Sunday afternoon I watched the PGA Championship.  I wish I could play golf, but I can’t. Still, it is sure fun to watch the intense competition in the PGA.  Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer to play the game.  He is a fierce competitor.  Do you ever wonder how he can be that good, for that long?

Tiger went into the final round of the PGA Championship in a familiar position; in the lead. He was paired with an unknown, a golfer from South Korea named Y.E. Yang. Tiger is number 1; Yang is number 110.  Yang trailed Tiger by two strokes when the day began.  Tiger has never lost a major tournament when going into the last day with a lead.  I suppose that when you combine his competitive nature with the confidence of that accomplishment, you can’t see him breaking that string.

But not this Sunday.  The confidence was apparently with Yang.  You could see it as the round unfolded.  Both of these guys could win, but one seemed to have more confidence that he would.  You could see it in the faces of the two golfers.  Tiger would miss a putt, and he would anguish; talking to himself.  Yang would make a bad shot, but you didn’t see the same anguish.  At times Yang worked to lighten the mood, waving at the camera, throwing the golf ball to the crowd at times.

Probably the strongest display of confidence came on the last hole.  Yang held a one shot lead as they came up to No. 18, and he took a very aggressive strategy, attempting to birdie the hole, and not just hold the lead.  He did birdie No. 18. Tiger, on the other hand bogeyed the hole.  So, a confident Y.E. Yang wound up defeating the undefeatable Tiger Woods by three strokes!

Do you think that confidence had a lot to do with this unusual victory for the unknown golfer?  If you agree with me that his confidence, and to some extent Tiger’s frustration and perhaps lack of confidence were factors, do you think that confidence can help a company, even Aquaterra, be successful?   I reflected on this subject to prepare this message, and it seemed very apparent to me that confidence is a critically important aspect of our corporate culture.

This week we will be faced with challenges.  These challenges may look like a potential client who is hard to convince to use us, a difficult engineering assignment that takes more effort to accomplish, a contractor who is second-guessing our test results on a construction site, or a day in which our priorities are difficult to define.  If we have confidence in our ability to meet this challenge, we will do just that.  We must guard against over-confidence, which can be described as reliance in abilities that are not quite what we believe that we have, but the necessary measure of confidence that we can meet the challenge is very important.

How do we maintain confidence in these days when work is hard to find, and client’s are under their own set of stresses that are often conveyed to us.   We have to look at ourselves; as individuals and as a team, and know that we have what it takes to perform our jobs well.  You know that I have always had confidence in our company, and that I believe that we provide a superior service to our clients.  I mean it.  When you combine our focus on meeting a client’s time needs with our ability to provide a clear, well documented report with the necessary information, I’m sure that you will agree with me that we can be confident in our capabilities.  When you see our drillers, our technicians, and our laboratory teams doing their work in harmony with each other and with the company as a whole, you can feel confident that we can get the job done.

It is comforting to know that we are not up against an opponent as intimidating as Tiger Woods on the golf course, but we do find ourselves facing intimidating circumstances from time to time.  When you find yourselves facing such situations, find that confidence that you (we) have what it takes to succeed.  If you find yourself lacking in some manner the tools, or the team to render the necessary confidence, let someone know.  We are a team, and we need to help each other.  We will work to find the team that it will take to succeed.  Sometimes it is the confidence that makes the difference.

I have some great news to pass on to everyone. We have some new professionals on staff. Please join me in congratulating Scott Barrentine, P.E. and Lem Dial, P.E. They have been notified that they passed the Principals and Practice in Engineering Exam this spring, and they have received their professional engineering license. In a similar manner, we are also pleased to inform everyone that Ty Anderson and Lane Cox passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, and they are full-fledged engineer interns now.

In case you don’t know, in order to become a professional engineer one must complete a B.S. degree from an accredited engineering school, pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, serve four years as an Engineer Intern under a professional engineer (or 3 years with a MS degree), and then pass the Principals and Practice in Engineering (PE) exam. The FE test, taken about the time an engineer graduates, tests the knowledge of the “wanna-be” engineer in a broad range of engineering subject matter. It is not enough that the engineer had to suffer through all the calculus, physics, statics, dynamics, structures, etc. classes, he or she must confirm that they didn’t forget it when they graduated. (Now what we may remember a few years down the road is another story entirely).

