Building a Management Team that Can Deal with Unique Technical Challenges

A few of the points that stood out for me in the "14 Ways to Be a Great CEO" article were the need to defer to other team members in matters of expertise and to have enough technical knowledge to be able to be on top of what your technical team is doing. While I probably won't be hiring a web designer or getting involved with writing any code, I think this applies to the technical side of my business that I need to learn more about. Historic preservation is, after all, a rather complex process that requires constant oversight, and the same goes for LEED-certified construction processes. I do have some background in areas that are important to the overall business model (project management, sustainable development, and even construction to a certain extent), but I need to get some experience in historic preservation and green construction before I do anything else. The hard part won't be in learning U.S. architectural history or a list of LEED-certified building materials; rather, I think I and my venture will experience the most difficulty in keeping projects in line with their technical requirements. For example, windows in historic buildings can often be a challenge because they are simultaneously protected and energy inefficient. The venture will have to be able to navigate its way through problems like these.

When I think about creating the perfect management team, it seems to me like a four cornerstones approach might be applicable. The only thing I can see that would be different is that, given the two distinct technical apsects of this type of work, there would be a lot of overlap among the entrepreneur, technical innovator, and delivery specialist. Ideally, I as the entrepreneur would be joined by 1. someone with experience in green construction 2. an expert in historic preservation who can collaborate with me on all aspects of a project. There is bound to be some disagreement between these two conerstone individuals. The historic preservation expert will want to preserve as much of a building as possible while failing to take into account some changes that could be made to improve energy efficiency, indoor air quality, etc. In the same way, a green construction manager might be willing to sacrifice an important building feature without taking into account its importance to the overall structure.

In general, I see the organization of this venture arranged into a standard hierarchy, with myself at the top and the four cornerstones directly below me. But I do expect there to be a lot of collaboration between cornerstone individuals whose work scopes overlap with one another. There will then be two mini working teams, with historic preservation and green construction working together with me to make decisions regarding the acquisition and renovation of potential projects, and the sales and financing team working with me to develop a marketing strategy, set rent rates, etc.