I'm partway through Donald Schön's The Reflective Practitioner—a study of how professionals (doctors, lawyers, architects, social workers) "think in action" as they conduct their work. While certainly dated (it was written in the early 1980s), the book still has plenty of observational nuggets to offer, including a thoughtful discussion of what, exactly, a "profession" is. … Continue reading On defining professions
Tag: professional services
On pricing psychology for professional services
I witnessed an interesting disagreement a few weeks ago between my architect colleagues: Round figures or specific figures for our fees? Everyone agreed that roundness or specificity weren't actually important. Fee development for professional services tends towards ballpark numbers. Even when someone develops a fee based on projected hours, someone in the room is likely … Continue reading On pricing psychology for professional services
On valuing your time vs. keeping a client happy
Over the past four Mondays, I've sat in on a series of "bootcamps" for the firm's project managers on a variety of topics. Given that I don't do any project work, these bootcamps weren't all that relevant to me. But—they were very illuminating when it came to understanding my colleagues. The most recent bootcamp focused … Continue reading On valuing your time vs. keeping a client happy
On admitting I don’t understand architecture
Over the past few years, this has become a problem (or an opportunity, depending on how you look at it)—I don’t really understand architecture. As someone who isn’t an architect, that may not sound like a problem. However, as someone who sells architecture—or, more accurately, who sells the experience of working with architects—it's a pain … Continue reading On admitting I don’t understand architecture
Can you turn a negative professional service encounter into a positive one?
There is a great section of Chip and Dan Heath's book The Power of Moments where they dig into a study of service encounters. The takeaway is not what you would expect: Almost 25% of the positive encounters cited by customers [in a study of service encounters] were actually employees’ responses to service failures: slow … Continue reading Can you turn a negative professional service encounter into a positive one?
Taylor Coe 