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"At EllisDon we rely on our people - pure and simple - and we give them the freedom to think hard about what our clients need to succeed, and all the authority they need to deliver this success in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust."
Geoff Smith, President
OK, I finally get it: We gotta get naked.
By Geoff SmithI have struggled for a long time with the notion of wide, free, open collaboration. Sure, it’s certain that any competitive advantage is temporary at best, but that brief period of time can be very lucrative, can’t it? And that time period may not be so brief if your competitors happen to be distracted. (Plus, I have likely read ‘The Art Of War’ a few too many times.)
But I have realized that if you want to take everything in, you need to give everything away. If you want to benefit from the global construction community, one revelation at a time, you have to be willing to help others as much as you can, openly, freely. If we all get better, and all are better, only good things can happen.
We are now taking every step we can to open up our website, to open up our experts and databanks, to make everything we have accessible to everyone, to invite everyone to come talk to us by offering to tell them everything we know.
It’s so obvious to me now, I can’t believe I was so stupid for so long.
Give us a call. Talk to us. Let’s have some fun. Let’s learn everything we can from each other. What say you?
Wikinomics @ play
Hi Geoff, Great thoughts and agree it's high time the Construction Industry became open source. I would love to have my company contribute to your ideas. Let's talk. I'll share how we've generated valuable ideas with several construction related companies (including Otis). Specifically in using the web for training local staff in tight labor markets.
Posted By: Sunil Malhotra
2009-04-26 10:59 PM
Construction Manager
Hello Mr. President I have to admit that I am impressed with the method and school of your thoughts. I believe the more you give away actually means "the more you plant" this is a fundamental principle which will never change, under any economic circumstance. The more you plant the more you harvest, the more you harvest the richer you are ant then the more you can plant... congratulations for your achievements and I believe you are on the way to accomplish "The Art of Construction"..
Posted By: Hosein Hassanpour
2009-03-26 7:50 AM
Imagewear - Team Leader
Wow, this is a great post! Really grabs your attention from the front page! I've been feeling the same way, though it may be related to the kind of economy I feel that I operate in (hint: it's not what I'd call the "world's economy") that the more I give away, the more that comes back to me.
Posted By: Heather Cook
2009-03-16 9:20 AM
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