“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost, that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.” — Henry David Thoreau http://ping.fm/mQPo3

Foundations

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost, that is where they should be.  Now put foundations under them.” — Henry David Thoreau

 “Castles made of sand melt into the sea, eventually.” – Jimi Hendrix

 January 30, 2010 –

Over one hundred twenty years separate those two perspectives on the permanence – or impermanence – of human creations, dreams, relationships.  The first was written by a contemplative rebel near a New England pond, and the other by a late 1960s guitar-burning, acid-dropping musical innovator.  Yet the point both make is the same:  you need to build your dream on solid foundations. 

You can play “catch-up” in the entrepreneurial “ready-fire-aim” tradition (says Thoreau), or you can fail to put in the foundations or systems that your dream (your business, perhaps?) needs to survive to maturity, and watch it slip into the sea, eventu-al-ly (sings Hendrix).

You need foundations – systems and procedures that support consistent quality in products or service – on which to grow a business that is sustainable.  These foundations will support your growth as a business owner, which needs to evolve and change as the business grows. 

The important thing to remember is that these foundations must be designed to support the business, not bind it like a straightjacket (see “Systematize, Don’t Bureaucratize”, Jan. 15, 2009).  Flexibility and innovation are survival tools in an era of constant change.  Even skyscrapers must be designed and built with some “give” to help survive the buffeting winds.  So you must create a business environment that fosters new ideas – both yours and those of others in the organization (see Sharing the Sandbox, Dec. 15, 2008). 

Brainstorm!  Blue Sky!.  Mind Mapping! New product development!  They should be ongoing processes in your organization.  If you are B2B, ask customers what kinds of services would help improve their businesses or make their lives easier.  Experiment.  Not only will these help lead to new sales – they will provide the “juice” for your employees that makes them look forward to coming to work.  Share the Sandbox.

– Steve Caccavo, President of Constructive Business Solutions™, draws on his years of entrepreneurial experience to help owners strengthen and grow their small and mid-size businesses. © 2010 by Constructive Business Solutions™, a division of Positive Employment Practices, Inc.

DYAMI’s design for Ascot Chang, a men’s clothing store at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets.
http://ping.fm/qVGPS

New York City Council Passes Green Building Laws

New York City Green Building Laws

Just a quick summary to get the word out – The City Council passed several bills to achieve the goal of reducing NYC’s carbon count by 30% by 2030, by making buildings more efficient.

One requirement for building owners with facilities that are over 50,000 sf – they must conduct an energy audit every 10 years, and make “environmental tune-ups” to operations and maintenance systems.

Read the full article in Crain’s here.

Where is Corporate Office design going?

Where is corporate office design going?  Try following the lead of technology. 

In the past, the standard corporate office layout was created by locating private offices around the perimeter, utilities at the core, work stations in-between, and some conference rooms at the entrance for efficiency.  The interior design approach was not much different - simply wrapping some paint, wallcovering, or decorative element around every wall and column you could find, and mixing in some carpet and ceiling tile for good measure. 

Today, as architects, we take our cues from the new mobile and digital era, and design our spaces to encourage different ways of thinking and collaborating.  Our goal is to facilitate a certain way of working rather than just putting on a show. 

Of course when we design spaces we want them to be attractive and efficient, but we also want our clients to benefit from our experience in analyzing the current technology, how people work with it, and apply it in a way that can benefit their organization.

Key considerations should be taking advantage of the daylight you have, creating places for employees to interact informally while moving between departments, and the role design can play in the creative thinking process.

For more information, contact us at www.dyami.com.