The Power of Infinite Thinking: 100 Years of BWBR

Host: Coral Digatono
Guest: Peter Smith, Stephanie McDaniel

Transcript provided by Otter.ai
Music provided by Artlist.io
Funk It Up : Steve Poloni
Circle : Luke Melville

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Transcript

Coral Digatono  

Hello, and welcome to Side of Design from BWBR, a podcast where we discuss all aspects of design with knowledge leaders from every part of the industry. I'm Coral Digatono, your host for this episode. 

Coral Digatono  

As we head into the firm's 100 year anniversary, we'll be talking with current BWBR president and CEO, Pete Smith, and incoming president and CEO, Stephanie McDaniel about the past 100 years, what the future holds, and what makes BWBR so special. 

Coral Digatono  

At the end of 2021, current president and CEO, Pete Smith will be retiring after nearly 35 years at BWBR, paving the way for Stephanie McDaniel to become the eighth president and CEO of BWBR. Stephanie takes on this responsibility after 25 years at the firm and brings a deep commitment to the community and culture that is the bedrock of BWBR, combining a sense of continuity with excitement for the possibilities of the future. 

Coral Digatono  

Pete, Stephanie, thanks for joining us. 

Pete Smith  

Thanks, Coral. 

Stephanie McDaniel  

Thanks, Coral. 

Coral Digatono  

So I just learned that the average business in America survives only 15 years with only a fraction of a fraction making it to 100 years. Why do you think BWBR has been able to go the distance?

Pete Smith  

Well, that's a good question. I, I think it's a combination of a couple of things. One, a little bit of luck, certainly. But also, I think the firm has had an infinite thinking perspective for years, not about self. I was told by a mentor of mine, Lloyd Bergquist, one of the B's of BWBR, that you do what's right for the client, what's right for the firm, and what's right for the people of the firm, and that'll be what's right for you. And I think generally, that's how the leadership of the firm has carried itself. And when you have that kind of a mindset, you tend to make decisions that are longer term decisions than short term decisions. And the other thing I think the firm has done partly by market drivers that are pushing it around, is that it, Its practices evolved over time. So we paid attention to market shifts, the shifting value proposition threats to the business model, and tried to make adjustments in how we bring value to our clients over time. And they've done a very good job of that, too, over the last 100 years. And I think that's kept them relevant and viable as an organization.

Pete Smith  

Yeah, that's a really great answer. And that echoes what I was gonna say, which was a number of common themes in the last in our 100 year history that have contributed to our success. Client Service is certainly a common theme focusing on the needs of our clients first and foremost. And part of that client service has really been about providing design excellence in the places that we've created. And another common theme throughout our history has been a commitment to our people. We have a very talented team, and we strive for BWBR to be an employer of choice.

Coral Digatono  

Well, many organizations don't survive beyond the founders. Yet BWBR has established a culture of developing future leaders who carry on those values and practices of their predecessors, while continually looking for ways to make the firm a better place to work that offers better results for clients. So tell me, what do you think is significant in the fact that Stephanie will be the eighth generation of firm grown leadership to take the helm.

Pete Smith  

Certainly promoting from within is not a prerequisite. We've not made that a requirement. But culture is such an important component of the business and the responsibility of the leader, particularly the president CEO, is to carry on that culture. And so we tend to look internally for someone that embodies the culture nurtures the culture pushes the culture when necessary. Mentoring future generations of leaders is a key responsibility of the CEO. I was advised when I took over that I should start looking about, looking for my transition the day I became president, CEO, and I would offer that same advice to Stephanie, that you're always looking for the next leader that doesn't require or guarantee that they would come from within but again, because of the culture, I think that's likely.

Pete Smith  

Yeah, our culture really is such a strong component of, of who the the team that we have are, and the the process that we use in serving our clients and the products that we develop.

Coral Digatono  

Stephanie, what are some of the unique things that you could highlight for us about the history of BWBR and its evolution.

Pete Smith  

So a couple things that I think are really cool about BWBR's history, as a white male dominated profession, I will acknowledge that equity really may not always have been visible in our history, but there are some notable highlights that we're really proud of. First of all, Dorothy Brink, was one of the first employees under Bill Ingemann. And she was one of the first women to graduate from the University of Minnesota School of Architecture program. She was also one of the first women to be licensed in the state. And she was a really talented designer, and really the design talent in those early on those early projects.

Pete Smith  

There's a really interesting, I don't know if it was a thesis or what but it's about a 30 page manuscript about her and it was specifically about turn of the century women in architecture as one of the very few women in architecture at the turn of the century, turn of the last century that is, she was heavily featured in this in this article, but it was talking about how the University of Minnesota which was made up by a bunch of white men really tried to get women to get out of the architecture program and make it very difficult to get in. They required all sorts of engineering classes that they would refuse women access to those classes, instead, kind of encouraging them to become interior decorators was what they call them at the time to get the degree in interior decoration. And Dorothy basically said, you know, nuts to that I'm gonna, I'm gonna take all the classes I need to I'm going to get licensed. And she was one of the very first women licensed architects in the state of Minnesota.

