★ Thought for the Day – Are you a Good Listener? ★

If you asked someone close to you if you were a good listener, what do you think they would they say? Do you think you are a Good Listener?  Stephen Covey made a profound statement about this, he said:

“Most People do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

Part of any good relationship is being a good listener; the same applies for a projects.  I have always likened Architecture to being less about building buildings and more about listening to, and understanding the different agendas of the project stakeholders.  A truly successful architect, is one that can create beautiful spaces suitable for human habitation while balancing the owner’s need for a building along with the various consultant’s desire to accomplish their individual piece of the project in the shortest possible way (which typically is not aesthetically pleasing) with the contractor’s desire to make the most amount of money in the cheapest way possible.  In addition doing this while defending and maintaining the original design intent as value (or “de-value”) engineering suggestions from both the end users and contractor threaten the integrity of the design.

Every project is like constructing a puzzle, but without the picture on the box…You need to listen to all the stakeholders in order to understand how to achieve the project.  I read this once and thought this nailed it…

“Look for a good listener and you’ll find a good architect.” Unknown 

Regardless of your vocation, this Thought for the Day is for you too.  Start today with the purposeful intention to listen to other to understand and not just respond with your viewpoint.

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