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Want to ReadRate this bookArt’s Principles: 50 years of hard-learned lessons in building a world-class professional services firm
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Jen Konecny10 reviews1 followerFollowFollowJanuary 17, 2016Quality advice, easy to readGood stuff here. A lot of common sense advice, but provides a good foundation for services firms. Would recommend this book. 
Douglas Wittnebel14 reviewsFollowFollowDecember 17, 2021Excellent set of short pieces from Art Gensler about design and business, illustrated by the well known illustrator and architect, Doug Wittnebel 
Lee Fritz166 reviews3 followersFollowFollowApril 2, 2024Good leadership can take simple forms, and Art Gensler boils down the big ideas into little digestible nuggets. Many topics were straightforward and predictable (best business is repeat business, consulting is all about growing relationships), but a few topics surprised me (Gensler is set up without profit centers at their size? Big G focuses on reducing silos and emphasizes opening new offices with exported Gensler staff?)It was fun to have a frame of reference on the new office strategy of opening an office based on a new big project in the market, having seen that exact scenario play out around the Pittsburgh airport (and what a great group that was to interact with!Sure, the infographic style of the book became a bit garish after a while, but I envision jumping back in and easily reminding myself of specific topics as they come up in my career - recruiting, team management, client challenges). Recommended for anybody in AEC whether or not you’re familiar with Gensler (and I’m sure many of you are!)
Carol Sente361 reviews12 followersFollowFollowJanuary 31, 2024Having grown up and spent a majority of my career in the architectural industry, the firm Gensler was well known. Only recently was I made aware that their Founder and first CEO Art Gensler wrote this book. He has since passed at age 85 in 2021. As the largest architectural firm in the world - both in number of employees (5,500+) and revenues ($1.8B), with 53 offices in 17 countries, how could you not read this book if in the A/E/C industry?! I certainly wanted to learn how he scaled his firm and what leadership techniques he attributes as important and successful. The book is an easy read that encompasses many short chapters. It reads more like any interview with Art and does not delve too deep into any of his principles which is both good and (for the topics I was interested in) not so good. Still definitely recommend reading this book.
Chase27 reviewsFollowFollowMay 15, 2025Easy, simple, high-level read. This truly explains the "principles", giving starting thoughts in a very broad stream of topics.Doing more professional work in "professional services" I found many parts of the book enlightening or inspiring. I would have appreciate more depth in those areas, but understandably I appreciated the brevity with the other topics that didn't seem relevant. This book strikes a nice balance between acknowledging "there is significance with this point" without belaboring that point. I assume this book ought to be a starting point for deeper research.As a high-level reference for those looking to better understand & operate in professional services, this is a positive read.Justin Perdue14 reviewsFollowFollowFebruary 5, 2018Great and fast read. Rating 4 out of 5 as there were lots of places I wanted him to dive more into specifics of HOW to apply the principles. There needs to be a second book called "Art's Principles: Seriously, this is how to apply them."
Ted Ryan336 reviews17 followersFollowFollowAugust 30, 2021Very sound advice for those of us in professional service firms. 
Maciek Wilczyński236 reviews38 followersFollowFollowFebruary 3, 2024Good basic piece, many obvious, few not so obvious advices if you are building a consulting firm. Overall, nice. Strong intro to D. Maister's work
Charlie79 reviewsFollowFollowNovember 1, 2024A few surprises but overall dull and obvious advice. Dude got incredibly lucky in the 60s with 4 gigantic clients and that is really not a replicable formula or relatable perspective
Lance16 reviewsFollowFollowMay 10, 2025What a gem.
Pete Markos55 reviews1 followerFollowFollowOctober 17, 2025awesome book. will certainly read again.
Emily283 reviews4 followersFollowFollowAugust 15, 2019I received this book at the end of my 4-month long internship with Gensler. For people looking to get into the professional service industry like I am, working with and attracting clients, this book is an alright read. Art has written his book in a really accessible way, with no fancy jargon. It's also applicable to almost all professional service industries, not just architecture. I put this book down about 2/3 of the way through, and honestly it's because Art talked in circles throughout this book, just saying the same lessons over and over. Be honest, moral, and fair. Have a life outside of work. Work really hard once you're at work. Put faith in your employees. The further I got, I just didn't feel like I was getting any new information, and of that information, nothing was mind-blowing. I don't think I learned anything from this book except how Gensler got its current work culture, and it's interesting to see how many of Art's ideas actually manifest themselves in the Gensler offices and which didn't. I'm still marking this book complete, since I really don't think any big information was awaiting me in the last 80 pages.
