Help us build the DorkaThon

In my last post, I announced the idea of creating a gathering of the Dorks where we could all network and chat about dork… stuff from across the industry. That post solidified the idea that has been brewing that there is community of people out there who are interested in both how technology applies to construction as well as are intensely passionate about the industry and the challenges facing it. With that in mind, the event being proposed is taking a step further and hopefully has a deeper purpose than shiny new toys.

Looked a lot like this

Looked a lot like this

I’ve huddled with a handful of other Dorks and we’ve come up with the idea that this should be a truly purposeful and Dork led event. It also seemed to make a lot of sense that if, we’re hoping to set some pretty lofty goals to truly help construction PROGRESS, that we collaborate with the Construction Progress Coalition (see what I did there?). Being that I am a member delegate as well as the Membership Committee Co-Chair, I figured I might know a guy.


Good ol’ Saul

Good ol’ Saul

So… what now? Well, this is where I’m asking you all to pitch back in. The event may have a different overall theme that we’ve all originally discussed, but fret not, that many nerds in a room and there will be plenty of tech talk. Now we’re looking for a handful of people who’d like to facilitate innovation round tables centered around these big picture topics. The idea is to curate an audience that spans the entire project team on a typical construction project, from the A to the E to the C to the O…yo. And everyone in between.

As a special note here, I want to reiterate that we feel perspectives from vendors and technology partners are imperative in this process and you all will be welcome, but keep in mind that this is a forum for the sharing of ideas and for the betterment of the entire industry. We will not be looking for or welcoming any pushes for specific solutions.

The ConstructionDorks event webpage will be updated with a form where you can express interest in being one of those facilitators. There’ll be a list of suggested topics, some of them are already featured CDX targets from the CPC, some are not. You can also give your own topic. We’ll huddle up once more (see above) and then choose the sessions.

The CPC has also offered that registration costs for this event will be covered for delegates as part of their membership fee. We’re gathering support from other organizations out there that see the benefit in all of us getting together for the betterment of our beloved industry. I don’t have a cost just yet for attendees as we’re still sorting some of the logistics, but check back often for updates as we start to solidify plans.

Thank you, and may the Dork be with you.

Construction Dorks: A Manifesto

Hello world! (nod to Walker Lockard) Remember me? Been awhile, I know. I’ve been on the road a good bit lately doing this Construction Dork thing and meeting up with many of you wonderful people out there fighting the good fight. Through all the tech and conferences and speeches and adult beverages I feel that I’ve gleaned enough of the common vibe among us dorks to be able to really start build out a Manifesto and perhaps help take this movement to the next level.

I’ll start with the Manifesto.

Or Manifesto (I like saying Manifesto)

Or Manifesto (I like saying Manifesto)

One of the greatest things I am finding about my fellow Dorks when we get together is that we’re all about making the entire industry better. We definitely have very vested interest in our own companies, careers, or solutions, but all of that is secondary to helping our peers with leading innovation in their own companies. I truly love this about us. We realize that it is NOT a zero sum game. If you get better, your partners get better, your competitors get better, YOU get better. We can’t do it all on our own and we all know:

Teamwork makes the dream work

Teamwork makes the dream work

The Construction Dorks I’ve met have really embraced that. We need to keep pushing this forward. We need to sell it within our companies right along with all the shiny toys and the AIs and the drones. We need to continue this grassroots push to drag the industry through this transformation. This is an exciting time!

So, my fellow Dorks, I implore you to always keep this in mind when you are talking to a peer about a problem or solution. Use your empathy. Openly and freely share your opinions on possible solutions but happily support and encourage whatever path they choose. Because, let’s face it, sadly, whatever path I choose is probably better than the nothing or almost nothing I was already doing.

We need to work together to keep building the tools better and better and enjoy this embarrassment of rich choices that allows us to pick the tech stack that we know will be utilized in our companies. We need to remain as agnostic as possible when networking and focus more on the people and the process, as well as the way to sell change, and less on specific platforms.

