In my employment-search days, one of the questions that had always made me think twice whenever I fill-up an application form was this, “What has been your
greatest achievement?” Well, since the second job application form, I
wrote some successful projects which I completed without mentioning that it was
achieved through group effort. I had to impress the employer, and I believed
that the more I could give a picture of how I can work independently, the
greater the chance of landing on that job position. I did not lie. I just gave
them less information about it.
The first time I encountered this question, I answered it with my Thesis
proposal back in 2003. From the University where I came from, we had to
complete this requirement individually, and before we graduate, we had to face
3 of the faculty members to defend our proposal. I started working on my only
proposal. During the mid-term, I felt unsatisfied with my work and decided to
scrap all the work I had been doing for months. I ended up with what I felt a
better concept but crammed with my free hand-drawn plates, shaking a week
before the deliberation, and well, I ended up impressed by the jury giving me
grade higher than what I expected.
That moment gave me that unshakeable confidence that I am great in the field of
Architecture.
Like most Architects, my career did not take off with me working on my own. I
had to join some organizations, and have always found myself lucky to land on
either a private small scale construction companies, that taught me lots of
things, or a non-architectural firm that requires just an Architect or two,
which led me to multitask most of the time increasing my level of excitement in
every project. I never really stayed long in Architectural firms despite
guaranteed stability because I feel that I want to do more. I had always found
myself enjoying a non-architectural firm maybe because I got to do things
beyond Architecture, and I am always down for variety.
Ironically, variety is not in my vocabulary whenever I was given a chance to
design for a client. It was in 2008 during my Dubai days when I got the very
first job that required me to design retail shops and exhibition booths. It was
probably my thesis story that made me stick to just one proposal. Every design
that I brought was never backed-up by another design for the same project
because I am confident about my work. That piled up lots of arguments with my
boss, turning me into a very defensive person because I stick to the way I work,
and I was always claiming that I have always been misunderstood. Every
discussion, these were the things I would always explain:
1. I worked very hard for a proposal with intensive research and relentless
brainstorming. So, doing a second one will invalidate all my ideas and efforts.
Sometimes, I said “our” ideas and efforts.
2. We do not have time to grant a client’s request for another option. Instead,
we can just work on what we must achieve a product with our design that also
meets the client’s suggestions. I was certain we could. We can use our valuable
time to work on other projects that can bring additional income to the company.
3. Simply, I always win arguments.
According to my employer, even though I had the above-mentioned principles that
always confuses him, the two of us were great working together. So, he just let
me behaved that way, but he found another designer to work on another option.
In my mind, it became a competition that I truly loved. I find every job
challenging making me focus just on my proposal, and the other on his. One
time, that colleague came to my workstation, have a look at my work, and
started asking questions. I was prepared to answer every question because my
school and previous mentors taught me well. Suddenly, he started giving
suggestions that I did not pay attention to at first. After some time, it hit
my head and I realized, he was making sense. He even asked me kindly to have a
look at his work and comment on it. Then exchanging opinions and ideas became
frequent that competition in my head was crossed out. We started working
together and it did not matter whose design was selected by the clients. Every
job was always recognized as a team effort.
At presentations, I was the one who got invited to meetings with the client to
present my proposal and my colleagues’. With enough information given to my
boss, our presentations sailed smoothly. Those meetings and not to mention my
boss’ lectures taught me these things:
1. Showing that you can deliver more is an opportunity to gain the trust
of your clients allowing your company to get noticed.
2. If you can clearly explain all your options, it gives more clarity to your
capabilities. It gives a client the impression that they do not have to worry
about any problem if they hire you because at any moment a problem occurs, you
always have more than one solution to fix that problem.
3. It shows how committed you are to your client, and that is always important.
When I began getting my own projects, I always manage to do more than one
proposal. For me, it exercises my mind, giving me a chance to double-check any
information that I might have missed. Sometimes the final design can be the
combination of both options. Also, more designs would mean more research, and
there is a never-ending introduction of new systems in the construction
business, it is always best to be updated.
Being an Architect is about planning. Part of planning is having a plan B (or
C) having in mind that not everything works out the way we want them to be.
Architectural services do not depend on our minds alone, no matter how gifted
we are. Every project needs a team. Teamwork plays a huge factor in the
completion of a product. In addition to working with Engineers, Contractors,
Suppliers, or even with clients we also need to combine what we feel and what
we have experienced, and sometimes, they (our feelings and experience) do not get
along.
This is one awesome blog post. Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged. Alexina Timothy Ewold