Control Issues

January 1, 2022  |  Editorial

If 2020 was a rollercoaster, 2021 was more like a Zero Gravity amusement park ride where spinning forces beyond anyone’s control pinned us to the wall making movement impossible. Businesses experienced a centrifugal maelstrom of surging customer demand, labor shortages, price increases and supply …
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Community connections

September 1, 2021  |  Editorial

With or without COVID-19 restrictions, many fabricators spend a lot of time alone. Aside from interactions with clients and employees, fabrication work itself is often performed solo, either onboard or in the shop. Given the solitary nature of this profession, finding ways to make industry connectio…
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Efficiency artists

July 1, 2021  |  Editorial

Marine fabrication businesses are an interesting mix of custom and ready-made. On the one hand, much of the work is manufactured to order, and each project requires unique tweaks and adjustments to the design and fabrication processes. But there are also times your shop becomes a mini factory and th…
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Gentler negotiations

May 1, 2021  |  Editorial

I watched an online presentation recently about how to keep your personal feelings from intruding on professional situations. I followed it with a discussion about how to deal with difficult people. I was trying to keep myself calm during thorny contract negotiations with a publisher over a book I w…
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Obstacles to success

March 1, 2021  |  Editorial

In a former life I managed a large team of writers and editors. My job, as I saw it, was to remove obstacles that prevented the team from being successful. These obstacles were the same for every person on the team: a lack of focus, perfectionism, poor time management, difficulty with conflict and a…
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Fundamental Change

January 1, 2021  |  Editorial

A recent Inc.com article described the months since COVID-19 hit as, “15 years of behavior change in 30 days.” Indeed, the amount of change and adaptation our business and personal lives have undergone would have been unimaginable less than a year ago. The changes have been a mixed bag; some pos…
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Leaning into uncertainty

September 1, 2020  |  Editorial

Business author Stephen Covey said, “If there’s one thing that’s certain in business, it’s uncertainty.” That’s true in every facet of our lives right now, thanks to the coronavirus and economic and social turmoil. Some part of us may hope that things will eventually calm down and get ba…
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Light on your feet

July 1, 2020  |  Editorial

Agility is defined as the ability to change your body’s position efficiently. It requires a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength and endurance. The same is true for your business. Long-term business survival means responding rapidly to changes without losing momentum or …
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Keep calm and do your best work

May 1, 2020  |  Editorial

I am writing this in mid-April amid the swirl of anxiety over health concerns and financial worries. It might seem impossible to do your best work under these circumstances, but keeping your focus on work—no matter what it is—can help you find stillness during the daily rush of doubts and distra…
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Seeing success

March 1, 2020  |  Editorial

How do you define business success? While there is no single definition, most people consider business success to be a combination of factors, some more obvious than others. Financial rewards are typically part of the mix; a profitable business is an important motivator for hard work, risk taking an…
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