yes’ more often” … it sounded really good in my head this afternoon during my 7 hour drive from Chicago into northern Wisconsin, but as I sit down and type out these first few words (looking over at the clock which currently reads 12:19am Monday morning) I’m starting to think that maybe I should say no every now and then … like “no, I’m not going to write a post, I am going to bed.”
To help you mentally get to where I am at here is the table I am sitting at typing this up –
It’s now 12:27am because I thought I should stop and take a picture of the eat-in kitchen that is part of my studio hotel room where I am currently staying … but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
This last week I was in Chicago for the American Institute of Architects National Convention – I arrived around 1:00am Wednesday morning (my first seminar was 6 hours later) and I left Sunday at 9:00am to drive to northern Wisconsin to meet with some new clients. The convention, as always, was great. I get to head out-of-town, see some amazing architecture, spend time in the company of (mostly) like-minded individuals, meet some new people and spend time with old friends who I only seem to see during the national convention.
I love it … but I kind of hate as well. After spending 4 days going wall to wall looking at projects completed by some of the most gifted architects in the world, I left feeling completely inadequate … do other people feel this way when they look at other people’s work? Do they take the measure of their own accomplishments and find them wanting like I do? Don’t get me wrong, I happen to think I’m pretty good at what I do, and the people I am comparing myself against are some of the best in history.
But what’s wrong with comparing yourself to the best?
I’ll get to the point of the post at the end but I thought I would show you some of the photos I took while in Chicago at the AIA National Convention. These are just some of the highlights and all were taken with my cellphone (I haven’t had time to download and look at the pictures I took on my camera just yet, it’s my hope that they are better than these.) The picture above is 880 Lakeshore Drive by Mies van der Rohe.
This is the ‘Farnsworth House’ also by Mies van der Rohe. It is a beautiful house to look at but I wouldn’t want to live there. There are all sorts of issues with how this house functions but who cares? I love this house.
This is an interior view of the Farnsworth House – it is stunning to see in person and it was a project that I had never seen in person before but it was on my architecture bucket list (now that would be a good idea for a blog post)
I ate terribly when I was in Chicago despite the fact that it is fairly renown as a foodie-town. Most of what I ate was buffet line chow at the various evening events I attended – blech. Nothing worse than eating 4,000 calories of food you can’t remember eating the second it leaves your plate.
This is the Aqua Tower by Studio Gang. Interesting building to look at when standing fairly adjacent to the tower – you can really see how the individual floor plates change shapes to create the signature look on the facade. The thing that made the visit to this building enjoyable was that Jeanne Gang led the tour herself – she even signed my copy of her book at the end of the tour. Sweet.
No trip to Chicago is complete without looking at some of the work by Frank Lloyd Wright. This is the Robie House and if you’ve never seen it in person, you need to add it to your bucket list.
On Saturday, I spent the entire day looking at the work of Howard van Doren Shaw. This particular image is the McBirney House ‘House of the Four Winds’ and was built in 1908. It’s actually for sale at the time of this writing and can be yours for $4,995,000 – pretty reasonable if you ask me. It was a truly beautiful house but if you are familiar with the Arts and Crafts work of van Doren Shaw’s work, you already know this.
Saturday night I convinced a handful of people to go up into the Hancock Tower so that I could look out over the city – totally worth the hour in line we had to endure to ride the fastest elevators in North America. Quite a view isn’t it?
I spent almost all of last week looking at the projects of historically notable architects and while I can enjoy myself by looking at architectural masterpieces, I would be lying if I didn’t confess that I left thinking that I need to step my game up.
When it was time to go, I didn’t leave Chicago and go straight home. I rolled out of town in a rental car and spent the next seven hours alone with my thoughts reflecting on the past week and how I can do better as I headed up to Northern Wisconsin. I also spent some of that time thinking about all the things I have to get done within the month of July;
- We are moving out of our current offices and into a new workspace that is currently under construction.
