"'What can you do, it's just business,' I replied, 'that's nonsense, all business is personal.'"
That is the real bottom line after all—how the business affects you.
The phrase “It’s not personal, it’s business” has been exploited by American businesses since the 1980s.
When the movie Wall Street captured the changing mindset of corporate culture, shareholder primacy became the prevailing mandate. This mantra was deployed to relegate concern for employees or community. It became the central corporate ethos.
Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric—who became famous or infamous depending on your view—initiated the age of the celebrity CEO.
He was known, among other “achievements,” for the concept of “downsizing” as a strategy for profit enhancement to increase share value even when the company was already profitable. “It’s not personal, it’s only business” became the catchphrase to explain to employees why they were being laid off.
Ever since, it has been used at all business levels—from small entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 and hi-tech companies—as the great disclaimer to justify those decisions.
In 2015, I was beginning the construction contracting of a multi-family project that I was developing.
In a commencement meeting with contractors, the owner of a company I was considering volunteered that he had recently filed for bankruptcy and therefore would join forces with another company to do the work.
I selected this contractor because his pricing was fair, he possessed the expertise, and he had helped me value-engineer the best solution at the best cost.
After declaring his situation, he added, “What can you do, it’s just business.”
I replied, “That’s nonsense, all business is personal.”
The good news is that he did a great job for us and eventually managed to overcome the bankruptcy and redeem his company.
Architects are generally motivated by creativity—the romantic desire to make a better, more beautiful, hospitable world. It’s personal for them.
This personal investment, the belief in the architectural mission is hard to get over, even after years of struggling for increased salaries, higher commission fees, and more power and influence in determining the final product.
I covered income disparities in the essay Dream + Reality. In this essay I will cover the power discrepancy.
How many architects sit on boards of or run development companies, consult federal or state housing authorities, or serve as City Council or Real Estate Development Commission members?
Too few, to say the least.
Architects represent a tiny, almost negligible fraction of the decision-makers on the business, regulatory, and financial sides of real estate in both the private and government sectors.
| Sector / Institution | Architect Representation | Key Controlling Demographics | Role of the Architect |
|---|---|---|---|
| REIT Boards & Major Dev Companies | < 1% – 2% | Finance, Law, Asset Management | Third-party, low-margin hired consultant |
| Active Developer-Architects | < 3% | Finance, Construction Management, Real Estate Law | Self-initiator taking on direct equity & debt risk |
| Federal & State Housing Authorities | < 5% of policy seats | Economists, Policy Analysts, Finance Experts | Technical advisory on building codes & compliance |
| City Councils & Real Estate Commissions | < 2% | Lawyers, Business Owners, Real Estate Brokers | Rare "public member" anomaly |
| Planning & Zoning Boards | 8% – 12% | Local Appointees, Civil Engineers, Developers | Unpaid volunteer advisory — no executive capital control |
| Traditional Fee-for-Service Practice | ~97% of licensed architects | Corporate Firm Partners | Creative consultant limited to 4%–6% of construction cost |
I would argue, having been on both sides of this equation, that a few principal factors cause this disparity in financial power and influence:
“It’s not personal, it’s business” was coined by a mathematical wizard and accountant who worked for the mob boss Dutch Schultz’s notorious crime syndicate in the 1930s.
Using that phrase was a way of justifying the ruthless extortion and violence that were the main weapons in building their "businesses."
The phrase really gained mileage when Mario Puzo appropriated it for The Godfather. When Michael Corleone calms his brother’s nerves about making his first hit, he says, “It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.”
Later in the movie, Michael ends up contradicting himself as he’s leaving for the hit, tells the Godfather’s consigliere. “Don’t let anybody kid you. It’s all personal, every bit of business… They call it business. OK. But it’s personal as hell.”
The real bottom line after all—how the business affects you.
Pursuing the conventional path despite less-than-satisfactory incomes is often a pre-conditioned reaction driven by the expectations of the profession’s culture.
Accepting a raw financial deal because "that’s just how the industry is" is an automated surrender to someone else’s business model.
Whether moving into design-build, project management, or development, aligning your creative drive, job satisfaction, and appropriate material reward is the most personal mandate one can assert in the architecture world.