After taking on a firmwide role, Patrick begins to shoulder more and more of the leadership load. In this episode, earlier seeds of trouble have blossomed into a full crisis, in fact, triple crises for HOK…

Bill Valentine, former President of HOK, and Bob Pratzel, former CFO of HOK, share their perspectives on this period of crisis.

Patrick shares his lessons for listeners to take away from this episode:

• Approach to manage crises:

1. Ask for more time to solve the problem
2. Solve one crisis at a time

• Conveying a strategic plan to your firm:

1. Don't count on formal strategic plans - no one reads them
2. Use simple graphics like a pyramid
3. Use few words so people will remember your strategy
4. Convey successive goals toward a BIG prize like dreams

To read along and see illustrations and personal photos that accompany this series, get Patrick’s book, Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm. You can buy the book at gablmedia.com/buildsmartbook/ and find out more information at macleamy.com