Now for the Dorks pledge:

I, state your name,…

I, state your name,…

I, state your name, do solemnly swear to support my fellow Dorks. I will bring them drinks while we are “networking” and listen with the deepest empathy I can muster to the hardships they may face as they stride boldly into this exciting new world of construction technology. I will not pull any punches and tell them flatly when they are being stupid, but I will follow it with a “there, there” and a “bless your heart” and then kindly advise them of other possible avenues for them to try. I will do all I am able to lift up those around me so we, as a whole, can raise up the entire industry. So help me Elon.

Now for the next level sh…stuff. After all these travels and discussions there has been a steady ground swell of support for the idea of having our very own event. The goal of the event is to share our wins and losses, to learn from each other, and to build a tighter network. The vision is more round table and sharing and fewer presentations of sessions. NO SELLING. If someone has a solution that has worked well for them and would like to discuss it, we’re more than happy to listen to that as long as it is not a sales pitch. If you think you’d be interested in gathering with a larger group of Dorks with a one to one and a half day event, please click the link below and fill out the form.

www.constructiondorks.com

May the Force be with you!

Play Ball!

I was sitting down with Julian Pisani from Rhumbix and talking about the industry, where it’s going, how it might get there, and how stacking tech will be part of what fuels the process and an analogy took form. We started to compare tech adoption to baseball. I’m sure we’ve all been told “we need more base hits (small wins)” and not to focus on the home runs.

While we all repeat this mantra, it is easy to get into the details on some new process or technology and suddenly feel like it’s the bottom of the 9th, there’s two outs, the bases are loaded, and you’re down by 3! One swing of the mighty bat and you can deliver the grand slam that propels you to victory!

But how did we get there? One perspective might go into analyzing how you got yourself in the mess of needing a moonshot grand slam to win in the first place, but that will most likely be the topic of another post. Another perspective might to rewind back just to the 9th inning. How did those runners get on base?

I am often not good at sharing or articulating my Mad Scientist’s grand vision when I am talking internally about a particular tool, problem, solution, or data set, but what I am attempting to do is to get the bases loaded so we can work the count on that pitcher in the ninth and they groove us a fastball that we can just mash. I do have a plan in mind. I am trying to set the lineup a certain way for a reason.

I try to have small, manageable goals like this.

I try to have small, manageable goals like this.

So back to getting the bases loaded. What I am looking for are those small base hits, small wins that start to build the tech stack to get into a position to bring it all home. Ideally I want to find something that I can get a champion to buy in enough on that not only does the implementation get a runner on base, but the next at-bat gets on base even easier, and then they execute a double steal on their own!

That was one of the other threads of discussions we had over a litre of bier (it was German so it has to be spelled that way). I’m enjoying the moments more and more where I’ll demo and test something and take it to a PM, PA, PE, foreman, pipefitter, tinner, or anyone in the company and tell them “Here is the thing. The thing does A,B,C and X,Y,Z. It’s meant to address this problem. How would you use it?”. Often times they see it, they get it, then they turn around and say “I bet I could also use it to do 4,5,6, too”. These are the folks who just 10 minutes into meeting me will tell me they aren’t that tech savvy so be patient as I teach them how to use the tool.

Those are the steals. If I can take that tech and get them to first base with the initial use and then watch them suddenly sliding into third all on their own, well that just makes my job that much easier. Then I just need to stand in the third base coaching box and wave the runners home. I’m getting there. The industry is getting there. Just get some more base hits and prepare yourself for your Gatorade shower and the shaving cream pie in your face when you’re interviewed on the ESPNs.

pie.jpg

I’ve bought some stuff… now what?

It’s been just over three years since I began my journey into this world of being a construction technologist and it’s really been a wild and great ride. If you are in a similar role as mine, you might be a lot like me and continually writing your own job description as you go. When I started off the initial concept was to provide additional support for Mechanical’s technology consumers while surveying the tech landscape, testing out and bringing in, implementing technologies where they made sense within the organization.