- I am presenting in Illinois at a leadership conference August 1st, and I need to get my material prepared. I have been asked to talk about leading professionally, due in no small part to the articles I write here on this blog.
- I have two projects under construction, a third about to start, two projects entering into schematic design – neither of which are in town and a large project entering into design development … also out of town.
- I am going on vacation to Seaside, and I’ll be taking my nieces and nephews with me. There will be enough people that we have to take two cars to fit everyone but I know that this will be a highlight of my summer.
- I have three playhouses that will start construction and be delivered for charity. One is of my own design, but I will be responsible for overseeing the construction of all of them.
- I have to prepare my Texas Society of Architects convention presentation – the topic will be “Social Media for the Small Architectural Firm” which I expect to be well attended. This will be the presentation that finally answers the question “What is my return on investment?”
- I am starting the month off 1,200 miles out-of-town in Vilas County, Wisconsin, where I am meeting with new clients on a summer house project
- During the convention, I was asked to take on an even larger role in the Dallas Chapter AIA next year and I have a meeting set up in a few weeks to discuss what that means … I’m on the Board of Directors this year and currently acting as Director of Communications
To get back the title of this post, almost everything on this list above is a result of me saying “yes” to something when I had the opportunity to say no. Sure I’m ridiculously busy but I realize that saying yes has led to so many other opportunities that have been good for me personally and professionally, that despite the overload of work, I still have a hard time saying no. Attitude counts for more than people think and I believe that if more people rolled up their sleeves and said “yes” when someone asked them for help, we would all be a lot better off. It’s easy to say no because you’re too busy, but we are all busy. Put yourself in the shoes of others and think about what it means for someone to ask you for your help. Somebody thinks that you know something that can improve the situation, they think you have a skill that can solve the problem. Somebody thinks that you have something that can make things better …
That’s pretty cool, isn’t it?
Rather than spending time focusing on all the things you aren’t doing, use that time to say “yes” more often.
Leave a Reply
Deeply inspired by comments, in here. I have learned to always say “YES” to my client(s). I will keep with me. Thanks Bob for granting me space, into such a laudable site like this.
Hi Bob, I’m jealous of you spending time in my hometown, Chicago! As a New Yorker for the last twenty some years, I can truly say that I miss Chicago the most of all the places I’ve lived. As a budding landscape architect, the Robie House, the glass houses of Mies, the incredible skline, and the work of Olmsted and Jens Jensen made for fertile ground to begin my design dreams!
That is not to say that NY doesn’t have it’s great architecture or landscapes, just that Chicago is still has the the stuff those dreams are made of!
ObieUno: Always inspired by your work Bob. I have the same problem of saying YES but if I ever said no…. I don’t think i’d be where I am today. Enjoyed this post.
Sounds busy, but worth it nonetheless! The Hancock Center (the Tower is in Boston) was one of the first structures I saw that sparked my interest in architecture as a child years ago (funny note: the building gave out commemorative ashtrays at a conference). The Sears Tower never did much for me…guess it was because all the cool kids liked it more… And your picture of the desolation on the road, driving to Northern WI, made me a bit homesick. I’d love to see some details on your project up there.
I agree. Many individuals these days seem to be hesitant to admit it if they’re NOT booked 24/7 with work, family and community activities. As if having some free time is a dishonor or an outright confirmation of laziness. We don’t have “down time” any more. The ability to be continually bombarded with data, images, sensory stimulation etc is everywhere. There is very very little mindless thinking going on. Just-laying-on-your-back-in-the-grass-and-staring-up-at-the-clouds-kind-of-thinking. However I think we’re going to be shown sometime during the 21st century how very important this is. A comment made to me over 5 years ago by an engineering professor at my university has really stuck. “You know, Isaac Newton was just goofing off under an apple tree when the concept of gravity occurred to him…”
read this book. it includes a lot about saying no.
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
Thanks Kerry. Just checked it out at Amazon. Sounds like my kind of book! Having an anniversary coming up I’m going to suggest that to Mrs. Architectrunnerguy as a gift suggestion!
