Who's Writing This?

Happy Friday!

The steady drip-drip-drip of Good News Friday has begun anew, now with its focus squarely on Y-O-U. YOU my friend, are indeed the 'good news'. I'll explain why in a sec, but first you should know from whence I came, and why I might be qualified to preach about successful consulting.

The short story is this: In 1993, I co-founded and assumed the lead of a start-up 5 person water/wastewater/environmental consulting firm in California and Nevada known as ECO:LOGIC Engineering. Over the next 17 years, a lot of very capable people chose to join ECO, and we grew to ~130 folks without trying too hard. Growth is a whole lot easier when people really want to join and really want to stay. Good News Friday (GNF v.1) emerged at ECO as a way for me to reinforce our 'what and why' by regularly sharing my view from the bridge of our ship.

In 2010, ECO joined Stantec and I was asked to lead their US West Water practice, a wonderful opportunity to compare. With a lot of new folks in new offices, I kept sharing my version of the 'what and why', now of US West Water (GNF v.2). Maybe because I don't write in corporate-speak, Good News Friday caught on at Stantec, and by the time I left in 2019 it was going directly to just north of 10,000 folks a week.

Because we started ECO from absolute scratch and were playing with our own money, we questioned everything. Including all the fundamental assumptions of what a consulting business actually is and why, e.g. why do leaders exist, is the hierarchy pyramid net beneficial, etc. Before hiring someone I did every job myself - receptionist and bookkeeper, HR and PR, salesman, consultant, purchasing, IT, real estate, contract review, benefits administration, etc. Not just for a day, but for months or longer.

It turns out this first-principles approach to consulting is a lot less common than I realized at the time. Just about everyone out there in a senior position today enjoyed the relative ease (no offense) of accepting a predefined role for a going concern. There's added clarity in the struggle.

Seventeen years as CEO of ECO:LOGIC was plenty of time to challenge, test and validate innovative ideas. The results speak well: 1) we lost just 1 person (voluntarily) to a competitor during those 17 years, 2)  >90% of our workload came to ECO sole source (for public agencies), 3) we had zero lawsuits, 4) enjoyed profitability > 20% (after bonuses) for 15 of 17 years, 5) enjoyed an enviable culture, and enviable reputation for excellence and 'punching above our weight' 6) and of note - the word 'utilization' was never spoken by ECO's leadership to my knowledge.

There exists in this space, a 'virtuous cycle' of business and individual success that, when properly fueled, generates exceptional financial results/compensation, valuable public service, and extremely fulfilling individual careers (super important). ECO wasn't perfect, but we were definitely in that virtuous cycle. To create it, individual consultants and the people and companies that support them need to do both the things that fuel it, and avoid doing the things that short-circuit it. Virtuous intent, it turns out, is a key.

I think it's evident that engineers, scientists and the people & entities that support them are the primary drivers of positive human progress on this planet. The people who every day, translate ideas and theories into the practical, useable reality humanity relies on and often takes for granted. So when I say you're the good news in Good News Friday, that's what I mean.

In these emails I'll try to distill and clarify the what and why of the business of consulting. I'll offer some specific business recommendations and tactics.  And, I'll offer some insights that will aid your career strategy. Greater success, fulfillment and fun is my goal. I may also invite an occasional guest.

For sure, every person and situation is different. But these emails should help you better navigate the waters you're in. My challenge will be to keep them short, like half the length of this one.  

Have a great weekend!

Dave

reply in comments or directly to dave@goodnewsfriday.com

Subscribe at goodnewsfriday.com

Written by me, not ChatGPT