Brian L. Hill

A woman was at San Onofre State Beach collecting rocks with her children, when a fire erupted in her shorts causing 2nd and 3rd degree burns.

Initial tests indicate two of the rocks had phosphorus on them, Denise Fennessy, Orange County environmental health official, told The Associated Press.

 

Phosphorous can burn when exposed to air, Concepcion said. He said the rocks were 2 to 3 inches round. One had green specks and another had orange specks.

Via U-T

Brooks Barnes recently wrote about an unlikely division of Disney in the New York Times. Called Disney Institute, the division operates as a management consulting firm that aims to help businesses better understand the correlation between happy customers and happy bottom lines.

Desperate for new ways to connect with consumers, an increasing array of industries and organizations are paying Disney to teach them how to become, well, more like Disney.

Revenue from the Disney Institute has doubled over the last three years, according to Disney, powered in part by its aggressive pursuit of new business. Over the last two years alone, 300 school systems across the country have sought its advice.

Other clients range from very large entities — Häagen-Dazs International, United Airlines, the country of South Africa — to small ones: three Subway restaurants in Maine, a Michigan hair salon, a Boston youth-counseling center.

Via NYT

The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries, is a book that leverages the scientific method to redefine entrepreneurship as the process of developing successful, innovative and sustainable businesses.

I just finished reading a book that will undoubtedly influence decisions that I make for the rest of my life. The book is called, The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses, and was written by Eric Ries.

Background

Here is what I have learned about Eric Ries:

• He graduated from Yale in 2001
• Ries was the CTO and co-founder of IMVU, a successful startup based on the framework outlined in the book
• He has received numerous awards and accolades from various business and tech publications
• In 2010, Ries was selected by Harvard Business School as an Entrepreneur in Residence
• He is equally well-versed in both the technology and business aspects of leading a successful startup

After being a part of a startup that failed in the infamous dot com boom/crash, Ries went on to achieve great success by applying the scientific method to the art and practice of entrepreneurship. Over the last several years, he has become the leader of the Lean Startup movement that has taken both new and existing businesses, inside and outside of the tech world, to sustainable models of growth. After years of speaking, training, consulting and blogging about these proven strategies, Ries published a book on the subject in September 2011.

The Lean Startup, in a nutshell

Too many startups begin with an idea for a product that they think people want. They then spend months, sometimes years, perfecting that product without ever showing the product, even in a very rudimentary form, to the prospective customer. When they fail to reach broad uptake from customers, it is often because they never spoke to prospective customers and determined whether or not the product was interesting. When customers ultimately communicate, through their indifference, that they don’t care about the idea, the startup fails.

via The Lean Startup: Methodology

The key to success of any business, is to offer the right product to the right people at the right price. But when you are developing a new product or service, how do you know if you are right? According to Ries, the answer is simple: get the product into the hands of customers as soon as possible, and learn as much as you can in the process. Obviously that is easier said than done. So Ries has developed a rigorous evidence-based approach to accelerating the product development cycle based on the following principles:

1. “Entrepreneurs are everywhere” – Even if you work for an existing/established firm, in order to continue to grow, innovation has to be fostered. In the book, Ries cites Intuit as an example of a firm that used Lean Startup principles to create new products and services. He refers to the entrepreneurial leaders at existing firms as intrapreneurs.
2. “Entrepreneurship is management” – Contrary to popular belief, creativity and innovation can be managed. The key is that new product development needs to be both simultaneously supported and held accountable by managers (and/or investors, stakeholders, etc.). Something most traditional managers are ill-equipped for.
3. Validated Learning – The paradigm shift that Ries advocates stronger than perhaps anything else, is that “[s]tartups exist not to make stuff, make money, or serve customers. They exist to learn how to build a sustainable business.” That type of learning is something that is quantifiable and should be approached through carefully validated experimentation. The key is to identify the right types of variables to be tested in each experiment – no different than what we are taught in elementary science classes.
4. Innovation Accounting – Most new and existing business leaders are accustomed to what Ries refers to as vanity metrics, which are numbers such as total number of “hits” to the site. In other words, that number might sound impressive, but what does it really mean? Instead, Ries recommends using actionable metrics, which might focus on amount of revenue generated per customer, for example. The key is to establish clear methods of measuring progress, establishing milestones, and prioritizing work.
5. Build-Measure-Learn – When you are creating a new product or service, you are making what Ries calls leap-of-faith assumptions. The most important of those assumptions are the value hypothesis (will this product/service have value in the marketplace) and the growth hypothesis (what will fuel growth – long-term customer relationships, so-called viral growth, or paid advertising). To test these hypotheses, the lean startup builds a minimum viable product (“that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning with the least effort”), measures response to that product release using the aforementioned actionable metrics, and applies the learning from that data to guide future development. The key is to move through the Build-Measure-Learn cycle as quickly as possible.

