Progress rarely moves in a straight line. Markets shift, priorities evolve, and new challenges emerge—often at the very same time new opportunities appear. These are the crosswinds of progress. They don’t always move us directly forward or backward, but they test balance, agility, and clarity of direction.
For firms in the AEC industry, resiliency isn’t simply about standing firm against those forces. It’s about learning how to navigate them with intention—leaning into change where it creates opportunity, adjusting course when conditions shift, and keeping sight of the long-term horizon.
Resiliency Through Anticipation
Resiliency is about more than technical excellence. It’s about anticipating what lies ahead for clients and communities—whether that’s planning for natural impacts, creating space for population growth, or building flexibility into infrastructure that will need to serve generations to come.
Resiliency Through Partnership
The crosswinds also remind us that resiliency is built within partnership. While clients need deliverables met, they also need partners who listen, stand beside them, and balance today’s realities with tomorrow’s vision. Engineering excellence is part of that, but so is presence—showing up, understanding both immediate and long-term goals, and building the trust that sustains on-going impact.
Acting as a Crosswind for Good
Sometimes resiliency also means becoming the crosswind ourselves. In a time when the status quo may no longer serve communities, AEC firms have the opportunity—and the responsibility—to introduce new ideas, innovative approaches, and different ways of thinking to create lasting impact. To be steady when needed, but also to shift the course when a better future is possible. In this way, we don’t just react to crosswinds; we create them.
Building What Endures
Finding balance in the crosswinds of progress is not about resisting change. It is about embracing it with clarity and agility—using each shift as an opportunity to strengthen the work we do, the relationships we build, and the legacies we leave. Because when we put purpose first, resiliency follows—and legacy is built.
Dave McIvor, PE
Lamp Rynearson CEO & President