I would really have enjoyed listening to you two, Jeff, but sadly no access to Sirius XM.
A question -- though only if you feel like putting Tom 'on the spot'. He's such an articulate guy that only a one-word, yes or no, answer would be a challenge for him. So, two 'yes or no' questions-answers:
Are you a better architect today than you were 5 years ago?
Will you be a better architect 5 years from now than you are today?
In any event, all the best for a great chat
Peter
Since Jeff did not get to your two questions, I'll answer here:
1. No.
2. Probably not.
Backup explanation:
Occasionally I go back and look at The Anatomy of a Golf Course - written in 1992, when I'd built three golf courses, and before Ron Whitten had ever coined the term "minimalism" - and I think, well, there isn't any point in updating that, I have not changed my thoughts very much.
At that point, I was still getting better at the
execution of my ideas, and still trying to find more talented help to build my courses. That's why I chuckle when people declare they could design a great course on their own, on their first attempt. They would benefit in some respects from not being constrained by their past or their future, but we judge golf courses [and golfers] not on potential but on
execution and being good at that requires plenty of practice. That's why I always insist that people shouldn't try to separate "design" from the product of "courses" ... anyone can have great ideas, but they aren't really great if you can't apply them in practice.
[My parents were both born and raised in the "Show Me" state.]
Nowadays, I have gotten pretty good at the execution part, too, and I have a surplus of talented help. So, I don't know exactly how I'm going to get "better". I keep traveling to remind myself of good ideas I haven't used for a while, and maybe I'll decide to zig and try something a bit different on my next course, but it's probably not going to be something I haven't ever thought of before. Maybe one of my associates or young people will contribute something I would never have thought to, and I'll get credit for being "better". Maybe there will be some feature that was already on the ground, but I'll get credit for that.
This is NOT to say that everything I build from here out will be of equal quality, because, again, it's all down to execution. So I've still got to do the work, access my creativity, find inspiring projects, and convince clients to let me run with my ideas. And then I've got to get back out there, choose wisely when to listen to my associates' ideas and when to overrule them, and make sure everybody is happy so they can stay focused on executing their own work. [Or, as they say in Austin, "keep it weird".]
Those parts of the puzzle are NEVER the same from one job to the next, and you wouldn't really want them to be ... I'd rather have the highs and the lows, than just consistency. Nobody is consistent and truly awesome at the same time.