What’s The Point?

The Lean Startup isn’t going to tell you how to design a better mousetrap. But this book will help you to develop the successful business platform for developing better and better mousetraps. The old ways of doing things simply do not work anymore. Great ideas are born every second. But it takes a clear and cogent plan in order to develop a business around a great idea. And sometimes, the original idea that we have, may not be what customers want. By following the Lean Startup framework, it is possible to create a successful, innovative and sustainable business – whether you’re just starting up, or trying to transform an existing company.

You can purchase the book at Amazon:

Image courtesy The Lean Startup

My family and I are taking a much-needed vacation. On our way up to San Fransisco, we spent a day in San Luis Obispo. Strolling through town, we came across Creekside Brewing Company – a brewery and restaurant with outside dining overlooking the San Luis Creek.

I doubt we could have chosen a better place to eat. The food was amazing, and so was the beer. Try the Bock – we purchased a growler filled with a half-gallon of the stuff to accompany us on our travels.

Adam Hartung, one of the leading global management consultants, states that for success in the new economy, every company must become a tech company. In analyzing the astonishing rise of the share price of Apple, he says that traditionally valued assets (land, buildings, equipment) matter less than information, knowledge and effective solutions:

Unless we look at this information in the context of a major, global economic shift. That what the world values has changed dramatically. And that what investors are telling business (and government) leaders is that in a globalized, fast paced world value is based upon what you know, when you know it – in other words information. Not land, buildings or the ability to make things…

Successful competition in 2012 (and going forward) requires businesses know about customers, products and have the ability to supply solutions fast with great reach. Winning is about what you know, knowing it early, acting upon the information and then being able to disseminate that solution fast to those who have emerging needs.

Via The Phoenix Principle

Wendy Wilcox, Esq., Michael Sargent, Esq., Bruce Wick, Ted Bumgardner, and Gary London

In this most recent recessionary period, the U.S. has lost 8.7M jobs, according to Gary London. While there are plenty of metrics that can be used to analyze the economy, London says that job loss is one of the most significant statistics. In the last two years, unemployment insurance claims have gone down. He also said that the GDP and Dow Jones Industrial Average have improved in the past two years. What these statistics mean that the U.S. economy is improving overall. In the housing sector, new home sales have decreased 76% from the peak several years ago. London illustrated that the bulk of home sales over the last 5-6 years involve people that “have to” sale, versus those that “want to” sale, although that is starting to change. London predicts that it will be several years before builders are able to respond to the demand for housing.

Regarding construction defect litigation, London illustrated that the number of cases filed have increased, but that trend will reverse in the coming years.

Ted Baumgardner pointed out the obvious, that without new construction, there will not be many new cases going forward. Since it is unlikely that plaintiff attorneys will retire en masse, they will continue to seek out new avenues. Baumgardner states that commercial construction, schools, public works projects are becoming subject to construction defect litigation more often. Most notably, new technologies – especially in use on green and sustainable projects – are increasingly ending up in litigation. Solar roof retrofits are resulting in claims, as well.

According to Bruce Wick, for the most part, residential builders are managing to survive. In the past, contractors operated under the assumption that three years of capital reserves were required to weather a recession. Obviously the recession has outlasted many of those reserves. Another important factor Wick points to is that experienced craftsmen are disappearing as a result of the economy. Many builders have eliminated customer service departments, as those functions typically do not generate revenue. Builders are looking towards quality assurance programs more frequently. Because of Self-Insured Retention (SIR), Wick anticipates that builders will be taking a more active role in responding to lawsuits, including taking careful notice of legal and expert fees. Subcontractors will likely pursue sharing defense resources and will be taking a stronger defense against poorly written wrap policies.

Wendy Wilcox (who said her voice is a little hoarse from The English Beat concert last night…) represents primarily subcontractors. She sees that it is much more difficult for her to get her clients released due to Additional Insured indemnification. A new trend she has seen in litigation involves high net-worth and high profile plaintiffs. Another new trend that Wilcox has observed involves green building issues – especially regarding claims of resultant damage and loss of use. Advanced mechanical and electrical controls will introduce new types of claims, she said.