After the internship period, the engineer must take the PE exam, which tests his or her knowledge of more practical engineering applications, and their ability to use engineering judgment as they apply the fundaments of science to real-world problems.

As an engineer who has entered my 25th year as a P.E., and observing two new ones on a similar track, and two more getting that track underway, I am compelled to consider the stream of professional progress. Coincidentally, just last week I had a brief encounter with my mentor who had guided me through my three-year EI process and into the role of a PE. That conversation was about the compressive capacity of a concrete shaft, and it brought forth the specific things that he had shared with me in my little office in 1982. And we had to consider the practical use of engineering judgment in this particular case.

The intern period was created for a reason. The young men and women who graduate from engineering school know a lot about the theory of engineering, but really they know very little about the practice of engineering. I consider them a blank slate, but fully equipped to learn the profession. So you can see the tremendous responsibility that they have to pick (a) mentor(s) and to understand the thought process behind a decision. You can also see the responsibility that the PE must take on to provide a good source for instilling that professional understanding that must be conveyed. This mentoring process is far more than how to calculate a flow rate, a pile depth, or a pipe size. It involves how to understand a client’s needs, how to manage a project profitably, how to communicate with team members, how to obtain the information that is needed for the design, how to judge what is correct and what is suspicious, and the list goes on and on. When you think about it, a four-year intern process is really not that long for the equipping that must take place.

The professional engineer must take on an incredibly important role. Every job has some degree of “best engineering judgment”. Nothing is ever cut and dried. The text books become good references, but reality lies in forming an opinion about what will work and what won’t.
Our ethical responsibility to the public and to the environment is great. We must never become complacent in our effort to provide the service that we have gained these professional credentials to allow us to provide.

It doesn’t stop there. We have trained technicians and administrative assistants to perform vitally important tasks that comprise the practice of engineering that we perform on a daily basis. The data that a soils technician collects, the interpretation that a CAD designer must develop, the data assembly that the administrative assistant must perform; these are all vital parts of the professional practice. Although their internship is less formal, it is very similar to that of the engineer intern. As P.E.’s we carefully consider the ability of a technician or any assistant to exercise good judgment in particular assignments. So the professional progress of this important subset of our business is more judged by the professional engineers and professional geologists that oversee their work.

Aquaterra is a professional services firm. Everything that we do is devoted to providing quality professional opinions, recommendations and designs. The professional engineer bears the ultimate responsibility for the completed product, but they must trust in the good work of each and every person involved in the project from start to finish. So everyone reading this message take heart. Never, NEVER let complacency invade your work. The chain breaks at the weakest link. That part of the project that you do today is a link in the chain of the completed project. Make sure that your link is strong.

So, Scott and Lem, I hope that your intern period has provided you with the tools that are essential to execute best engineering judgment; that Aquaterra has provided the mentoring that you need to be the engineer that our profession deserves. Likewise, Ty and Lane, use your time effectively to glean from your P.E. supervisors what the practice is telling us to do.

You know, at times, I find myself pausing and looking back; thinking, “have I fulfilled the responsibilities of my professional credentials?” I’ll bet that you will too, many times in your professional progress. You don’t want to answer that question with anything but an emphatic “YES”.

Let us all remember that this is a professional progress. We never stop learning unless we choose to. We always have that responsibility to the public to do our job correctly and with integrity. Let’s all do a job that we can be proud of.

At Aquaterra we have a mission statement that challenges to exceed the expectations of five distinct groups that we consider to be paramount in our business.  They are:

•    Our clients,
•    Our employees,
•    Our suppliers,
•    The public and
•    Our professional peers

Let’s talk about exceeding the expectations of the public.  How do we do that?  The mission statement says that we will exceed the expectations of the public by maintaining vigilant awareness of the welfare of the public and the environment.   Vigilant is defined as keeping constant watch for possible danger or difficulties.   So that means that the public should be surprised (we should exceed their expectations) with our watchful care about their welfare by looking out for things that can be dangerous or difficult.  That is a noble thought.  Aquaterra, as a professional engineering firm must hold to ethical standards that require us to use our professional expertise and capabilities to protect the welfare of the public.  It is right and proper for us to mention this ethical responsibility in our mission statement.

