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| THE
GARRISON REPORT |
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Ted Garrison |
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The
Garrison Report
(The Report on Strategic Thinking) |
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| Click the "LISTEN
NOW" link below to listen to The Garrison Report. |
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| 2008
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The
Garrison Report -
June 2008 |
Using
Strategic Planning to Develop Company Executives—
For Large Companies
By Ted Garrison |
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| Last
month’s Garrison Report advised all
contractors that they should involve all personnel
from project manager/superintendent on up in the strategic
planning process. If you haven’t read or listened
to that report, it is suggested that you review it
before continuing with this report. If
your company has struggled with any of the following
questions, then it’s time for you to consider
this approach. |
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The
Garrison Report -
May 2008 |
Using
Strategic Planning to Develop Company Executives
By Ted Garrison |
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| The
author advises contractors that everyone from the
project manager/superintendent level up should participate
in the company’s strategic planning process.
Strategic planning may be the most important exercise
for a company to improve its performance and bottom
line. While this is a pretty audacious statement,
the facts support the claim. |
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The
Garrison Report -
April 2008 |
Lessons
from Dubai
By Ted Garrison |
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| For
the past decade and half, Dubai has been growing at
an incredible rate. But the question is this: How
has it been able to accomplish that? The answer provides
some valuable lessons for the United States. The simple
answer is that the UAE government has created an atmosphere
that not only encourages growth, but has invested
in and supported that growth with critical policies. |
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The
Garrison Report -
March 2008 |
Quality
is Free
By Ted Garrison |
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| When
owners use high-performing contractors, they obtain
quality for free. First, instead of wasting dollars
hiring someone, whether an in-house team or an outsourced
version to monitor the contractor, they focus on selecting
a high-performing contractor that understands the
importance of using high-performing people who have
the ability to look ahead and minimize risk of nonconformance. |
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The
Garrison Report -
February 2008 |
High-performing
Contractors Take Greater Risk!
By Ted Garrison |
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| While
the title is accurate, it’s also misleading
because it goes in the face of conventional wisdom.
Increasing the amount of risk that you are accountable
for doesn’t mean that you increase your actual
risk. In reality, the greatest risk on any project
is unmanaged risk. Therefore, the best way to reduce
risk is to assign each project risk to the organization
or individual best capable of managing that particular
risk. In this way the risks to the project will be
minimized. |
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The
Garrison Report -
January 2008 |
2008:
Predictions for the New Year - Are
You Prepared for 2008’s Changes?
By Ted Garrison |
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| Last
year’s predictions were fairly accurate, but
I must admit they weren’t very bold. This year
I’m not going to predict a labor shortage because
everyone already knows that. Instead I will stick
my neck out to peer over the horizon at little further
than most. |
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| 2007
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The
Garrison Report -
December 2007
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The
Year 2007 in Reviews
By Ted Garrison |
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| In
2007 there were many notable events within the construction
industry, but two events impacted not only the U.S.
construction industry, but the entire nation. The
first was the figurative collapse of the housing market,
and the second was the literal collapse of the I 35W
bridge in Minneapolis. These two events might appear
to be unrelated, but they are both symptomatic of
what’s ailing the construction industry—namely,
the lack of the collaboration and communication necessary
to create a clear vision. |
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The
Garrison Report -
November 2007
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High
Performance Relationships
By Ted Garrison |
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| High
performance is not related to contractors’ taking
clients out to play golf or to see a football game.
In fact, Arizona State Professor Dean Kashiwagi argues
that that type of relationship can actually be counterproductive.
Instead, the relationship that improves performance
is a professional relationship that is built around
trust created by effective communication, collaboration
and mutual respect. |
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The
Garrison Report -
October 2007
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Is
Your Company Management Approach Poised to Destroy
Your Company?
By Ted Garrison |
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| While
the title may seem provocative, Harvard Professor
Clayton Christensen advised that this is a question
every CEO must ask. Everyone has read about companies
that failed because they were bureaucratic, arrogant,
planned poorly, had inadequate skills and resources
or were just plain unlucky, but Christensen wasn’t
discussing those companies. |
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The
Garrison Report -
September 2007
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The
Future of the Construction Industry - How to Fix a
Broken Industry
Part 4: How
to Increase Contractor Profitability
By Ted Garrison |
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| The past
two reports discussed how the construction industry
must adapt to the client’s and the workforce’s
demands. This report explains how contractors must
adapt to the changing construction environment. The
problem for many contractors is they attempt to improve
their financial situation by focusing solely on their
company, but this actually takes them in the wrong
direction. |
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