Hey, it’s Collin. Welcome to Engineering Echelons, a newsletter full of ideas and insights to help engineers excel at management.

Here’s what I’ve got for you this week.

• New and noteworthy news

• A management perspective to consider

• Leadership insights to delve into

• And more…

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Alright, let’s get into it.

Noteworthy Headlines

3Q2025 NA Engineering & Construction Outlook (FMI)

Highlights:

• Total U.S. engineering and construction spending is forecast to increase by just 1% in 2025, a notable slowdown from the 7% growth recorded in 2024.

• Contractor sentiment (based on the Nonresidential Construction Index) improved to 49.8, up from 43.5 in the previous quarter.

• While advances in AI, digital delivery, and automation are driving greater efficiency, elevated costs, political/geopolitical uncertainty, and tight credit conditions are expected to weigh on growth through at least mid-2026.

Construction planning climbs again on core sector momentum (Construction Dive)

Highlights:

• Nonresidential planning steadily improved in June, alongside strength in warehouse, recreational, and data center planning.

• Planning momentum in other key sectors, like education, hotels, and retail stores, was more subdued.

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Management Perspective

Our minds are powerful machines. They process enormous amounts of information every day to make sense of the world around us. We then use that processed information to interact with the world.

One of the major consequences of our interactions is that we have the power to influence others. This is especially so for leaders.

Therefore, when leaders are aware of how their beliefs manifest in actions and how those actions, in turn, influence others, they can be more intentional in their behavior. Doing so makes them more effective leaders.

And it makes the team more effective too.

This brings us to a powerful observation: a flywheel effect can take place.

When leaders show they believe in the abilities of their team, their team gains confidence from that influential source, which then helps in performance. The improved performance, in turn, boosts the self-confidence of the team members, reinforcing the leader’s initial belief in the team.

This phenomenon is true for the reverse side of the coin: if the leader shows no belief in the team, the flywheel can become a negative reinforcement.

This is the power of the Pygmalion Effect. Expectations from others, especially those with lots of influence, impact the performance of individuals and teams.

Leaders who harness this effectively produce non-linear results.

Management Insights

Robert Greene on strategy:

“[Strategy] is more than a science: it is the application of knowledge to practical life, the development of thought capable of modifying the original guiding idea in the light of ever-changing situations; it is the art of acting under pressure of the most difficult conditions.”

—

Laurence Endersen on nuance:

“Absolutes are rare birds. We should choose assessments over assertions.”

—

Steve Jobs on motivation:

“I’ve never found in my whole life that you could convince someone who doesn’t want to work hard to work hard.”

Management Resource

The one number to track in your AEC firm (Zweig Group)

Utilization on its own has little value. Utilization used in conjunction with other factors like multipliers and labor costs has immense value. This leads to revenue factor.

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• Let me know if you’ve found something worth sharing.

• Let me know what challenges you’re having as a manager.

• Let me know what challenges you see other managers having.

Send me an email at [email protected]

Looking forward to hearing from you. See you next time.

Collin

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