“We are in the midst of a technology change. We need to change the way we communicate with each other about project outcomes . We deal with a very fragmented process; everybody has a silo of interest, and nobody wants to let others through that barrier. As a collaborative group, I‑LinCP can do so many things that don’t require an equity investment. You simply agree that you will do things in a way that serves the project outcome. When all the parties are involved early in a project – including the subcontractors – and everyone is on equal footing, you increase the odds of a positive outcome when the project is delivered.

I joined the I-LinCP board to help spread the word throughout Texas that our thought processes are evolving. This is a group that embraces new ideas. All of us – owners, architects, contractors, subcontractors – are like concrete. Separately, the pieces have certain strengths, but when you put that recipe together, you have a much stronger material. So, moving forward together, we can have much more favorable outcomes.

Knowledge is power, and what you find with I-LinCP is a collaborative group of extremely smart people with a lot of experience. If they see you are in a bad situation, they will be more than happy to say, ‘We have been there; we understand. Let’s look at how we can better deliver successful projects.’

Every dollar being used on a project had better yield as much as it possibly can. There is no room for a bad story. When you walk into a LinCP Forum, there are no stupid questions; no one is better than another. We maintain an open-mindedness, because we all understand that if we don’t listen, absorb, and identify a new way to work together, then we will continue to experience some of the failures we have had in the past. We just can’t afford that any longer.”

   Rob Roy Parnell, Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities, Texas State University System

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“I used to work in facilities at the University of Houston, and it was quite an awakening for me to see how a project gets started. It might be 15 years in the making by the time it went out for a request for qualifications and proposals. A lot of work had been done to get the project to that stage. I learned a lot of lessons on the owner’s side. When I came back to the architect’s side, I could really see what each side needs to provide to the other to make the relationship work – to make the end product successful.

When [I-LinCP founder] Carol [Warkoczewski] came along with this organization, I really liked that it seemed to belong to all of the three major parties: the architects and engineers, the contractors, and the owners. This was unlike any other organization I had been involved with.

Carol uses a unique format in her LinCP Forums. As a follow-up to panel discussions or presentations, you work through exercises with your table mates. There’s lots of interaction and dialogue, and everyone gets involved. You get to see how everybody thinks. Nobody leaves the Forum without knowing what is important to the other people they are sharing the room with.

There is structure in Carol’s format and the exercises she does. But there is also a relaxed feeling; Carol creates an informal atmosphere that allows everybody to feel at ease.

When we work on projects with the owners and contractors, we are all making demands on each other. We need to be able to get together in these Forums where there are no demands. The roles fade away a bit, and we are just people trying to learn how we can do business better together.”

Marie Hoke, Principal, WHR Architects

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 “I first learned about I-LinCP when I was asked to be on a panel discussion for one of the LinCP Forums when I headed up Texas business development for Skanska, an international construction management firm.  Part of my job (then and now) is to understand the key issues in the marketplace – what is driving construction owners, how they deliver projects, and what their needs are. The collaboration and exchange of ideas with people who all have a common interest is what got me interested in I-LinCP.

The Forums use a format that makes for a collaborative, comfortable, non-threatening environment. There’s a speaker, then a panel, then a table discussion. All of these various players – the architect, the owner, the contractor, the consultant – come together to talk about common issues in a relaxed environment. It is a safe place to exchange ideas. I’ve been in this industry for 30 years, and this is an organization unlike any other I’ve been involved with.

It is the same people you see at different places, but they are coming together in a different kind of way. You see the real person; you see what they are really concerned about.

I’ve been to three or four of the Forums now. The topics are always on-point with what the industry is dealing with, whether it is project delivery methods, contract types, or sustainability.  We bring in speakers from all over the country, so the topics aren’t just regional or state-wide; they are national topics as well.

I think enough of I-LinCP to sponsor it – to put my time and money into helping it grow. If you are going to be a player in our industry, in this region, there are people and topics here that you will not come into contact with in other places.”

Matt Daniel, Senior Vice President, KBR Building Group

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“Our long-term former CEO and current Chairman of the Board [Jack Lowe, Jr.] spoke at the February 2010, LinCP Forum about servant leadership. Since TDIndustries has adhered to that management philosophy for many years, I was interested in a group that was interested in it. When Carol [Warkoczewski, I-LinCP founder] suggested that someone from TDIndustries serve on the Board, it was timely for me to take that responsibility.

Being involved with I-LinCP has been great. It allows me to understand the involvement of all the players in a construction project. It also gives me the opportunity to network with architects, owners, engineers, and others across a broader geographic area. For instance, I typically work with companies such as Beck, Linbeck, SpawGlass, or Skanska in a limited geography. I might know the Austin, San Antonio, and Corpus offices, and offices in the Valley, but not have any exposure to the Dallas or Houston groups. I have gained a better understanding of those groups.

It is important for organizations like TDIndustries and professionals in my field to become involved in I-LinCP. It is a safe environment to talk about the leading-edge issues within our industry, whether the conversation is about LEED certification, integrated project delivery, alternative procurement and delivery methodologies, BIM [building information modeling], or other industry trends.

I tell people it’s really like a think tank. Unlike in a competitive procurement, you can get to the state of knowledge more quickly and easily, because I-LinCP is truly a learning organization. I’ll give you an example. Public/private partnership legislation just got approved, and it is going to affect all of us very soon now. I don’t think I would know as much as I know about that type of procurement methodology without being in the room with an owner and a general contractor who were involved with the legislation.

It is interesting to me to listen to the challenges that architects, owners, engineers, general contractors, and subs each have, realizing how similar they all are. Looking at it as a system versus individual components of responsibility, you can take away a little bit of each of our challenges that are redundant, and eliminate that waste.”

Bob Richards, President – Central Texas, TDIndustries