The Best Business Advice I’ve Gotten (That Didn’t Come from Another Architect)
Most business advice in architecture circles is… more architecture. Enter competitions. Get published. Raise your profile. Win awards. That’s fine, but none of it helped me actually run a business—or support the people who do.
The advice that changed how I work came from outside the industry. Product teams. Tech startups. Ops people. Fractional COOs. People who build systems, not just buildings.
So I’m sharing 4 favourite pieces of advice that shaped how I work—lessons I’ve brought from startups, ops, and product thinking into the world of architecture studios.
1. If everything’s urgent, nothing is.
(Source: Basecamp / Rework)
When every project is marked 🔥 urgent, it creates panic—not momentum. I learned to start asking: What’s the one thing this week we need to get right?
That one question helps studio leads focus their team, instead of reacting to chaos. I now use it in my weekly 15-minute check-in format.
2. You don’t scale chaos. You scale systems.
(Source: Ops mentors / business operators)
A lot of small studios think, “We’ll sort things out once we grow.” But growth doesn’t solve mess. It magnifies it.
I started working backwards: What process would make this smoother if we had 5x the projects? Then I’d build that process now—even if it’s just a Notion table and a checklist.
3. Treat your team like clients.
(Source: Product & UX teams)
This one was unexpected. We create beautiful presentations for clients—but when we brief our own team, it’s a voice note and a sketchy Line message.
Great teams work better when they’re given clarity. The same way we write project briefs, we can write short internal briefs. Timeline, goal, next step. Doesn’t have to be fancy—just intentional.
4. Culture is not about “vibe.” It’s about rhythm.
(Source: Tech founders / coaching)
I used to think studio culture meant having good people and good energy. But the teams that feel strong have a rhythm:
When do we check in?
What’s the default way to give feedback?
When do we wrap things each week?
That rhythm builds trust—and that trust makes things move faster.
Final thought
You don’t need to stop being an architect to run your studio better. You just need to stop looking only at architects for inspiration.
If any of this resonated, I’d love to know which one spoke to you. I’m always collecting lessons like these to help studios work with more clarity and less chaos.
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