But what about situations when we are involved with the public simply as a part of the public?  I want us to think about our responsibility as a company to the public when we are driving our vehicles, when we are identified as an Aquaterra employee, when we have the opportunity to assist the public or the temptation to be a menace to the public.  Let’s do whatever we can to exceed the expectations of the public in these cases too.

Just this past month we read of a situation where an Aquaterra employee, Andy Polk, noticed a rather frantic woman.  As he approached her she immediately began requesting assistance:  she had a flat tire, no idea how to change to the spare and was late for something important.   Andy changed the tire for her, and she was very appreciative and offered to pay him $50, he refused.  Apparently reluctant to simply let him leave without appropriate compensation or recognition, she asked for a business card, and inquired about what he did for Aquaterra and what Aquaterra does.  After brief explanation, they parted ways – Andy assuming that he would never hear anything else about it.

A few days later, the lady called our Jackson, MS office and asked to speak to Andy’s manager.  Of course those calls can be a problem, so she was immediately connected to a leader of the company.  In that conversation she spoke highly of Andy for what he did,  and she said that she would recommend/speak highly of Aquaterra as a result.

What are the chances that the call that this thoughtful lady made to our office was referring to you?  Everyone has the opportunity to be of service to the public.  Let’s do our best to exceed their expectations.  Let’s take this one step further. We are all seen wearing our Aquaterra shirts.  When we do, we have that same chance to reflect an impressive positive image for our company.  We should do it.  You have heard me brag on the fact that our reputation is a part of the reason for our success.  All of these type encounters can build or degrade our reputation.  It is up to you.

I take us back to a very prominent response to our survey:  We are proud to say that we work for Aquaterra.  These responsibilities that I have listed here today are very simple and yet very effective ways of showing this pride.

The expression “to pay someone a compliment” is an interesting choice of words when you think about it.  If I pay someone, I normally think about tendering money (or something of value) for a product or service rendered.  I paid my barber $10.00 for my haircut.  I paid $25.00 for a new hammer, and so on.  If we provide advice to someone, we don’t say that we paid them advice.  When we have a question for someone, we “ask” it, we don’t “pay” it.  OK, you get my point.

So, that would mean that the act of paying a compliment is like providing something of value to someone for their actions.   Yet, when we finish “paying” the complement, our checkbook balance is no lower, we still have the same amount of cash in our wallet, and our credit card balance did not go up.  Wow, what a deal; we give something of value to someone else, and it costs us nothing!  Then compliments should be paid without fail for all good actions, right?  Well, yes, they should, but they aren’t always paid.  What a shame.

This past week, Steve Greaber (Baton Rouge office manager) had a meeting with an architectural client, and he mentioned to Steve that our construction monitoring services were the best that he had seen.  That made Steve feel great, and he passed it on to others, including me, and it made us all feel great.  It encouraged us; increased our resolve to show our clients that we really are the best.  A simple statement, that took about 10 seconds to communicate, did all that.  It really did.

The concept of paying a compliment is nothing new, but I think that the need for compliments has increased a great deal in the last few months.  Why?  The recession.  Money is tight everywhere, people are being laid off, businesses are failing.  Bad news is everywhere.  We should look for opportunities to send positive messages, and what can be more positive than a sincere compliment?  I have found myself on numerous occasions looking at how businesses are doing.  Maybe I’m in a restaurant, or a hardware store.  Diana (my wife) may have dragged me into a gift shop.  Whatever the place may be, I am very aware of the amount of business.  When the business seems to be good, if I am communicating with an owner or a manager, I make mention of this observation.  When a particular service or product is satisfying, I try and compliment the provider.  It is really amazing how this little, simple gesture evokes such satisfaction from the person who receives the compliment.  A compliment is a bit of good news when so much bad news abounds.

