From a young age, I’ve always had this itch to make things better.

Maybe I was destined to be a systems engineer.
Maybe it started when my swim coach made me swim 25 meters without breathing at six years old—because stopping to breathe was inefficient for a young swimmer’s stroke.
Maybe it’s because deep down, I’ve always had a little Tim “The Toolman” Taylor in me.

Whatever it is, I’ve always loved finding better ways to do things—better, faster, smarter.

Take mowing the lawn: I tested every pattern. Front to back. Side to side. Inward spirals. But once I landed on diagonal lines (objectively the best looking), the next question was, “How can I do this faster?”
That same mindset followed me through chores, homework, swimming—and eventually into business. I was an early adopter of “hacking,” before the term went mainstream.

When The 4-Hour Workweek came out, I was hooked. (Spoiler: it’s not about working less—it’s about being more effective.)

Maybe I’m a descendant of Vilfredo Pareto. Or maybe I just love getting more done.

Whatever the case, I’ve always been drawn to breaking what is, to discover what could be.
That’s innovation. That’s curiosity. That’s leadership.

But here’s the hard truth: Innovation without execution is just expensive daydreaming.

You can chase every shiny object and clever hack, but if you never finish the job or fail to solve the real problem—you’re just spinning your wheels.

That brings us to this week’s podcast guest: Matt Cooper, CEO of CORE, a firm management software platform that supports over 5,000 architecture and engineering firms.
Matt went from industrial engineering to consulting at Boston Consulting Group to CEO of a company shaping how projects are delivered in our industry.

And when I asked Matt about his time in consulting, he said something that hit me hard:

“If you’re going to put something in front of a client, it better be worthy of the fees they’re paying.”

It’s a great reminder:
📌 Innovate, yes.
📌 But deliver excellence, always.

So here’s the punchline:
Whether it’s Software or Swimming, Submittals or Sustainability, we need people obsessed with better—faster, smarter, stronger.

At MCFA, two of our core values are Entrepreneurial Spirit and Accountability—because ideas alone don’t build buildings. Execution does.

This week, ask yourself and your team:

🧠 How do we innovate without losing focus on execution?

Make it a great weekend!
BJ