Dealing with the Skeptic

If you’ve been running an AEC firm for any length of time, you probably have one of these people: The high performer. The rainmaker. The technical wizard who can walk onto a jobsite or glance at a set of drawings, and instantly tell you what’s wrong. 

They are extremely valuable.

They are also convinced that nearly everything the company is doing is misguided, poorly thought out, or destined to fail.

New strategic plan? “Won’t work.” New project management system? “Waste of time.” New office? “Too expensive.” New marketing effort? “We’ve always gotten work by relationships.”

Yet, somehow this same person keeps producing great work, keeps their clients happy, and keeps billing 45 hours a week. So you can’t ignore them. Nor can you fire them. And promoting them might cause three departments worth of people to quit.

Welcome to leadership! Here are a few thoughts on dealing with the high-performing skeptic:

1.  Make sure they’re actually negative and not just right. AEC firms are famous for launching initiatives that sound great in leadership retreats but collapse instantly when exposed to actual project work. If your high performer says the new time tracking system will double everyone’s administrative time, there’s a decent chance they’re correct. Engineers (in particular) tend to value reality over enthusiasm. That’s not negativity. That’s professional conditioning.
   But if every idea is stupid, every improvement pointless, and every change a disaster waiting to happen, you’re dealing with chronic cynicism, not constructive feedback.
2.  Talk to them like an adult. Don’t send them to HR training about “positivity.” That will only make things worse. Pull them aside and tell them the truth: “You’re one of our most productive people. Clients trust you. Staff respect you. But you’re skeptical about nearly everything we try to do around here, and people notice it.”
   Most high performers appreciate bluntness. They deal with blunt clients and contractors every day.
3.  Explain the multiplier effect. When the new graduate engineer rolls their eyes in a meeting, no one cares. When the senior project manager who delivered $40 million in projects last year rolls their eyes, the entire room notices.
   Influence is a multiplier. The better someone is at doing what they do, the more weight their attitude carries. One sarcastic comment from the firm’s most respected engineer can undo a 45 minute presentation from the CEO.
4.  Draft them into the solution. This is one of the most effective tactics you can use and one of my personal  favorites. If they think the new project management process is flawed, ask them to help redesign it. If they think the firm’s strategic plan is unrealistic, ask them to help improve it. If they believe the CRM system is useless, make them part of the implementation team.
   It’s amazing how quickly some skeptics become constructive when they are responsible for fixing the problem they’re criticizing. Others mysteriously stop criticizing.
5.  Don’t reward professional complaining. Some high performers develop a reputation as the “smartest cynic in the room.” And if leadership constantly engages with them every time they complain, it reinforces the behavior.
   Sometimes the best response is simple. “Okay. We’ll see.” Then move on. Not every eye roll deserves a panel discussion.
6.  Watch what happens to the younger staff. This is where the damage actually shows up. Young engineers and architects are still deciding what they think about the firm. They watch the senior people closely. If the most respected designer in the office constantly implies that firm leadership has no idea what it’s doing, younger staff start believing it.
   One negative senior employee can quietly spread more cultural pessimism than an economic recession.
7.  Do the cultural math. AEC firms are very good at measuring utilization rates, backlog, and revenue per employee. But almost no one measures cultural drag.
   If a high performer produces great work but makes five other people less motivated every day, their net value may not be as positive as their billable hours suggest. Sometimes removing one highly productive cynic actually improves overall performance across an entire department.
8.  Remind them what leadership actually means. Many of these skeptical employees secretly see themselves as future principals. That’s fine. But leadership requires something beyond superior design abilities or technical brilliance.
   Leaders don’t have to agree with every decision. In fact, they often don’t. But once the firm decides on a direction, leaders help make it work. Anyone can stand around in the coffee area explaining why something won’t work. That’s easy. Helping it succeed anyway is harder.

The reality is this: Every AEC firm has a few brilliant skeptics. In moderation, they’re healthy. They keep leadership grounded and prevent expensive mistakes. But unchecked cynicism spreads through an organization faster than redlines on a Friday afternoon.

As the leader, your job isn’t to eliminate skepticism. It’s to make sure it turns into improvement instead of corrosion. Because great firms are built by people who can both see the problems and still help move the work forward.

Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.