I didn’t realize how much I needed this entry. Thanks! I am SO looking forward to your architecture bucket list blog post!!!!
Thanks – I’ll have to start putting that one together.
Cheers
The “House of the Four Winds” is absolutely gorgeous. I’m a symmetry girl [uptight firstborn with OCD tendences] so I’m loving that even the shrubbery here is symmetrical. I’m going to have to Google-it so I can get a look inside. PS – you are a brave lad. You’re already signed up for one of those “eat-your-Wheaties” Summers, and now you’re going to try and lasso a bunch of kids on vacation too? You’ll surely be making some lifetime memories for those kids. But don’t forget to pack some B-complex and oxygen in along with the Wheaties. :>)
Bob – you were at convention? I’m sorry I missed meeting you in person. As always, another great blog post. Thanks for sharing.
I was at the convention – sorry we didn’t get a chance to say hello. Last year in Denver I set up a gathering at a local brew pub for all the people who might want to get together and meet/say hello. It was a bit of a madhouse but I’m regretting that I didn’t do something similar this year. I’ll definitely be doing it in Atlanta so we’ll get our chance next year!
Your advice is excellent. Teddy Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” And this post is so inspiring, and visually beautiful, thanks
Thanks – and that’s a great quote, I’ve never heard it before. I love learning new stuff!
Great post as always and looking forward to the “architecture bucket list” post.
that makes two of us. I have another post I might work on next however – it working title is called “Prison Toilets”
(I’m not joking either)
Bob, glad you visited the McBirney House. I will be getting a tour or ‘Ragdale’, Shaw’s personal summer home, this afternoon. As a kid in the early 60s, we played in the lawns, fields, and forests that ran between it and all of the other adjacent contiguous properties. Today, we’d be arrested for trespassing.
I am also heading back to see what I can contribute in time and, of course, money, to my grade school and high school…those small institutions were the foundation for my architectural career, and it’s the least I can do (and to say Yes) when asked.
The tour I went on also included Ragdale – it’s an interesting house and Shaw’s experimentation with different techniques and patterns is readily apparent. Turns out, that whole family was pretty gifted.
Thank you for saying yes when called upon – I know it is appreciated.
I used to say yes more often than not. now that I am getting closer to tapping my 401k, I realized I did not have time for myself and the things I wanted to do. so I have slowed down a bit..
like installing paneling in your house? If I just did the work stuff, my schedule would be fine. If I just did the personal/family stuff, my schedule would also be fine. Doing both is where it gets tricky but at this point in my life, I think that’s what makes it worth the effort. What’s that phrase … the harder the effort, the sweeter the fruit? Something like that
well I have the paneling done. but one of the repaired tendons ruptured and had to have surgery again. back to square one with PT. maybe in a month or so I will be able to smear paint. and type with more than one finger….
maybe in a few years you can slow down a bit. I do admire your energy . just keep the gravy on the plate.
so sorry to hear about the ruptured tendons … I thought you would be out of the woods. Let me know when you are able to hold a bourbon tumbler …
I think I’m going to take the last five sentences from the final paragraph and make a little sign for my office. Thanks for a good thought on a Monday morning.
I buried the lead a little bit on this one didn’t I?
I needed a little time to get there myself but I’m glad you thought the end was worth it.
Yes you did, but reading blogs is new to me so I didn’t really notice.
I don’t really follow the rules when it comes to blogging, be prepared for the lead to be missing sometimes, rather than just buried.
Thanks for reading and for taking the time to comment – cheers
Good luck with all of that Bob. I too say Yes too often. And I too often feel inadequate when I look at other architects’ work. You are much busier than I am and I often don’t feel like I can keep all of the balls up in the air.
if it makes you feel better, I drop a ball every now and then – that where the “stepping” my game up matters. Surprisingly, even when I do drop a gal, I rarely get cooked for it, it seems that people know the difference between when you say “yes” when you could have more easily said “no.”
All the same, I’ll take you wishes for good luck, a little extra can’t hurt.
Cheers