I expect that bad economic times like our country (world) is experiencing are a part of cyclical nature of business.  However, the effect of poor economic times can be influenced by our reaction to the conditions that prevail.  We should not be spendthrifts, but, on the other hand, if we hold back too much on our basic expenditures, it impacts someone down the line, and that will come back to negatively impact us.  So, when I hear the media telling me that 2009 is going to be dismal, I am negatively influenced, perhaps holding back on spending or hiring.  However, If the media begin to amplify some of the positive aspects of the economic picture, I am more inclined to take a risk of a new asset, a new employee, or enjoy a restaurant meal more often.  The media should be complimenting our economy, not insulting it.  Maybe it would make a difference.  But I read what they write; not vice-versa.

But you read what I write.  Perhaps these words can be put to good use with our actions.  Let’s try an experiment within Aquaterra.  Let’s find reasons to compliment.  Whether you have a co-worker who is doing their job exceptionally well, a vendor has gotten you just what you need on time, or perhaps a client has assisted in a manner that made your task easier; stop and acknowledge the action with a well-deserved compliment.  I am one who is quick to find fault, and I am prone to let good actions go unnoticed.  I will take the lead in doing my best to compliment those of you that I see doing the right thing.

So, these days when cash is tight, unemployment is high, and paying the rent or mortgage is difficult, go out of your way to pay that one thing that just may be at an all-time high in value, pay a compliment.  It won’t cost you a dime.

How well could we do our job without all the suppliers that serve us?  I know.  We couldn’t do our job at all.  For example, GMC keeps us in dependable vehicles, and the various oil companies keep selling us gas to drive these vehicles.  Oh yes, the fuel is expensive, but the alternative is certainly not acceptable.  We have cell phones and office phones that allow us to communicate.  This computer that I write this communication with was made with care by a supplier of Aquaterra, as was all of the software that allows the computer to do its work correctly.  The power company sends the necessary electricity to it just so that I can say “have a great week”.   Let’s face it, we depend on our suppliers.

I can’t tell you how well our vision and our mission statements have helped guide us as we make day-to-day as well as strategic decisions within Aquaterra.  Today, let’s consider a specific aspect of our mission statement that is directed toward our suppliers.

You will recall that our mission statement challenges us to exceed the expectations of five separate groups:  our clients, our employees, our suppliers, the public and our professional peers.  Each group is addressed with specific ways that we want to exceed their expectations.  When it comes to our suppliers we say the following:
Aquaterra will exceed the expectations of our suppliers, while practicing fair and consistent trade policies, meeting contractual obligations, and providing timely and accurate communications.

The term “suppliers” should be considered in a broad sense.  The term may apply to any company or individual who assists us to get our work done.  We all have the opportunity to interact with our suppliers.  We may purchase a bag of cement at a Lowe’s store, a box of pens from an office supply store or perhaps a replacement part for a drilling rig, to name just a few of a myriad of supplier types.  Consider this too:  we often order analytical laboratory testing, cleaning services, contract drilling services, legal consultation,  accounting work, welding and and machine shop work.  The list goes on and on.

The point is, we can’t be preeminent (as our Vision statement exhorts us to be) unless we have suppliers who also aspire to preeminence.  Think about it;  if we want to do the very best job when it comes to grouting a boring, but the cement that we purchase is inferior, we will do an inferior job.  If we hire an analytical laboratory to provide data on water samples that we collect, and if the lab provides inaccurate information, our work will be wrong.  I think that you could come up with dozens of examples of just how much we must depend on the quality of our suppliers in order for us to render quality services.

We have an opportunity to do something really special for each and every supplier.  We can make them a better company!  That is what we are driving at with the words of our mission statement.

We start by saying that we want to practice far and consistent trade policies.  This means that we should expect our supplier to be compensated adequately for their goods or services.  We should show our suppliers what they can expect from us, and then we should be consistent in our trade practices, so that they can begin to work within our team, predicting our needs and us prediction their responses.