Pete Smith  

And then many years later, Milt Bergstedt said, championed the elimination of barriers to equity in his prior architectural practice, and his community. And as a result, in 1985, he was awarded AIA's Whitney M. Young Jr. Award for significant contributions to social responsibility. So those are two really exciting things

Pete Smith  

And I think speaking of Bill Ingemann, and Milt Bergstedt, you know, Bill was known as a amazing promoter, he really put the business and frankly, the money first. And it made for a very successful practice, they were able to do some amazing work in those first couple of decades, that many firms didn't get opportunities to because of the way that he had a very connected network. And so he started the practice in 1922. It wasn't until 1941, when Milt joined the firm. And then by 1945, was a principal of the firm that a shift started to occur. And Milt left the practice in 1951, to start what is now BWBR. And it really was a cultural difference between how Milt saw business and how Bill saw business. And I think that was fundamental in the firm. Again, Bill was about the business, the money first. And Milt was much more people first. He was quoted as saying people before profit. And as Stephanie just mentioned, he was really focused on issues in the 40s, that were just almost unheard of, social justice, racial bias, job and housing discrimination, etc. And I think that set a tone for BWBR that has lasted until today. 

Coral Digatono  

Those are really, really cool facts and stories. 

Pete Smith  

I think there's two something that mill did I'm not sure he was aware of it never had an opportunity to talk to him about it. But the firm has really had a bit of a rejection of Milton Friedman's writings about business is all about making money, and a shift more towards Adam Smith's, the interests of the company are secondary to the people, both the staff that work there, and the people that are served by the company. BWBR has a culture of we over me. And it really is demonstrated several times as a core value and sometimes cost to the firm, at great cost of the firm. Milt was a stickler that this was a we thing, not a me thing. And there were partners that were asked to leave several times over the history because they put themselves ahead of the firm.

Coral Digatono  

Well, that was good. That's that's certainly how I how I see this firm since I'm one of the newbies, that we over me. 

Coral Digatono  

Stephanie, can you talk a bit about your vision for the future of the firm and how it fits into the future of the built environment as a whole? What do you think the next 100 years will look like?

Stephanie McDaniel  

Coral, That's a great question. We're in a great place right now. And so there will be many things that will look very similar. We will remain steadfastly committed to the service our clients, we really love creating environments that support the needs of their organization. Second, will stay committed to design excellence. As architects and designers, we have the expertise to create amazing spaces that make our clients better, and transform the lives of those who use them. And we do this in a way that is,  we create spaces that are just delightful to experience. And last we'll stay committed to our people, we have an amazingly talented team, and we're going to do everything we can to help them grow and to be their very best. One of the roles that I will have as president and CEO is really the keeper of the culture. I'm currently in the process of meeting with our teams to hear from them. And we've been talking about what they think we should keep doing. So really, what are those things that are so important to our culture that we need to nurture them and hold on to them? I'm also asking what should we stop doing? Essentially, what are the things that are not serving us? And finally, what are they excited about? And that we might think about start starting to do and these have been some really interesting conversations so far? Right now I'm really curious about how we can continue to bring expertise to our clients, each of our market sectors to healthcare, higher education, science, and tech, workplace, behavioral and others. And certainly, we will continue to have thought leaders guiding strategic direction and design process. But I'm also really curious about how we can leverage data to inform our design and to help our clients achieve their goals. And interested in how we can learn from our designs and how that can make our next projects even better. I'm also really passionate about designing buildings that tread lightly on our earth. What can we do to continue to reduce the impact that our buildings have on the environment. And one thing is for sure, with the rapid pace of change, and our own industry, as well as our clients industries, we must be poised to innovate through that change. One of my roles as president and CEO is to be on the lookout for how our practice our people, and our services need to change and evolve to really meet those needs. And it is really an exciting time for our profession.