Kristopher Powell48 reviewsFollowFollowJune 13, 2016I saw Art Gensler speak about this book at the AIA Convention, and it was the best session I went to. I love seeing someone insert basic professional service and business thought into the design profession. I can see why his firm is so successful, and it's contrary to the values instilled in typical architectural education. The lessons in this book are so simple, but so hard to achieve for so many firms. I recommend it to anyone, and if you can see Art Gensler speak, take the opportunity. I'd like to have read a little more in-depth on some of the topics, which is the only knock I'd give the book. It's a 1-2 day read, and I highly recommend it to any architect, and probably to anyone working in a professional service capacity.
Anne531 reviewsFollowFollowFebruary 21, 2016This was an easy read with some practical advice about working in the service industry. I talked about it so much that my husband also read it and got a lot out of it as well (and he's not a big reader). The author talks of the importance of culture, working with others as a team (family), and tips for success in business in general. Just from reading the book Art Gensler seems like he'd be a nice man and a great person to work with. 
Jonathan Chew38 reviewsFollowFollowDecember 27, 2024I loathe homework (work asked me to read this) but it’s a good read. In hindsight, I wished I read the history (right at the back) first. Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Want to ReadRate this bookArt’s Principles: 50 years of hard-learned lessons in building a world-class professional services firmArthur Gensler, Michael Lindenmayer, Doug Wittnebel (Illustrator)
4.11Want to ReadRate this bookArt’s Principles reveals the blueprint behind one of the most successful professional services firms, giving career-minded individuals the tools they need to excel in business. The book covers the essentials of leadership, talent acquisition and operations, while outlining the creative strategies that propelled a small business into one of the largest and most admired in its industry. This guidebook is full of well-tested ideas that are applicable to someone running a small, medium or large a professional firm—or running any project where people, profit and customers matter.- GenresBusinessNonfictionArchitectureArtDesignManagement
303 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2015
Book details & editions60 people are currently reading399 people want to readAbout the author
Arthur Gensler
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4.115 stars109 (39%)4 stars103 (37%)3 stars50 (18%)2 stars10 (3%)1 star3 (1%)Search review textFiltersDisplaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviewsJen Konecny10 reviews1 followerFollowFollowJanuary 17, 2016Quality advice, easy to readGood stuff here. A lot of common sense advice, but provides a good foundation for services firms. Would recommend this book. Douglas Wittnebel14 reviewsFollowFollowDecember 17, 2021Excellent set of short pieces from Art Gensler about design and business, illustrated by the well known illustrator and architect, Doug Wittnebel Lee Fritz166 reviews3 followersFollowFollowApril 2, 2024Good leadership can take simple forms, and Art Gensler boils down the big ideas into little digestible nuggets. Many topics were straightforward and predictable (best business is repeat business, consulting is all about growing relationships), but a few topics surprised me (Gensler is set up without profit centers at their size? Big G focuses on reducing silos and emphasizes opening new offices with exported Gensler staff?)It was fun to have a frame of reference on the new office strategy of opening an office based on a new big project in the market, having seen that exact scenario play out around the Pittsburgh airport (and what a great group that was to interact with!Sure, the infographic style of the book became a bit garish after a while, but I envision jumping back in and easily reminding myself of specific topics as they come up in my career - recruiting, team management, client challenges). Recommended for anybody in AEC whether or not you’re familiar with Gensler (and I’m sure many of you are!)- owned
Carol Sente361 reviews12 followersFollowFollowJanuary 31, 2024Having grown up and spent a majority of my career in the architectural industry, the firm Gensler was well known. Only recently was I made aware that their Founder and first CEO Art Gensler wrote this book. He has since passed at age 85 in 2021. As the largest architectural firm in the world - both in number of employees (5,500+) and revenues ($1.8B), with 53 offices in 17 countries, how could you not read this book if in the A/E/C industry?! I certainly wanted to learn how he scaled his firm and what leadership techniques he attributes as important and successful. The book is an easy read that encompasses many short chapters. It reads more like any interview with Art and does not delve too deep into any of his principles which is both good and (for the topics I was interested in) not so good. Still definitely recommend reading this book.- 2024-reads