When we say “meeting contractual obligations”, we mean that we should pay them what we have agreed to pay them and within the time schedules that we have agreed.  Sure the power company will turn you off if you don’t pay the bill, but the local machine shop needs to be paid as promised even if we are done with him.  Conversely, we should not pay a supplier who has not met their contractual obligations with respect to the product or the service provided.  If we simply pay the bill without receiving the expected service, then we have certainly not helped them become a better company, and we have caused funds to be paid from Aquaterra that should not have been paid.

Instead, we should, as we say in the mission statement, provide a clear and timely notice to them of our expectations.  We should be diligent to be accurate in our expectations and in our communications.

Finally, as a part of providing timely and accurate communications, we should provide feedback whenever we can.  If a supplier has a customer survey, by all means complete the survey.  I did this just this weekend for a hotel chain that I stayed in last week.  If no opportunity for a survey exists, an email, or a letter (with praise or criticism as appropriate) is a great means to let them know what we are thinking of their service.

So, the point here in our mission statement is, go the extra mile with our suppliers.  Don’t just get what you need from them and get them paid.  If we work diligently to improve our suppliers, it will happen.  If our suppliers improve, then we improve.  And we all take another step toward preeminence.

When one of my boys was in middle school, he examined the grading system and realized that making a “C” was equivalent to the mark of “average”.  It was interesting to watch a young man come to grips with what that meant.  Unfortunately, he took an approach to that understanding that burdened his dad.  He opined that if a “C” was average, then the effort to do better was just a waste of time!  Its tough being a parent, but that is another web page.  I am proud to report that, as he matured, he became an “A” student, obviously rethinking this epiphany as he matured.

A term for a “C” could be mediocre.  Yeah, it got the average job done, but nobody is taking notice of an excellent effort.  In many instances in everyone’s life, we can be pleased with the grade of mediocre.  It may require our best effort to achieve this average mark.  However, there should be some areas in your life where you know that you have more than a “C” in you, and you should work to refine these areas to achieve the excellence that you can reach.

Our vision statement for Aquaterra leads off by saying that we desire to be the preeminent earth science and engineering company in the Southeast.  If we are to accomplish this, we cannot accept mediocrity in our leadership, in our staff, in our vendors, even in our clients.  You may recall some of the many references that I have made in this forum related to our vision statement in general, and to this pursuit of preeminence in particular.  Pardon the repetition, but it means a lot to us, and here I go again.

We may never get there, but we can always strive for preeminence.  To be recognized as the best, to be acknowledged among our peers as the firm that stands above the rest.  However, I see signs of that happening all the time.  Just recently, a client emailed us this comment:

“This status report and format is an unprecedented product (in my experience in over 25 years as an architect).”

I am very impressed with your construction expertise and services, and wanted to commend you on your professionalism and team-spirit on this project.

I plan on telling anyone who listens what I think of Aquaterra, and you can believe me that it will be a glowing report and reference.  Thank you again.

I suppose that such praise can show up in anyone’s practice, but, I see it more and more here at Aquaterra.  I am proud of the efforts of Aquaterrians (as we like to call them) and the results.  We can pick out other situations where our light did not shine that bright, but we should not be discouraged by these situations.  Instead we should learn from them and say we will never be there again.

Here is an example.  We have a driller named Randy Warren.  Most of us know Randy well; he has been with us forever and he has taught many of us a lot.  He taught me something one day; many years ago.  He showed up on a job to drill some borings, and I was there too.  The client also met us there to discuss the project.  At times during the day I noticed that Randy was irritated and frustrated. As the day went along, I inquired as to the reason for his frustration.  He told me that he had not been informed of the complete specifics of the project, and he did not have all the tools that he needed to excel in his assignment.  This dilemma was amplified by the fact that our client was on site with us.  By the way, the client had no idea that we didn’t have everything in perfect order, and neither did I.  Randy would not accept less than an excellent performance.  I got it.  He wants to be preeminent in the drilling profession, and he had been struggling with a circumstance that was hampering that.  We all work as a team in this effort.  If I had made sure that Randy had been completely informed of his duties, he would have been able to avoid the problems that he faced that day.  The lesson, we must be preeminent as a team, or none of us can be as individuals. A vision statement is put up for us all to see and to help focus our own vision as we make decisions on a daily basis.  When you do your next assignment think this thought:

Will this effort complement a pursuit of preeminence in our profession?
If you have to answer this in any way but “absolutely”, consider the reasons for your answer.  Is it because you are lacking in your ability to accomplish the assignment, or perhaps the team that you are working with has one or more faults.  Is the client not allowing the effort to be excellent?