Pete Smith  

Another challenge that we're seeing is really the erosion of the value proposition. Architects, for decades now have really engaged in a race to the bottom on fees. we've conditioned our clients to buy us by the hour. So every advancement and efficiency is led to lowering fees and cutting margins, the profession has been commoditized, to the point where it's really facing an existential moment. But it's also created a unique moment for our industry as well, an opportunity. And that really is that shift to client performance. It's no longer the job of the architect of nearly design a space that a client wants, design it, do a good job on the design, have it look beautiful, meet budget, it needs to also really serve the client's needs in a better way. So that shift to client performance, how do they maximize the value of the facilities that they have? I think architects and designers are uniquely qualified to advise clients in this way, at BWBR, we're shifting right now the focus to go from that just merely designing space for clients, but advising them regarding how to use the space. Yes, we'll still design wonderful spaces that will transform lives, but we're going to be advising our clients against building something that they don't need. The key, the challenge in that, will be how do you monetize that? Because right now, we only get paid when we design a building for our client. And we get paid by the hour or by the square foot. But we don't get paid to talk them out of something that they shouldn't be doing. But to me, that is really the root of where the future of the profession is going to be is really helping our clients utilize space to maximize their performance

Coral Digatono  

Steph, you mentioned equity as an issue. Can you talk a little bit more about the importance of equity and also sustainability to the profession and how you've seen that change, and you expect to continue to change?

Stephanie McDaniel  

I touched on sustainability in the environment a second ago. But that really is one of the biggest challenges and one of the great opportunities. With the challenges that we've got increased climate extreme streams and resource scarcity. But the opportunity is that as architects and designers, we really can bring creative solutions that dramatically reduce our energy, water and resource intensity. And we can do this in a way that brings solutions that are resilient to meet the new Climate Reality. I think a second challenge and opportunity is really equity. It's it's clear that our profession really would benefit from being more diverse and more equitable. And I think that we must strive for a more equitable profession and and create environments that are welcoming and supportive to all.

Pete Smith  

When we first started talking about issues of equity, it really was a challenge to even identify that there was an issue. I think for white middle aged men like myself, there was a, "it ain't broke, what are we trying to fix" kind of mindset. And when you look at the statistics, 50% of the graduates in architecture are women. Yet after 10 years, only 18% remain in AIA. And of those that remain, many of them are disengaged. So we're losing great people that are just not either sitting in our seats on the bus, or the ones that are sitting there aren't bringing their full selves to the work. And it's more than equity. It's simply good business. So if it isn't, doesn't tug at you because it's the right thing to do. It should tug at you because it's the right thing to do for your business. And when you look at race, it's even worse. 13% of the US population is black. We're AIA membership for black architects is less than 2%. Similarly, the issues for all people of color as well. It's not merely a pipeline issue trying to get more folks of color to join the profession. It's about equity within the profession, how you hire, how you promote how you engage how you listen. So for the last few years BWBR has been focusing on these issues, unconscious bias equity training, trying to create a culture where it's safe to call out the inequities, the slights, the patterns of bias that many of us are so completely blind to, so that folks can bring their full selves to their work. Coral, you mentioned sustainability too. And I don't think it takes a climate scientist to realize that the Earth is a little bit pissed off right now. Rising sea levels, increasing severity and frequency of storms, warming temperatures, year round wildfires, global flooding, buildings contributes significantly to human caused climate change. There's something around two thirds of all greenhouse gas emissions are caused by buildings, industry, and transportation. And those are really what's causing the global warming and climate change. So we're focusing on energy use embedded carbon, protecting the water, it really is the primary responsibility of architects and designers in how we design buildings, the materials we use, and frankly, convincing owners of their responsibility as well.

Coral Digatono  

Pete, what thoughts or wisdom would you pass along to Stephanie, what comes to mind as you reflect back on your tenure with BWBR?

Pete Smith  

Oh, boy, that is, I don't know if we have enough time for me to answer all of the things that I look back at the tenure of my time at BWBR. But I would suggest, number one, be yourself. Don't try to be me, don't try to be somebody else. Just be authentically you. Second, I would trust your judgment and your gut. It can be challenging to question every decision that you make, I think you just have to get comfortable in trusting your own gut. I'm struck after nearly 35 years here at BWBR, 10 as President, how transient each of us are. And I hope that I've had some positive and lasting impact on the firm and who it is and who it will be. But in the end, I'm just a footnote in the US in the 100 year history of the of the firm, and I'm fine with that. For Stephanie and others that follow her serving in this role is about stewardship, guiding the firm from here to there, wherever there might be. And it really transcends us all we don't arrive, we just need to ensure that the ship is pointed in the right direction to continue on its journey.

Pete Smith  

Thanks, Pete. That's, that's really great advice. And thank you so much for your leadership, I can definitely say that you have had an impact on my career. And I know you've had a great impact BWBR. So, thank you.

Pete Smith  

Thanks Steph. 

Coral Digatono  

Thank you so much. And congratulations again to Stephanie McDaniel. And just as a reminder, all of our content is provided to you free of charge with no annoying advertising involved. So if you like what you hear, do us a favor and share it with your network. You can find us on all major podcasting platforms. And let us know what you think about this episode or any other discussion you've heard. Email us at SideofDesign@bwbr.com. Until next time, see you on the other side.