Great question!

Great question!

Three years is like twenty one in tech years so a lot keeps involving and changing. The job is still keeping track of what is going on in the contech world, but that now we have several implementations in various stages of trial or adoption, the question becomes what’s next?

My job has evolved to start including more evangelizing on behalf of using technology in construction as well as on behalf of the specialty contractor. I’ve become intensely passionate about both things and the industry as a whole. I do still have that initial task of keeping eyes on the tech world.

This is where there the careful juggling act enters. We all look to push Lean mindsets which is this concept of Kaizen (continuous improvement). With all of the new tech constantly coming on to the market or the improvements being rapidly made in existing tech, there is temptation to consistently be ripping out tech and replacing with the latest thing and to end up in this perpetual state of implementation.

Crap..

Crap..

Of course we need to continually review the tech stack we are building. The current SaaS and other pricing models actually set themselves up well for realizing that something isn’t working and it is time to go in another direction. It is hard for us in construction to write off something we’ve paid for and move on. Often enough, we double down or just continue to suffer through. We need to realize that this just costs more in the end. It’s ok to realize something isn’t working for us, even if it is our own fault, and move forward.

That is one of the flaming axes you juggle. Making sure that you’re keeping tabs on how the stack is being utilized and adopted. Then you toss in the endless stream of flaming axes in terms of new tech, new tech news, new improvements on existing tech. The flaming ax that I find myself dropping, more often than not, is actually keeping up to date on the releases and improvements on the tech we actually own.

There are times when this could be a full-time job in itself. Being early adopters on many things means those technologies are also constantly and quickly improving. We need to be making sure we focus hard on those.

I often joke that I am the one person in the company that has to read their spam. You just never know when one of those emails will hint at the next big thing. I also need to be the one who pours through the release documentation and then communicate out to our teams what new and exciting things we can now do with the tech we already own.

The Slouch of Villainy

The Slouch of Villainy

So now that you’ve started to implement technology, it is not the time to sit back and survey your fiefdom as if you were done. There’s still work to do! Keep trumpeting adoption. Keep ensuring you’re squeezing every ounce of functionality out of what you have. Keep making sure what you own is truly the best for your company. The price of switching will be less than the price of riding the wrong horse.

MCAA Tech and being a 60%-er

I’ve been asked a couple of times recently about my writing process and I responded that my process is what I would call “raw data dump”. Usually when I apply this process, I have a singular thought I want to express and most of the words that spew forth hone in on that topic. This time I have a few ideas swirling around in my head and I am going to let all of my creative juices to just flow, and hope that I can come out of the other end with something that makes some sort of sense. Buckle up; it could be a bumpy ride .

I’m just back from the MCAA Tech Conference that was held in Tampa. This particular event is one of my favorites because of the way that it facilitates that word Ric Kahn taught me, coopetition. This two-plus day event houses over two hundred members of scores of mechanical contractors as they share best practices, new technologies, lessons learned, and “artful uses” of tools.

These are the kinds of places we Construction Dorks can really come together and challenge each other and ourselves. We can look at what other companies are doing, ask questions, figure the why’s if not the how’s, and then translate that back to new things to try back in our offices. Sean McGuire puts on an excellent event and you can see in the posts being shared around that there are several examples where competitors are sitting around a table trying to solve problems together.

It’s also a place where we can talk about where we think things may be going. I had the incredible of honor of presenting alongside of Brett Young and we covered some lines of thought that might be considered a little out there and maybe even controversial as it points at what could be very disruptive to players in the market since, in disruption, someone always loses. Stay tuned on LinkedIn as Brett releases out the presentation in a 6 part series of articles.