After you have come to grips with the reasons, then consider a solution.  What will it take to make a change for the better?  Do not let your work be mediocre because you have not followed through with implementation of change.  We all want to improve.  Please make your thoughts known to those who can help initiate change.

We really do want to be preeminent.  Our leadership decisions are ALWAYS cast with this vision.  Watch for the way that Aquaterra moves from this day forward, and see if you agree with that statement.  Great things are in front of us.  But rest assured, it will take the extraordinary effort of everyone reading this to achieve the great things.

Yes, we can do our job, achieve mediocrity, and assume that to do better would be a waste of time.  But you don’t work for a company that is willing to accept that ideology.  You work for a company that desires to be preeminent in our profession.  We can be pleased with our pursuit of this vision with your help.

Have you ever been involved in a construction project like building your house, adding on, building a workshop, etc?  Maybe you have been involved with an extensive remodeling of a building.  Doesn’t that get you going? 
The act of building something that will last a long time is invigorating.  I was talking with one of our fellow Aquaterrians this past week and he brought up that subject.  He reminisced about a prior time in his career that was particularly motivating, and he recognized that the key reason for this motivation was the building process.  They were building something, and it was exciting to be a part of it. 
I began to think of what that meant from my point of view.  I thought back over my 28-year career in the profession of engineering jobs that were very exciting and those that were simply “work”.  That was the common denominator for me too.  When I have been a part of building something that is obviously growing into a mature, and well-constructed business, I was much more anxious to show up at work on a Monday morning that I was at those jobs where there was no construction in progress.  I think that I just mentioned the key word: progress.  Progress means active movement toward a goal of improved conditions.
One does not have to be in the middle of a new start-up, or in a rapid growth mode to feel the excitement of the construction.  It is the progress that is the motivator.  Take Aquaterra, for example.  Our company is not a new company.  Aquaterra, in its current state (Aquaterra, LLC) got its start almost 50 years ago in Jackson, Mississippi as a small geotechnical engineering firm.  The Baton Rouge business was started in 1985 when I joined the firm.  Our Chattanooga operations began in 1993 when a specialty UST consulting practice was purchased.  Jeff Breedlove moved his family up there in 2000 to take our engineering practice forward. 

In 2001, Aquaterra transitioned to an employee-owned company when several senior employees purchased the assets of Aquaterra Engineering, Inc. to create Aquaterra, LLC.  That is what started the construction project that is so exciting to me today.  We immediately began to grow with dedicated and motivated employees.  We started our Atlanta operations in 2004 when Chanc Moore joined the firm to establish our office there.  The Nashville office started up in 2005 when Russ Wharton joined the firm, and Mobile came into being in 2006.  Jim Foster is the managing engineer in Mobile.  So, since 2001, the “renovation” has been underway.  That is the building process that has invigorated me for these past six years.  We have progressed from a firm with about 45 employees in 3 offices, struggling to convince our clients and our vendors that we were a new entity that would build upon the good foundation laid years earlier by original founders of predecessor firms, to a company that is 110 employees and 6 offices strong, and we are still growing at a rate of about 20 percent annually.
I have worked shoulder to shoulder with so many of you during this time, and I can see the enthusiasm associated with the construction process in you too.  We are progressing.  As we have grown, we have employed newcomers that have enhanced our progress in many ways.  Together, we are building a company that is premier in the Southeast!  It is this construction project that pushes me out of bed on Monday morning.  I hope that you feel a part of the construction process too.  It is a very satisfying endeavor.  We want to build a great organization.  Construction of a building takes so many crafts and trades.  One person simply can’t do it all.  Construction of a premier consulting firm that grows at a pace of 20 percent each year takes a similar set of skilled individuals. 
I have been in houses that one can tell were not built with care and concern about the long-term integrity of the structure.  I have been in companies that I could say that very same thing about.  Not now though.  This company is being built by fine craftsmen who want to admire their work for years, even generations to come.  Aquaterra is being built to last.  What a satisfying and meaningful endeavor.   