Michael Sargent also represents subcontractors. In order to obtain insurance coverage, many of his clients were forced to accept policies with extremely high SIRs. Properly evaluating exposure in construction defect claims is very important. Sargent said that while in most cases he wouldn’t advise his clients to perform repairs (opting to pay for others to do repairs instead), there are situations where it may help resolve cases. Having options has allowed Sargent to effectively and efficiently resolve claims with most large developers. He predicts that construction defect litigation will continue to “ratchet down” for a while, echoing some of the other panelists comments.

“Why do We Need to Know Certain Things and How Decisions are Made . . . Construction Defect Claims and Insurance: A Primer on Insurance from a Claims Professional’s Point of View”

Phyllis Modlin, Todd Schweitzer, Teresa Wolcott and Lee Wright

Prior to the panel beginning, representatives from Disney performed a choreographed safety demonstration, accompanied by Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man.

Disclaimer: The panel was careful to point out that this discussion should not be taken as a representation of the opinions of various insurance carriers, etc.

Survey: Approximately 1/3 of respondents indicated this was their first year attending WCCCDS, and another 1/3 indicated they have attended 2-5 years. Another survey indicated that 2/3 of attendees are attorneys.

The claims professional’s role begins with a complaint, arbitration petition or notice of claim identifying the insured party. The claims professional must conduct an investigation to establish the insured’s scope of work, contracts, dates of involvement and expert reports. An insurance policy contains two elements: insuring agreement and exclusions.

What is a suit? The Insuring Agreement requires defense of a suit. There can be statutory definitions, but not every claim is in fact a “suit.” It is really up to the carrier to determine whether or not the claim will be defended. There are times when a large case includes arbitration requirements for some contracts, but not all. In the end, it depends on whether or not the carrier wants to proceed with arbitration.

From the carrier perspective, Schweitzer said, “Know your audience,” when it comes to issuing coverage letters. He recommends that the coverage letter be concise and that it accurately communicates what the company’s coverage position is. Discussion between the claims adjuster and the insured is essential.

Deductible vs. SIR

Deductible: “Carrier has an immediate defense obligation and bills the insured for dedcutible once it is paid. Self-Insured Retention: “A stated amount that must be paid by the Named Insured.” When the Named Insured cannot satisfy the SIR, who can satisfy it? RTFP (short for “read the f___ing policy”) This can become a complicated issue.

Additional Insured Tenders

AI endorsements are not being included in policies these days, but the legacy of policies from the early ’00s means that these still come up. The key to AI endorsements is to make sure the communication from counsel is thorough. AI endorsements also vary from state to state. There is conflicting law regarding coverage during operations.

Defending the Named Insured

Sometimes the insurer has the right to select defense counsel. One of the most import things that carriers are looking for from defense counsel is meaningful and accurate reporting, as well as setting appropriate reserves. At the beginning of the case, the carrier needs to know the defense strategy and be presented with some understanding regarding whether the case can be defended. The worst mistake that the defense counsel can make is to force the adjuster to request additional funds. Attorneys need to accurately analyze the risk exposure and continually update the carrier. The carrier “wants to partner with the defense,” Wright said. “I want your opinion – that’s why we hired you.” Successful defense attorneys are truly partners with the carrier. In many situations, the relationship between builders, carriers, owners, etc., is bigger than any individual case. The carrier wants to get the insured out of the case as quickly as possible, for as little money as possible.

Setting reserves is subject to the carrier’s internal policies, but is generally very early on in the case. The defense counsel needs to “use some guts,” according to Modlin regarding the value of the case and what is going to be required to settle the case. Perhaps worth noting, not setting appropriate reserves inhibits the ability of counsel to get paid.

Use of Experts

Wright said, “we need to have a better business relationship with our experts.” Sometimes cutting into another building isn’t going to improve the outcome of the case. Discovery is very expensive, so the expert should help the carrier to develop an appropriate strategy. Carriers do not enjoy spending $300,000 on discovery, only to settle the case for $50,000. Although sometimes that is effective, Wright indicated that those cases are the exceptions to the rule. It is important to understand that many carriers view money spent on discovery as separate from money spent on indemnity.

Defending the Additional Insured Issues

• Choice of counsel
• Reporting requirements
• Allocation methods
• “Recalcitrant carriers”

Mediation

Survey: Has the mediation process improved since this time last year? 83% of respondents say NO! Should more CD cases be taken to arbitration or trial? 55% say yes.

