The Capability and Market Balance (The Chicken or Egg Dichotomy)
D. Brown Management
April 13, 2025
Sustainable growth for contractors requires balancing capabilities and capacity with the available market. Like balancing on the toes of one foot, balance is not a static relaxed state. It requires focus, continuous adjustments, and deliberate practice.
planning strategy talent
Development Progression (And Joy Level)
D. Brown Management
April 12, 2025
We’re all born with aptitudes waiting to be discovered or developed. From the start, we form preferences. How those preferences become strengths—and how we use them in life and business—shapes both our joy and competitiveness.
management talent
Intelligence Progression from Fluid to Crystallized
D. Brown Management
March 16, 2025
Understanding fluid versus crystallized intelligence is critical for hiring, training, organizational structures, workflows, and retirement planning.
retirement succession talent
Progressive Questions for Interviews, Evaluations, and Development
D. Brown Management
March 9, 2025
Asking progressively higher-level questions helps assess capabilities while allowing you to stop before making the other person feel inadequate. These questions are valuable for development—answering them is like exercise for the brain.
interviews talent
What Are You Optimizing For?
D. Brown Management
January 3, 2025
Prioritizing is about sequencing. Optimizing is about balance. Both are defined by your values, strategies, and objectives. Both are constrained by your finite resources including talent and capital. Start by knowing what you are optimizing for.
career strategy talent
Leadership Combinations and States of Market Growth
D. Brown Management
December 21, 2024
There is a beautiful tension in leadership teams that is required for growth. That tension shifts with different stages of a market's growth and must be integrated with the contractor's stage of growth as a company.
market strategy Organizational Development talent
Succession and the 2024 Olympics as an Example
D. Brown Management
December 1, 2024
Succession in any job role should be looked at like the USA Team in the Mixed 4x400 Relay Race at the 2024 Olympics. This is especially true for ownership transitions for construction contractors. Learn more about this 4-step process.
ownership transition succession talent
Definition - Deliberate Practice
D. Brown Management
September 8, 2024
Practicing with a clear awareness of the specific components of a skill we are working to improve, and exactly how to improve them. It is not simply doing something repetitively for enjoyment or until it becomes mindless.
definitions talent
Summary Definition: Aptitude X Desire X Learning and Practice = Capability and Capacity
D. Brown Management
September 8, 2024
This is the basic formula that determines what an individual and team will have in terms of capability and capacity.
definitions talent
Construction Superheroes
D. Brown Management
September 1, 2024
Building a project and a construction business definitely requires heroic efforts at times, but full-time superheroes stifle growth, introduce risks, and rarely make for smooth successions.
management talent