I once heard a man say “We’re all living in the dash.” He explained that when we look at any reference to a deceased individual, we will see when they were born and, followed by a dash, when they died. So you see, if you are reading this today, you too are living “in the dash.”

When you stop and think about this for a moment, you can begin to see the profound nature of this simple thought. We have a time on this planet to influence it in some way. Without question, we will exert some influence. Maybe in a good way, or, maybe not, but we will have some influence. Do you want your time in the dash to be significant? Do you want your influence to be good? Of course you do! OK, how can you do that? Probably the best opportunity that you have for this is in your family. Most of us have children, or have some degree of influence over our family in some way or another. We can make the best of our positive influence in the way that we train up our children. That is our responsibility, it comes naturally, and I encourage you to make the best of this responsibility.

I want to consider our occupation for a moment and think about how we can have a positive influence that will transcend our time in the dash. The dictionary defines transcend as a verb that means to rise above or go beyond. When I say “transcend our time” with respect to our work, I am referring to a means to let what we do influence those that come after us. I was inspired about this last year when I read Jim Collins’ book Good to Great. He talked about men and women in leadership that took companies to levels of exceptional performance that transcended their time at the position of leadership. I particularly remember the story that he told of one CEO who said that he was building a company that he wanted to see doing so well after he had retired that he could proudly say from his rocking chair “Yep, I once worked for that company”.

This is really an inspiring thought. It can give us a more enhanced feeling of significance in our work if we think at this level. Of course we must all work to be compensated so that we can feed and house and care for our families, and all that mundane, rat-race stuff. However, we are not working for General Motors, or for the federal government, where our performance would hardly be noticed. We work for a firm that is large enough to allow it to continue on after our time, but small enough that we can make a big difference in what this company will be like in 20, or even 50 years from now. Maybe you are new in your career. Maybe you are still learning the ropes. You can still think at this level. Your learning experience will be richer if your goal is to make a lasting, positive impact. On the other hand, maybe you are in the latter years of your working career. You have the experience to show us how to be the best. You have the ability to teach the young ones that you work with how it is done. I’m sure that you can easily see how your efforts will produce fruit in this endeavor to transcend your time with Aquaterra.

It is exciting to me to think that Aquaterra will be there when I am not. It gives me a greater feeling of significance in my employment to think that what I do this week is helping to build a company that is serving its employees, its clients and its community well when I am out of the picture. You may remember me writing my reflections on an announcement of a firm where I had worked with that was absorbed by a larger firm. I said then, and I repeat it here, that I want Aquaterra to be there for the next generation. It is something that means a lot to me. So, when we think about transcending our time, we can think about it on a personal as well as on a corporate basis. However, the two are intimately related.

So, as you go out and take on yet another week of doing the things that must be done, consider these things. Begin to ponder the means that are within your grasp to transcend your time of employment with Aquaterra, and how this could make an indelible, positive influence on this company. Help us to make Aquaterra a company that transcends our time. Then, make sure that you get home in time to teach those kids what they will need to know when you are on the other side of that dash.

Have a great week!

Vic

I have college-age children, and when I hear those words, I brace for the worse and pray for the best. Getting “a grade” is a fundamental form of feedback about performance. Feedback is an important ingredient to successfully managing a business with over 100 people. I think that this is particularly true for a professional and technical services company like Aquaterra. Hearing from our staff about their likes and dislikes, their problems and suggestions for solutions, etc. is imperative to us as we chart our course for the future.

In our recent annual office managers’ retreat, we reviewed a survey that we had our employees complete. This feedback proved to be an excellent means to allow our introspection. What did we glean from this survey? Here are the most obvious findings.

