One thing is for certain, no one can solve a problem without asking the right questions.
The rampant economic and environment waste, common within the AECOO sector (architects, engineers, builders, operators, and real property owners and facilities managers…) can not be resolved with technology.
Significant improvement throughout the AECOO sector first requires an understanding of the fundamental causal factors. Only then will organizations be able to develop and deploy solutions.
The Problem
There is a is a lack of leadership, professionalism, and trust across all AECOO participants and stakeholders. The problem, both in the AECOO sector and unfortunately growing in society as a whole, is that people are finding in more and more difficult to rely upon “professional judgement” .
This is due to the fact that society tends to now rely upon testing, prescriptive rules, and other onerous “objective” measures in lieu of experience-based knowledge. and proven concepts This issue is far more pronounced throughout the AECOO sector due to three factors, 1.) the growing shortage of experienced workers, 2.) prejudice towards supporting the ‘status quo’, and 3.) a focus upon “command and control” versus leadership.
… the aspect of productivity that needs serious attention is not the mechanical output of a production facility; it is, rather, the capacity of the organisation to satisfy customer needs most fully with whatever resources it has at its disposal … But mechanical notions of productivity lead often to product that meet ever more refined minimum standards, frequently resulting in a decline in customer satisfaction with them. The former thrust calls out for innovation—indeed, for innovative thinking on every level of the organisation’s affairs—while the latter confines innovation to a marginal and unexciting role.
– Kanter, R.M. (1983) The change masters. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Excessive command and control is a root cause of failure, and contrary to the foundational principals of leadership. Most of us have elected to become “managers”, that is, telling people what to do. The trend has been nothing short of corrosive to the goal of obtaining best value outcomes. Leaders, on the other hand, provides people with tools and resources to those actually doing the work, and empower them to leverage their expertise. Integrating the multi-discipline experience and capabilities of those actually doing the work is the path to best value construction planning, procurement, and project delivery. Anything short of this could be viewed as a fools errand.
LEAN construction planning, procurement, and project delivery philosophy, tools, and services support empowering the judgement skills of professionals actually doing the work. Unlike design-bid-build and all other “traditional methods”, including design-build, LEAN methods such as integrated project delivery and LEAN job order contracting focus is upon achieving mutually beneficial outcomes for all participants and stakeholders.
via Four BT, LLC – www.4bt.us – Four BT, LLC (4BT) is the AEC industry’s innovative integrated project delivery, construction cost data, and SAAS technology provider. We help guide organizations to achieve accelerated improvement of their facilities repair, renovation, and construction outcomes through the development of a culture centered upon delivering customer value, supported by proven LEAN processes, actionable data, enabling cloud technology, and ongoing training.