Zero to One - Advice From Peter Thiel

Construction as craft and as a business has been around for thousands of years.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

Contractors build and maintain the infrastructure that enables society to grow.  That history comes a lot of pride. It also brings a lot of difficult to change habits.

Leadership Tools: Advice from Peter Thiel. 10 Years vs 6 Months. Book: Zero to One by Peter Thiel.

With the rate that technology is changing the industry leaders in construction companies should learn a little more about how technologists think.  It will make you think differently about your strategy; especially around talent development and technology adoption.  

Peter Thiel challenges some assumptions about how long things should take to innovate in the book Zero to One.  

"If you go back 20 or 25 years, I wish I would have known that there was no need to wait."

“You should take your 10-year life plan and ask:  Why can't I do this in six months?”

"Sometimes, you have to actually go through the complex, 10-year trajectory; but it's at least worth asking whether that's the  story you're telling yourself, or whether that's the reality? "




Business Operating Layer
Execution is the discipline of getting things done and is especially critical for contractors because we work in a highly competitive business with relatively low margins compared to the risks taken.
Profitability and Predictability
Contractors who are consistently improving their scoreboard, including profitable growth, focus on making the behaviors and actions that LEAD to profitability consistent habits.
The Business of Building Series
Building projects requires technical expertise and resources. Building a construction business is about developing and aligning those capabilities with customers. Growth and time require different leadership focus, strategies, systems, and structure.