Third root problem #1: We don’t learn from projects on an organizational level
Read about my personal experience of being frustrated, doing an education and having the choice to accept management's non action, fight for change or find another opportunity.
The subsequent encounter with BIM was after working a few years as a client rep. My girlfriend and I went to Paris for Christmas, and I was frustrated. I was unhappy with my job - I was bored and did not know what to do in the future. I had the feeling of not learning anymore. So I remember laying in bed and googling different possible educations. The spectrum was from doing an MBA to psychology. One evening this class about digital buildings - strategies and potential caught my attention. At once, I contacted the professor and attended an introduction event a few weeks later. We were three people: a student traveling from Stuttgart to Switzerland - a 4-hour journey, the professor, and me. Fortunately, they found enough participants, and the class started. I knew I wanted to do this class and convinced my management to support it with the following application text.
The market environment in the construction industry is changing in the direction of integrated planning and execution. Behind this is the need of clients and contractors to get planning and cost certainty early. It is becoming increasingly important to provide the correct data in early project phases so that informed decisions can be made during the time of maximum impact on project costs. When used correctly, new intelligent methods of information processing and execution of planning processes (BIM) lead to increased effectiveness and cost reductions while maintaining quality. This has been demonstrated in numerous international projects (USA, Great Britain, Australia, Scandinavia, Netherlands) and in the first national projects (e.g., Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève).
To benefit as a professional building owner, the right framework conditions must be created early in the project.
The CAS course "digital building - potentials and strategies" deals with these framework conditions and the necessary strategic decisions in nine of twelve modules. One module explains the basics of the technical/operational requirements. Another module is a journey to Stanford, where we meet representatives from US General Sevices Administration, Unispital UCSF San Francisco, Johnson Control, Microsoft Bim & FM as well as project planning teams. E.g., visit "Big-room" for Google headquarters, showing the work within an "Integrated Project Delivery" contract).
The last module runs parallel to the others and culminates in a student project related to the work of our organization. I would be happy to develop a topic together with our organization. From today's perspective, I see the following issues, for example:
The submission system for BIM - projects, with the question to what extent the KBOB specifications for complex procurement can be used for BIM - projects.
"Last planner" principles in public tendering, i.e., the challenge of including the knowledge of the executing contractor in the planning and optimization at an early stage and how this can be possible in public tendering with the pre-emption clause.
Development of a project roadmap/risk analysis for a "BIM research project" in which I investigate the Swiss market's potential.
Reading it almost ten years later, I'm still impressed by the actuality! It was the first class in Switzerland on the topic, and I could be part of it! In hindsight, the best decision ever, with a massive return on investment.
After finishing my education, I tried for a few months to talk to management and discuss the next steps so that we could do some pilot projects and spread the knowledge in the whole organization. I got blocked and decided to leave - I know now, ten years later, the organization is at the same stage.
Since then, I firmly believe every employee has three options: Change, accept, or leave it. Unfortunately, but understandably, option three - leave it - is the one that many people with an education choose. For me, it was good. It was the start of the digital transformation journey, at it only intensified.
Marc Felix, a BIM worrier, told me his observation that many BIM acolytes change their jobs after three years. In the first year, they can play; in the second year, they get the first results of their pilot projects; and in the third year, they should and want to implement new tactics and fail. Therefore, they get frustrated and find a new job to start the cycle again. From an organizational point of view, this is dramatic and leads to little learnings and wasted money.