Old Rules - New Rules

"Over time, drip by drip, year by year, the manual was written, the procedures set, and people were hired to follow the rules.  The organization gets extremely efficient at producing a certain output a certain way..... and then competition  or change or technology arrives and old rules aren't particularly useful, the old efficiencies not so profitable." - Linchpin by Seth Godin

It is hard to throw out the old rules, standards and efficiencies for new ones.  What is the purpose?  You know what you are doing and have comfort in knowing how predictable it is.  You know how to put together a set of drawings, know how long it will take and how much staff will be required.  Now BIM comes around and you need to throw out the old tried and true... even though it is not that old.  We act as though the CAD process has been around since the beginning of the Architecture practice when in reality it has only been used for two or three decades in most firms.

Why do you need to adapt yourself to a new technology when the old one works efficiently for your practice?  Is it easier to create drawings the first time one uses it? Probably not...  Is it going to be more efficient the first time you launch the software? Probably not...  Will it allow one to do more with less employees right away?  Probably not...  Then why would one change the formula of their business?  It comes down to your clients.  The people who are paying one's company to provide a service.  Almost all the RFPs that we receive now are requiring BIM and if one did not implement it early enough, have enough experienced users or have new processes in place... one CANNOT effectively compete.  The competition has changed, has utilized BIM enough before it was required, created efficiencies and are now marketing themselves as being able to provide a service above and beyond the typical CAD firm.  These firms that understand BIM fully can now prepare themselves for the next wave change, IPD.

An interesting approach to technology was presented at the 2009 Autodesk University Keynote Address.  Carl Bass talked about the "sweet spot" of technology and how to achieve a competitive advantage by timing your implementation of technology.

See the entire presentation here.

No matter what type of company you are, if you do not have the intuition to sense how the world is changing and how your output or service will be affected, you will be left behind.  To surf the wave of technology without falling off the board, a Linchpin is needed in one's organization who is passionate about the future technologies and how a firm can best utilize them.

"Some people, though, have an itch for a different future, one with radically different views.  Those people are emotionally connected to the sort of drive and visionary leadership that organizations look for in a linchpin.  It's a choice.

The linchpin is able to invent a future, fall in love with it, live with it - and then abandon it on a moment's notice." - Linchpin by Seth Godin

Technology Accelerators were also covered in the book Good to Great by Jim Collins.  In the book Jim writes, "Truely great companies of the last hundred years - trace their roots back through multiple generations of technology change...  They've adapted before and emerged great.  The best ones will adapt again."