AEC Innovation, Disruption & Productivity - Part 1

Much is often made, including by me, about the conversations that happen around these events. The sessions always, of course, have incredible value, but I also always enjoy getting to socialize with people who are trying to push the boundaries of things while being added by, shall we say, social lubricants?

Two main thoughts came to me through these conversations. The first was that we need to work harder to get more of our employees exposed to these technology events. Much to our credit and benefit, Mechanical, Inc. is often very well represented at these types of events. We had a total of seven people at the event and challenged ourselves to bring some different people. More often than not, the people in the VDC department are sent to the technology event as they are the ones most directly using tech in their jobs. This time we brought along someone from business development as well as a project manager.

I won’t say that their minds were blown, but I will say that they were opened. Construction Technologist are often facing the challenge of selling tech adoption internally to people who are unable to envision the usage or how it can help them in their role. Having these other job types see sessions outlining how technologies can be used on projects really opens their eyes to what’s possible. It turns them into advocates who will also begin to ask what else might be possible with some technology sprinkled in or if we connect certain bits of data together. I am excited to see where this can lead within Mechanical, Inc. and what other doors it can open to me as the resident Dork to aide my company.

The second thought that I can’t get out of my head is one put there by Jonathan Marsh. We were discussing the struggles I occasionally have in being the Mad Scientist that sees the shiny object, gathers and connects up the tech or data or what have you, then has to see it through to full adoption and implementation. Admittedly, there are times that I will outright fail at the last step because I might already be on to baking up the next batch of cool tech cookies to try out so I am not as focused on making sure the last batch has been vetted, cooled, and consumed.

Jonathan calls this being a 60%er. I can take an idea to a certain level, but then I rely on a subject matter expert or a process champion to really take it home. If you recall on a previous article also inspired by Jonathan, I outlined the types of Dorks. I feel like I am a Connector on the Dork Personality scale. I think this makes me pretty decent in connecting both ideas as well as people and hopefully the end result is an improved process or better data insights that allow that expert to then, with some input once more, bring it to scale through their job, department, or the company.

60percent.jpg

I really like this image. It allows me to remain on that bleeding edge and keep trying new things, but it does leave me with needing to learn a new skill. I need to learn how to better challenge and inspire these champions of the tech or process and then help them have their wins in bringing forth the implementation.

I believe having colleagues in other roles attend these events can be a big part of that. It gets back again to them learning what is possible and asking what else can we do. Looking for these ins and then cultivating and helping them be hero who brings the idea to full realization should hopefully bring more early adopters out asking more questions.

I will say this is a place where I might challenge the status quo of what I see in construction. Again, remember that I am fairly new to construction so I am not viewing the whole industry through a full lens of experience, but there is always this push to make sure as much of any employee’s time is directly chargeable to a job. I get it. Our companies make money based off of executing jobs paid for by customers, so anything not charged to a job is overhead which can ultimately come right off of the profitability of the company .

I do feel like there needs to be a shift here. Not so much maybe in actual execution, but at least in mindset. We need to think more about how adding a small fraction to overhead might actually benefit ALL jobs and make them all more profitable. We get too short sighted and only see the hit to overhead.

We also don’t often allow ourselves time to just take a step back, take a breath, survey the situation, and then drive forward. For our part, we’re doing a better job at Mechanical with post job reviews, lessons learned, building out knowledge sharing, etc, but I think this is something that can always be improved. If we’re not moving forward, we’re going backwards, right? If we don’t stop to think before we act, we’re doomed to make the same mistakes.

I’ll close this rambling mess out with one final statement that will hopefully tie it together. Doubt the default (via Nathan Wood from Adam Grant). We need to continually challenge ourselves and our perceptions. We need to get those around us to challenge theirs, to get THEM to challenge OURS, and to ask why . I feel like we’ve been ticking our way up on a roller coaster in construction and construction tech over the last few years and we’re about to hit that tipping point where we’ll be in for a wild ride. It’s going to be exciting and we need to be open-minded enough and asking the right questions so we’re not thrown into the crowd below.