When it comes to mediation, the issue of cost of defending versus the cost of settling involves significant risk. Trying a case is incredibly costly for a carrier, so counsel needs to provide clear direction. Wolcott: “It is going to take everyone in this room [to improve the mediation process].” Coverage issues need to be put “on the table” early on so that they can resolved. The goal: resolve cases by second, third, or fourth, rather than the eighth or ninth. According to Schweitzer, there are usually only a few key issues that drive each case, and that is where the focus should be. To improve the mediation process, it will require more “hard work” prior to mediation. Cases need to be evaluated realistically.

Considerations for “going all the way” (to arbitration or trial):

• Make a decision regarding strategy early on
• A “win” in a construction defect case doesn’t necessarily mean $0 paid on behalf of the insured. The defense cost of repair is a key indicator for evaluating “success.”

“Arbitration is like communism. Great idea, but doesn’t work in practice.” – Lee Wright

TUAW’s Steven Sands reports on a new iPhone app that automatically creates dimensioned floor plans from photos:

A French-Canadian development company, Sensopia, has just released an app that takes the work out of creating floor plans. Sensopia’s MagicPlan works with the iPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod touch. To build a floor plan, you go into each room and take a picture of each corner of the room. By doing that, MagicPlan measures the walls and doors in the room, and it creates a floor plan of each room. You then slide the rooms into their proper location by dragging them on the screen, and MagicPlan aligns the rooms and manages the thickness of the walls. Finally, furniture and photos can be added to show what the actual house or apartment looks like, and geotagging information is attached.

Via TUAW

Below is a video showcasing the app, which is available in both free and paid versions:

Ken Lopez founded A2L Consulting, which offers a number of trial presentation services to lawyers, after graduating from law school. As he illustrates, working with expert witnesses can be challenging when it comes to providing demonstrative visual aids for explaining complex ideas to a jury:

When we work with these highly educated and often brilliant specialists – people whose testimony can often make the difference between victory and defeat for our clients – our task is, quite simply, to help them be as effective as possible. We achieve this primarily by helping the attorneys painstakingly prepare them for their deposition testimony before trial and for their direct testimony during trial, including the development of visual presentations that track their testimony. Experts must not only be well prepared for their own set testimony, but even more so for every possible attack by cross-examination, which is really where the case can be won or lost.

In general, experts fall into two camps when it comes to their ability to use visual aids to support and even explain their testimony. Some welcome the help from trial graphics consultants so that their highly technical presentation will be better understood by a jury of laymen (and even the judge, who may not be technically savvy), but some are already quite certain that they will be well understood by judges and juries and don’t think “charts” are going to help.

Via A2L Consulting

In Venice, CA, artist Doug Aitken has created a piece of artwork that he and his partner actually live in. Described by the New York Times as “the first temple to Acid Modernism,” the home features silk-screened walls on the lower floors that mimic the hedges growing outside. Throughout the home, Aitken has incorporated sound – including stairs that sound like a xylophone as one ascends or descends, and a special guest performer has been summoned to complete his symphony:

Buried in its concrete foundation are nine geological microphones sensitive enough to pick up and amplify the sounds of the tectonic plates shifting and grinding beneath the state of California. Providing a constant soundtrack of subtle clicks and drones throughout the house, accentuated with the sounds of nearby traffic, and even the tides rolling in and out. Imagine the symphony that must occur whenever an earthquake strikes.

Via Gizmodo

Geedra is a secure, cloud-based, photo-driven database for collecting, sorting, managing and sharing pictures taken in the field. It is incredibly user-friendly and has been designed from the ground up for documenting construction conditions. Using any modern web browser, you can tag, sort and filter photos by location, trade, CSI division, etc.

As a construction defect investigator, I take a lot of pictures. So do my colleagues and peers. In fact, it isn’t uncommon for an individual inspector to produce 20,000 images in a single year. The question then becomes, what do you do with all those photos?

Some firms have developed their own proprietary photo-driven databases for managing photographic evidence for construction projects. The cost for building your own database application is incredibly expensive.

Geedra Construction Photo Management Software

I’ve had the good fortune of speaking to Rob Mathewson, the founder of Geedra, on several occasions. Besides being a really genuine and smart guy, Mathewson is extremely committed to removing the obstacles for managing construction photo documentation.

Geedra is a construction photo management system based on Amazon’s cloud platform. Photos can be tagged by geographic location (or with GPS), room/floor location, trade, subcontractor, CSI division – or you can add your own comments and descriptions. Photos are displayed in a grid-based system and can be sorted/filtered based on any of the aforementioned tags or comments. Geedra allows users to email individual or multiple photos to other parties, or you can prepare PDF-based reports with additional comments. What are the system requirements? Nothing more than a standard web browser.

