Assuming A/E/C marketers embrace AI-assisted proposal development in the next few years, I have a prediction: We will send out a lot more RFP and RFQ responses. Why? Because we will be able to. AI will grant the wish that some professionals have been whispering ever since they started worrying about winning new business: Can’t … Continue reading On responding to more RFPs and RFQs with the help of AI
Category: Working Life
On automation bias
If ChatGPT has made anything clear to me, it's that automation is coming for us. And, with that automation—whatever form it may take—will come automation bias. I'm assuming, of course, that AI marketing bots won't be able to work entirely on their own. (At least not for a few years!) In the interim, an AI … Continue reading On automation bias
On how the value of trivial knowledge has an expiration date
When I started my first A/E/C marketing job several years ago, the colleague who onboarded me presented a challenge on my first day. “Twenty photos of 20 of our most important projects—I’ll quiz you on these at the end of the week.” When I got 19/20 correct come Friday, he was surprised—but I wasn’t. I … Continue reading On how the value of trivial knowledge has an expiration date
On worrying that work means too much to me
As I write this, I’m embarking on 10 weeks of paternity leave. The thought of 10 workless weeks in a row is both thrilling and worrying—thrilling because who doesn’t want a break from the grind and worrying because work has slinkily become a sizable chunk of my identity these past few years. That last bit … Continue reading On worrying that work means too much to me
On missing running meetings
I miss running meetings. I feel a little silly admitting this—but there it is. Last year, I was charged with running 2-3 monthly leadership meetings, and I relished it. Agendas, minutes, gently redirecting discussions. Why do I miss it? Partly, it's my ego. I felt important running those meetings. It feels good to be in … Continue reading On missing running meetings
On reinventing the wheel (of project marketing)
The question of how to market architectural projects for my firm has left me feeling cynical. Here's the cycle I have wrestled with: Realize that I'm neglecting the work of project marketing—narratives, photography, project data. Develop a system to manage this work, defining deliverables, schedule, etc. Activate the system—actually doing the work. Neglect the system … Continue reading On reinventing the wheel (of project marketing)
On project photos and thinking like a marketer
Some things you can’t delegate, I am learning. I can give a minutely detailed set of instructions with a blow-by-now video of how to make mark up a floor plan for photography… But I can’t tell you how to think like a marketer. I recently attempted, as you could guess, to delegate this work. But … Continue reading On project photos and thinking like a marketer
On regression to the mean
I’ve been thinking a lot about regression to the mean. When I first joined my current firm in 2018, business was solid. But over the next three years—including through COVID—business boomed. Staff grew by 50%, revenue doubled, bonuses were big. And then—things slowed down. It wasn’t as if thing went into a tailspin, but it … Continue reading On regression to the mean
On using ChatGPT to fight generic content
As we get deeper and deeper into a life with generative AI, I’m finding it increasingly hard to keep up. For instance, there’s the apparent whiplash happening with college professors: At first fearful that ChatGPT spelled the “end of the essay” (which it still may), professors have realized that ChatGPT can help them with their … Continue reading On using ChatGPT to fight generic content
On the finite game of pursuits
I started skimming James P. Carse's treatise Finite and Infinite Games the other week and a thought jumped out at me: An RFP is a finite game—played with the infinite game of our business. Rather than attempt my own summary of this distinction between finite and infinite games, I'll let Carse explain: There are at … Continue reading On the finite game of pursuits
Taylor Coe 