About

The engineer who reads the room
as well as the report.

I have spent two decades helping organizations see what others overlook. From forensic diagnostics to enterprise strategy, my career has been a study in connecting domains that rarely speak to each other.

The credentials:

PhD in Civil Engineering, Clemson University
Executive MBA, Villanova University
Licensed Professional Engineer (PE)
Multi-disciplinary teams built and led across the AEC industry
Practices grown from startup scale to multi-million-dollar operations through organic growth, new service line development, and M&A integration

Today, as a Principal and Regional Manager leading building science and infrastructure teams across six offices, I speak and write to help leaders navigate a world where technology changes fast and human judgment remains irreplaceable. Through 3½ Things, I explore the questions that matter most to anyone who leads in an industry where expertise is the product.

And I am still learning. The ½ in 3½ Things is not decoration. It is a standing reminder that the work of becoming a better leader, a sharper thinker, and a more intentional builder is never finished. That is what makes it worth sharing.

Jigar Desai, PhD, PE - Principal and Regional Manager
Philosophy

Three things you know to be true. One you are still learning.

Every breakthrough starts with a small number of ideas held together by conviction. Not ten. Not twenty. Three. Three sharp, fully formed ideas you can build on, teach, and stand behind. And then the half: the unfinished one. The one still forming. The one that keeps you curious and keeps you building.

3½ Things is built on the belief that the most powerful professionals are not the ones with the most answers. They are the ones brave enough to say, "Here are three things I know to be true, and here is the one I am still figuring out."

The real edge is not knowing more. It is seeing what belongs together before anyone else does.

That is what 3½ Things exists to do: take the complex, the technical, the intimidating, and turn it into a story so clear that it gives the listener permission to act. To give technical professionals, leaders, and builders the creative permission they were never granted by their credentials.

Permission to tell stories. Permission to build brands. Permission to think like artists while operating like engineers.

The Promise

If you engage with 3½ Things, whether through a workshop, a keynote, an article, or a conversation, you will leave with three things you can use immediately and one idea you will not stop thinking about.

Jigar Desai seated, personal brand portrait
Ikigai

Where it all connects.

The Japanese concept of ikigai sits at the intersection of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. I used it to pressure-test whether 3½ Things was worth building or just another side project dressed up as purpose.

IKIGAI Move people from inaction to action™ Passion Mission Vocation Profession WHAT I LOVE Creating what has never existed Writing, designing, building brands Pioneering ideas nobody has imagined WHAT I AM GOOD AT Translating complexity into story Bridging technical and creative worlds 20+ years of science, leadership, and craft WHERE IDEAS BECOME ACTION Rooms where creative confidence takes hold Stages where ideas move people to act Conversations that sharpen how leaders think WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS Permission to be creative inside technical professions Stories that move people to action © 2026 Jigar B. Desai | threeandahalfthings.com

The exercise behind this diagram forced a simple question: if you removed any one circle, would the platform still make sense? The answer had to be no. What survived is a map built on two decades of connecting science, strategy, and storytelling, anchored by a single conviction: the most valuable thing a leader can do is move people from knowing to doing. That is the center. Everything else orbits it.

P.S.

Jigar Desai at the Ben and Jerry's factory in Vermont, standing next to a Cherry Garcia poster

I am a foodie. Not the Instagram kind. The kind who thinks the best meetings happen over a meal nobody rushed through, and who believes you learn more about a person over a good plate than you do in a boardroom. New cuisines, old favorites, hole-in-the-wall finds that become regular spots. I am always exploring. And for the record, I remain in a deeply committed relationship with Cherry Garcia.

Connect

Three things you can use. One you will not stop thinking about.

Ideas, talks, and selective collaborations for people who build what lasts.

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