The company is marketing their product for both active construction-phase activities and post-construction documentation. By enabling building scientists and forensic investigators to quickly upload, tag, sort, and comment on large volumes of photos in a short time, Geedra is an ideal solution for the construction defect industry.

Preventing (or at least limiting) Construction Claims

Recently, Geedra’s blog featured a guest post from Virginia construction lawyer Christopher Hill (still no relation). In it, Hill explains from a lawyer’s perspective, just how valuable photos are in a construction dispute. As he writes:

Because in my construction law practice, having great photos can win a case or even cut the case off at the pass. A photo cannot lie (I know, Photo Shop exists but I’ll deal with that later). A photo has a perfect memory (unlike most of us). A photo shows exactly how a site looked at a certain point in time. All of these characteristics of a good photo are great.

Almost more importantly, though; a good photo can be very persuasive. Judges and juries are people. No matter how great a picture you, as an advocate or witness, can paint, you can’t do the real thing justice. A photo that shows the problem (or lack of one) that is the key to the case is the best evidence and most viscerally relevant depiction of the information and the state of things when the construction was still going on.

Using Construction Photos to Improve Quality

In my most recent article for Retail Design & Construction Today, I discussed the importance of photos during active construction:

By requiring that contractors and subcontractors photograph before they start, and after they finish, owners can maintain a dynamic record of the job’s progress. This requirement will also dramatically impact claims resolution processes by offering demonstrable evidence of the work completed, even after much of it is concealed by finish materials.

While Geedra can’t eliminate defects, the service certainly makes it much easier to prevent them or detect them through verification. With verification, comes trust. Without trust, improving quality in the built environment remains elusive at best.

My personal experience beta-testing Geedra has been very positive. I found the application easy to use, extremely powerful, and very responsive. To get a feel for how Geedra works, sign up for a free account. The video below is a walk-through of the key features and functions:

Video Link

AnnaMaria Andriotis published an article recently at Smart Money highlighting the discrepancy between new home sales prices and appraisals. According to a report released by the Commerce Department, one out of three builders lost sales due to low appraisals.

Individuals who do try to purchase a new home often hit a roadblock once the appraisal is conducted, experts say. Appraisers determine the value of a home largely by reviewing the prices at which similar homes nearby sold for in recent months. Because few homes are selling, appraisers say they sometimes have to use homes that aren’t similar like foreclosures or short sales. That means homes with brand new appliances and fixtures could be compared to houses that are vacant and whose kitchens and bathrooms have been ripped out.

Ken Chitester, a spokesman for the Appraisal Institute, an association of real estate appraisers, says they take such inconsistencies into account and consider what those properties would have sold for if they weren’t distressed. But he adds that what it costs to build a home doesn’t necessarily equal its value. “Appraisers are doing the same thorough research and thoughtful analysis they always have,” he says. “If home values are lower than some people might like them to be that’s because the market is down.”

Via Smart Money

UCSD’s earthquake simulator will be testing the performance of a 5-story hospital in a 6.7 to 8.8 magnitude seismic event. Coinciding with the annual Seismology Society of America convention here in San Diego, results of the test may provide insight into how to construct healthcare facilities to be safer for occupants.

California Seismic Safety Commission Chairman Richard McCarthy states that the public perception is that hospitals will remain safe and functional following a major earthquake in order to provide care for those injured.

“Unfortunately, we know this isn’t always the case,” he said. “The research obtained in this shake test will help us retrofit and design hospitals so that they can continue to function after a major earthquake.”

Once the seismological tests are complete, a fire will be set to determine how quake damage affects the spread of flames, according to the commission.

Via 10 News

According to Chris Morran at The Consumerist, Nigel Williams has run afoul of the FTC. Through a series of informercials and websites, the self-styled “Green Millionaire” allegedly took advantage of consumers with false promises. After the FTC filed a lawsuit against Williams and his co-conspirators, they reached a settlement of $2,000,000 with the following terms:

According to the settlement, the defendants can no longer misrepresent:

• that any product, program, or service is offered on a “free,” “trial,” “no obligation,” or “discounted” basis;
• the amount a consumer will be charged or billed; and
• the timing of any charge or the length of any trial period.

They are also banned from making blatantly false statements, like that anyone can get free gas for life, put solar panels on their roofs for free, and make their electricity meter go backward.

Via The Consumerist