• We are effectively moving toward becoming the preeminent earth science and engineering firm in the Southeast, and we are confident that our service is superior, but we should not become complacent or overconfident, and we have a long way to go.
• Our employees are extremely proud to let people know that we work for Aquaterra.
• We are content with the growth rate of Aquaterra.
• Our internal training efforts are helpful, and the employees look forward to them.
• We feel adequately challenged in our positions and we enjoy going to work, but we are working very hard and we feel the stress.

All in all, I think that if this were a grade on a report card, we got an A-. I am quite satisfied to know that our employees are proud to be a part of our firm and that they believe that we are on course with our vision and growing at a healthy pace. Obviously, I like the fact that our efforts to provide training are appreciated. I acknowledge that we work hard, and that is good. We can be well satisfied with hard work; our clients deserve it, and we need to work hard to excel at what we do and to be satisfied. Da Vinci said “A well spent day brings happy sleep.”

Stress? That is an issue that we know can’t be avoided, but we can work to deal with it in a creative manner. We work in a time that demands the intense efforts of our technical and professional staff to provide our services on an immediate basis like never before, and recruiting more like-minded staff is a challenge for our profession. This issue of stress is something that we will continue to work on, and we will set this as a priority for our company as we move forward.

I like our report card. We are doing many things very right.
- Vic

Let me admit to you that I love my job. I don’t know of what else that I could do (given the fact that I can’t sing, act, play music, hit a baseball 300 yards, slam dunk a basketball, etc.) that would be more enjoyable on a day-in day-out basis. Maybe I have already lost you on this message. Maybe you think, “take my place today, and see if you still can say that.” It may be easy for you to see why your job may be less enjoyable. I certainly have the opportunity to feel that way about my job on many occasions. But, more often than not, I have looked forward to a new work week, anticipated the interesting opportunities that awaited behind the Monday morning blahs, and relished the experience that I have gained. I often find myself actually saying “I can’t believe that I get paid for this”.

My children are beginning to reach the point where they are choosing their career paths. I always say to them that they should find a job that they love, and they will never have to go to work. OK, we know that work is not filled with pleasant experiences. Ever since Adam ate the apple, we were doomed to face frustration and problems with our work experience. You know what yours are. I have mine too.

I want to encourage you to ask yourself the following questions: Do you love your job? Is it satisfying and rewarding? Are you fulfilled in your daily endeavors? If you can’t answer these questions affirmatively, then I want to encourage you to not become a victim if circumstances. Don’t blame others, circumstances, or bad choices, on your plight. Look at your daily regime and examine what YOU need to do to make it better. What do you need to do to take charge of your good fortune? Remember last week, I suggested that good folks make their own good luck. When I look at our drillers, technicians, geologists, engineers, CAD operators, administrators, etc, I see a group of very important people who are “good folks”. We are truly a team, and a team with a bad player is a losing team. Well, we are certainly not a losing team, and you are on the team, so you are a good player. I am amazed by the importance that some of you take on in your daily activities. Where would we be without you?

Your employment is a very significant part of your life. And life is just too short to waste too much time doing things that don’t satisfy. One of the goals that we have set is for all Aquaterra employees to feel fulfilled in their employment. That is why I send these words of encouragement and challenge to you today. I ask you to stop for minute. I mean it; take a minute, and think. We will wait. Are you happy in your work environment? Are you contributing all that you can to the success of Aquaterra? Are you confident that your important contributions are understood and acknowledged by those that you work with? Hmmm€¦.. If you can’t respond to these questions with a resounding YES, then its time to change things up. Carpe diem! Seize the day. Make it work. Look! The future just got here! We want to help. What do you want to do? I ask you to give me your personal thoughts along these lines. We will work on it together.
If your response to that interrogative is a resounding YES, and I think that many of you would say that YES is your response, then that is great! I think I know who you are. I see it in your work; it shows. If you can say that you can’t believe that you get paid for what you do, I expect that we would say that we can’t afford to pay you what you are really worth to us. That is when the drive to work on Monday is a pleasant experience.

I apologize if this message is perceived as too “Dr. Phil” to be effective. If you think that it is, then take it home and read it over again this evening when you have some time to digest the thought process. Involve your spouse in this conversation. It is worth the reflection.

Have a great week.

Vic