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Remember Mogens Smed? The colourful Calgary entrepreneur made his mark manufacturing high-end office furniture and interiors, before selling out to U.S. giant Haworth Inc. in 2000. Now, he's back with a three-year-old private company, DIRTT Environmental Solutions, which uses advanced software to design, build and organize modular "green" interiors for North American companies. And he's still shooting from the hip about design, labour and manufacturing in Canada.

DIRTT is an acronym for "doing it right this time?" Did you do it wrong before?

Lots of things were wrong. This is my third business career. My first company went bankrupt in 1982. Now I'm 61, and I've got three left in me. I've already got the name registered for my next one. It's called DIPTT, which means "doing it perfect this time," because we haven't done it all right this time either.

We are a manufacturing company in the most inappropriate city in the entire world, Calgary. But there is a genuine need and movement for sustainable products. We didn't get these many millions in sales because we got all misty-eyed about hugging a tree. We did it because we responded to the business issues and the design issues.

Wouldn't you be better off in China?

They can't make this stuff. China is great at making widgets. If you go through our factory, the sheet metal in that corner is made in China, that pole is made in China, this die cast piece is made in China. But everything here is made to what the client wants, to the architect's and designer's vision, and it has to fit into that environment.

So there is a future in manufacturing in Canada?

There absolutely is - if you are using technology as a platform, and if you are not making widgets. One thing about these [emerging] societies, they have no concept on how to go to market. They have no desire to do one-off, three-off or five-off orders. But here it's all individual pieces.

We also have to be realistic. If this were 10 years ago, you know what I would have done? I would have found a way to add another 500 people. The fact we have only 400 people was born of necessity. In the old days we solved our problems by throwing more bodies at them. Now we are forced to get smarter.

Why have you opened a second plant in Savannah, Ga., as well as here in Calgary?

When you combine freight, operating costs and materials, we see ourselves being 25- to 30-per-cent more competitive coming out of that factory than we are here in Calgary.

Another of the reasons we're going to Savannah is because I'm very afraid there is going to be a strong Buy America bias. Already we are experiencing that with certain defence contractors.

So there is no way you should be in Calgary?

I totally agree. The only place that has higher labour costs is Ontario and that is mitigated by being closer to the [major eastern North American] markets.

But Calgary is a great place to do business and we have a huge customer base here. There is this line called the border but it really doesn't run that way. Our biggest markets are Houston, Dallas, Denver, Calgary - and another big market is Anchorage, Alaska. We just did seven floors for Chevron there.

What have you learned about managing?

If a client wants to get a hold of me, they call me directly. They don't have to go through a big bureaucracy. Nobody has an office in this company, including me. I just use a sit/stand stool. Yeah, there is some chaos here, and a little bit of anarchy ...

And there are no MBAs and lawyers in this company. It's on purpose. Read this book, A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink. I've struggled over the years with the fact I'm not a strategic thinker, I'm an instinctive thinker. I am far more right-brained than left-brained.

That's why it didn't work for me when Haworth took over our company. I couldn't figure out why we couldn't get the kind of dynamic people we recruited in my old company. I found out we were testing people, and I went down to Haworth's human resources department.

Here at DIRTT, we have a talent agency; we don't have HR. If you treat the people right, if you get the people happy, you're going to have happy customers.

Surely you will hire lawyers and MBAs if they fill a need.

I just can't figure out what that need is. I have MBAs on my board, and I actually have a couple of lawyers who are directors. They are smart guys. We aren't talking about intelligence here.

So what don't they have?

They don't have gestalt. They really have to think their way through it, and see all the obstacles, whereas right-brainers just see where they are going. They know the gremlins are there but they don't focus on them. That's how you get there and sometimes it is hard. It is very hard with my board when I have to articulate why we're doing something. They get all mired down in minutiae.

Will the economic crash slow you down?

Of course, it will. We will have to work a little harder. It actually accelerates my idea of going to Savannah and saving costs.

How long will you keep going as an entrepreneur?

I'll be going out feet first like some of these other guys. The reason you're an entrepreneur is you're not employable. You have to do your own thing.

We're not allowed to have meetings here at DIRTT. When I was at Haworth, my employment contract said it was optional that I had to attend monthly executive meetings. I went to the first two and then I stopped going.

[Chairman] Dick Haworth phoned and said, 'Mogens, why haven't you been coming?' I said, 'Dick, I went to those meetings and there wasn't one single fight. If we're all in consensus, why are we having a meeting? Why are we talking about it? In my former company, not only did we have insubordination but we encouraged it.'

You're projecting $100-million in sales this year. Will this be a billion-dollar company?

More than a billion. No question.

But you said that about the last one.

I really thought we were going to get there, but we had the wrong platform. We really did it on a fabulous work ethic from the people, but this time we are doing it on technology and a much more sound basis.

How much do you own?

Nine per cent of the company. Every one of our employees is a shareholder. I get paid $300,000 a year. I'm overpaid - they are giving me money to have fun.

Aren't you too radical for a Canadian workplace?

They're lined up to come work for us. I've stood up and told our people that 'I know 90 per cent of you have done a fantastic job. But for those 10 per cent who have been taking advantage of us, who don't want to come to work in the morning, who miss a day whenever you feel like it, we're going to hunt you down like a dirty dog in the next six months and we're going to replace you. You've got a chance to change. I'm giving you fair warning but there are lots of people coming out there.'

We're right up-front with our people about that - and you know what? They cheered when I said that, because nobody likes to work hard and have somebody lazy working beside them.

gpitts@globeandmail.com

*****

Mogens Smed

Title: Founder and CEO, DIRTT Environmental Solutions Ltd., Calgary

Born: Near Aarhus, Denmark, Jan. 9, 1948

Education: BA, history and political science, University of Alberta

Career highlights

Mid-1970s: Starts modular office furniture business with his brother.

Mid-1990s: Guides SMED International, a publicly traded company, to leading position in modular interiors.

2000: Sale of SMED to Haworth Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich.

2000-03: Retained on contract by Haworth.

2003: Becomes CEO at Evans Consoles Inc., Calgary

2005: New firm, DIRTT, enters modular interior market.