Bringing the Fire, pt 2

It’s been roughly 7 weeks since Autodesk University and when Jonathan Marsh wrote his piece Construction Technologists And Where To Find Them. Since then there have been some of my own thoughts rattling around in my own head that left me wanting to write and add on to what Jonathan so eloquently said. Much of what he said is a lot of what I’ve been noodling about when I think of how to find and define a Construction Technologist (AKA ConTechs, AKA Construction Dorks). He said it so well that I really just want to highlight a point or two as well as maybe offer up some additional thoughts.

The primary point or theme I want to hit on is the concept that Prometheus (or a typical Construction Dork) is passionate about making things BETTER for everyone. I know this seems grandiose, but the majority of the Dorks I’ve met really are thinking along these lines when we talk tech and when we look to apply it to our work. We are intensely passionate about it, as Jonathan points out. When I’m sitting around and talking with these peers, we are very open, honest, transparent and traditional lines between competitors or roles in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owner chain blur. We look around our projects, inside and outside of our own teams, and freely share where we think things might be done easier or more efficiently.

I keep going back to hearing Ricardo Khan telling me about coopetition (defined by the Googles as “ collaboration between business competitors, in the hope of mutually beneficial results”). A concept that made it’s way into my presentation at AU’s Connect & Construct event. I feel like many of us Dorks believe along these lines. The overwhelming majority of us have no qualms sharing our tips, tricks, theories, and best practices with anyone who asks… or even if they don’t ask. Again, we want to make our entire industry better. That will include even our competition. If they get better, we get better.

Like I said, sounds very grandiose, but industry transformations are like that. They are big, but we also know that, for the most part, we can only change what we can touch. Each and every one of us only has a certain sphere of influence, but this group of passionate people are coming together and pushing and growing to shove our beloved construction industry headlong into its digital transformation.

And, like Jonathan points it, it takes all sorts of people to make this happen. I was at a Builtworlds Workforce event at the end of the year and I heard something that really hit home (and sadly I can’t remember the woman’s name who said this or what panel she was on so I apologize if you read this and recognize your words). An innovator isn’t always the person who creates the next big thing or comes up with a creative use for a tool. Sometimes an innovator is one who is the “Implementor”. They can cause just as much change within an organization or even an industry by helping to drive adoption.

We all want to find these Implementors that can look at a device, software package, tool, or process and think of the greatest thing since Laser Shark Drones Scanning Blockchain™ (pat. pending), but don’t overlook the people who can see past the shine of the new toy and dive in to getting it implemented and returning the value that it promised. These people are passionate and can inspire others around them to get passionate and bring back the shine or find new ways for further innovations from perhaps previously untapped sources.

I think there is another class of Dorks I think I see out there are what I’ll call “Connectors”. These people seem to have a knack at looking across technology and their organizations and seeing the different tools as Lego pieces. That proverbial 30,000 foot view is common place to them. They can look at that “flat blue 6 dot piece” and can see how to put it with the “blue skinny ramp” so that it’ll turn into robot.

Lego Boost. Supposed to be for my daughter…I’m having a blast with it.

Lego Boost. Supposed to be for my daughter…I’m having a blast with it.

These Connectors try to look across their entire tech stack and find ways to connect them up to squeeze every last bit of functionality out of them. They realize that sometimes 1+1 can really equal 3. They look for ways to mash tools together and connect disjointed workflows. They look to guide decisions in a manner that allows for this ecosystem to develop. When survey solutions, the can see that key part that will complete a key section of the puzzle.

We need all of these people, the Creator, the Implementor, and the Connector, and they all exist out there in our industry. We’re starting to talk. We’re starting to connect more. We’re pushing to make the entire industry better, starting right at home. Some of us are one type Dork, some are a mixture of all or even other traits I haven’t even thought about. The key piece is always that passion to improve our industry and we all find our own particular ways to focus that passion. We can do better. We are doing better. We will continue to do better. Construction Dorks, unite!

