by Simplar | Sep 23, 2021 | Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Leadership, Leadership, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
The GOAT (greatest of them all), Tom Brady, cannot win games without his sturdy O-line. Patrick Mahomes needs talented wide receivers to consistently dominate the opposition. Legendary star quarterbacks need great teams around them to succeed. Stars do not win games....
by Simplar | Jan 14, 2021 | Contracting Methods, Contracting Methods
Customer Anti-Relations In construction, the customer is often seen as an adversary. Contractors have a contentious relationship with owners, architects, and designers and most owners see contractors as potentially problematic vendors that bear watching. This...
by Simplar | Jul 14, 2021 | Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Business, Strategic and Project Planning, Leadership, Leadership, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
The Construction Customer Our research indicates that the majority of owners and designers engaged in construction projects come at the experience with a “commodity mind-set”. To them, the contractor merely performs a function that any contractor could perform so the...
by Simplar | Dec 26, 2025 | Built Environment, Business Failure, Business of Construction, Business, Strategic & Project Planning, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Leadership, Leadership, Weekly Construction Message
In my experience, construction firms do not operate under firm budget disciplines like most other industrial concerns. Contractors usually craft project budgets in advance but rarely use them as a management tool. Because of the complexity and variability of each...
by Simplar | Dec 18, 2025 | Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Financial Management and Risk, Managing Subcontractors, Weekly Construction Message
One of the things that frustrates me about the relationship between contractors and owners is that owners act like they’re doing us a favor by letting us take all the risk in the financial transaction. It’s as if contractors are not trustworthy and owners...