Chase27 reviewsFollowFollowMay 15, 2025Easy, simple, high-level read. This truly explains the "principles", giving starting thoughts in a very broad stream of topics.Doing more professional work in "professional services" I found many parts of the book enlightening or inspiring. I would have appreciate more depth in those areas, but understandably I appreciated the brevity with the other topics that didn't seem relevant. This book strikes a nice balance between acknowledging "there is significance with this point" without belaboring that point. I assume this book ought to be a starting point for deeper research.As a high-level reference for those looking to better understand & operate in professional services, this is a positive read.Justin Perdue14 reviewsFollowFollowFebruary 5, 2018Great and fast read. Rating 4 out of 5 as there were lots of places I wanted him to dive more into specifics of HOW to apply the principles. There needs to be a second book called "Art's Principles: Seriously, this is how to apply them."Ted Ryan336 reviews17 followersFollowFollowAugust 30, 2021Very sound advice for those of us in professional service firms. - business-professional-servicemy-librarynon-fiction
Maciek Wilczyński236 reviews38 followersFollowFollowFebruary 3, 2024Good basic piece, many obvious, few not so obvious advices if you are building a consulting firm. Overall, nice. Strong intro to D. Maister's workCharlie79 reviewsFollowFollowNovember 1, 2024A few surprises but overall dull and obvious advice. Dude got incredibly lucky in the 60s with 4 gigantic clients and that is really not a replicable formula or relatable perspectiveLance16 reviewsFollowFollowMay 10, 2025What a gem.- architecturebusiness-operationsculture ...more
Pete Markos55 reviews1 followerFollowFollowOctober 17, 2025awesome book. will certainly read again.Emily283 reviews4 followersFollowFollowAugust 15, 2019I received this book at the end of my 4-month long internship with Gensler. For people looking to get into the professional service industry like I am, working with and attracting clients, this book is an alright read. Art has written his book in a really accessible way, with no fancy jargon. It's also applicable to almost all professional service industries, not just architecture. I put this book down about 2/3 of the way through, and honestly it's because Art talked in circles throughout this book, just saying the same lessons over and over. Be honest, moral, and fair. Have a life outside of work. Work really hard once you're at work. Put faith in your employees. The further I got, I just didn't feel like I was getting any new information, and of that information, nothing was mind-blowing. I don't think I learned anything from this book except how Gensler got its current work culture, and it's interesting to see how many of Art's ideas actually manifest themselves in the Gensler offices and which didn't. I'm still marking this book complete, since I really don't think any big information was awaiting me in the last 80 pages.- informationalnon-fiction
Kristopher Powell48 reviewsFollowFollowJune 13, 2016I saw Art Gensler speak about this book at the AIA Convention, and it was the best session I went to. I love seeing someone insert basic professional service and business thought into the design profession. I can see why his firm is so successful, and it's contrary to the values instilled in typical architectural education. The lessons in this book are so simple, but so hard to achieve for so many firms. I recommend it to anyone, and if you can see Art Gensler speak, take the opportunity. I'd like to have read a little more in-depth on some of the topics, which is the only knock I'd give the book. It's a 1-2 day read, and I highly recommend it to any architect, and probably to anyone working in a professional service capacity.Anne531 reviewsFollowFollowFebruary 21, 2016This was an easy read with some practical advice about working in the service industry. I talked about it so much that my husband also read it and got a lot out of it as well (and he's not a big reader). The author talks of the importance of culture, working with others as a team (family), and tips for success in business in general. Just from reading the book Art Gensler seems like he'd be a nice man and a great person to work with. Jonathan Chew38 reviewsFollowFollowDecember 27, 2024I loathe homework (work asked me to read this) but it’s a good read. In hindsight, I wished I read the history (right at the back) first. Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviewsJoin the discussion
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