Self-reflection. Goal setting. History. Fried chicken. Love songs.  What do all these words have in common? Incredibly, they describe the
J. Bryant Boyd, Architect office retreat; our time to evaluate the business and goals of the company and staff.

While the agenda focused on routine items like budgeting and future planning, the venue for the event was far from ordinary. We stayed at the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Texas.  The house was spitting distance from the Texas White House and the view out the back windows included the presidential jet.  Surrounded by such history was motivating and inspiring - and let's face it, just downright fun.

We were productive. We reviewed our jobs from the past two years - and learned a lot about ourselves and our procedures in the process. What we are very good at. What we can improve on. Learning from experience leads to self-improvement.

We were proactive. We look to the future of the company. How do we grow. How do we expand. How do we better ourselves as a company and as individuals.

We were positive.  We focused much of our evaluation and set our sights using the principals of Dave Ramsey. Those include common sense thought and evaluation, establishing and adhering to an old-fashioned work ethic and above all keeping all you do faith-based.  

We were playful. We are open and honest with one another - one big happy family, you could say. Taking a break to restore our spirits we took a guided tour of the Texas White House lead by a good-natured and story-filled park ranger. And we eat. Oh my, we eat. Of special significance was dinner prepared by our girl Tuesday, Bryant's mom, Vicky. Let me tell you, she can cook fried chicken - bar none. And we sang love songs around a campfire. Here is a bit of trivia about Bryant ... his favorite traveling game is taking turns singing a song with the word 'love' in it. Not as easy as it sounds after the first few rounds. Try it - you'll be amazed how difficult it is (and how much fun).