News You Can Use from American Academy of Landscape Design

American Academy of Landscape Design November 25,  2008 In This Issue The Power Details Recap Quick Links Tim's Blog Newsletter Archive More About Us Greetings!   It's Thanksgiving time again, the end of the landscape season here in the Chicago area, and the beginning of the winter planning season. Speaking of planning, our winter course schedule has been published. In addition to courses in the Chicago area, you can attend one immediately prior to ANLA's Management Clinic in Louisville, KY, so if you plan to attend the Clinic (which is always worthwhile), come a little early and join us!   With the season changing, I hope to bump up the frequency of this newsletter, but promise to keep it brief.   Sincerely, American Academy of Landscape Design 847-657-7900   The Power What gets you out of bed in the morning? What motivates you to do a good job? Is it the money? Is it the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day? Is it habit? What is it that keeps you going? For me, the most powerful driving force for doing a good job, for always wanting to get better, can be reduced to one word: Pride. Pride is what fuels the hunger. At the end of the day, it feels good to have a happy client. It feels good if the finished design is well-conceived and well-drawn.  It feels good if the installation went well and it looks good enough to photograph, and perhaps submit for publication, or an award. Pride is a powerful thing. I'm not talking about arrogance or conceit. The pride I'm talking about is a positive thing. Confidence is closely related. To my way of thinking, if you want to be proud of the result, you need to have the confidence it takes to make good decisions along the way. If a client suggests something that you know will detract from the project, a confident designer will try to guide that suggestion into something that will help the project, rather than just be an "order taker."  You can't win all the battles, of course, and fighting with clients is never a good idea. But if you are hired to provide your best advice, then that is what you ought to offer. There's an integrity part to this too. So how do you get this confidence? One way is to understand design better. If you can justify each and every design decision in a logical way, you will get your way more often than not. The design methodology behind our courses at the American Academy of Landscape Design is one way to grow that confidence. The most satisfying projects are those of which we are most proud. Don't you think you deserve to have more of them in your portfolio?  Join us this winter! Details Recap In the last newsletter, I asked a few simple questions trying to get a feel for the level of detail most designers include in their plans. Of 2700+ subscribers, 42 were nice enough to spend a few minutes to respond. Thanks to those who did. There is a summary here if you want to check it out.