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’Tis the Season

In the spirit of transparency, I’ll point out that this post is a solo effort by Travis Voss.

No, not that season, though there are a few Christmas in July sales going on. It seems to be the season for all of the industry events and conferences. It’s the season for me of industry events. Though, to be honest, can you call period of time that runs from April or May to mid-November a season? Regardless, as I look over my calendar and think of some of the road time I have and will put in during this time it makes me also consider what the benefits I, and my employer, get from it might be.

There is obvious value to the company if I am speaking. We get to share our story and we get exposure. It’s nice to keep people abreast of what we are doing and collaborate with our peers and partners so that we might perhaps win more work as well as perform better collaboratively on current and future projects.

There is also a great deal to be gained from being in the same rooms and spaces with thought leaders. It is invaluable to gain that insight to how our peers think, what things they are looking at. It is invaluable to be exposed to my counterparts in other areas of the AECO industry. This is where we can have real, genuine discussions on, what (Nathan Wood), are our #SharedPains and also start to have conversations around how we can work together to solve them. I can’t put a dollar amount on the ROI of that.

The #SharedPains lead me to another benefit. I get to meet and connect with other construction tech nerds. I get to geek out. I get to see new tech, get hands on, talk to the people using it, and the people making it. I get to give direct feedback into the tech being created. There is an explosion on the market and the makers of this tech are starving for that feedback. We are in an interesting position of being able to drive much of that innovation in a way that suits our different use-cases. I get to turn and question a colleague who has experience with a workflow or a device or some software and listen to how they are leveraging it and think about how it might benefit us.

These conversation and making those connections are crucial to me. I know in this digital world there can be a great deal of that done via email, phone calls, and LinkedIn or Twitter, but I am still of the age where I feel something is lost. There is great benefit in speaking face to face. It is nice to reconnect with peers and to hear about how the initiatives they were starting the last time we spoke are going. I want to grow that network. I want pull more thought leaders, innovators, techies in from all areas of both construction and technology.

With that in mind, might as well advertise my next stops in August. Luckily these are mostly in Chicago, which eliminates at least the flight portion of the travel, but the schedule is packed enough that you may have to remind me who I am and why I am at these events if you see me. I’d also, like to thank the ContechCrew for having me on a panel this month at their Roadshow in KC!

Aug 15–17 I’ll be at the AGC IT Forum.

Aug 20–22 I’ll be at Advancing Field Technology where I will be speaking on days 2 and 3.

Aug 23 I’ll speaking along with a colleague at Constructech Technology Day.

Aug 27–29 I’ll round out the month attending MEP Force: Fabricating the Future

If you are going and see me, stop me and let’s chat. If you have any questions about the events, feel free to reach out and I’ll do my best to answer them or connect you with someone who has the answer.

Well we asked the question…

Our last article was intended to start a discussion, just what is a Construction Technologist (“CT”) now and what will role look like in 5 years?

The post floated out into the Interwebs and drew a nice response across social channels. Let’s continue the conversation by highlighting additional points that have brought up by the community as it relates to the evolution of the construction technologist.

One thread of the conversation was about where Construction Technologist would come from?

  • Josh Bone brought up a common theme in our industry. The answer is generally: It depends. People find their way to this role from both construction and tech and evolve with the job as it grows and defines itself.

Another interesting point was how the CT role draws some comparisons from other areas of technology and can tend to be a melting pot of disciplines:

  • Ryan Hoggatt said that the CT is “a translator that can speak both geek and constructor” and Walker B. Lockard says “I’m one geeky dude, but I’ve found bad processes stifle innovation more than bad tech does” eluding to the fact that he has to be able to speak to the operations side to be able to understand and perhaps guide processes in a better direction.

  • This draws a parallel that Jeff Sample points out, “this feels like the early days of DevOps” or a Systems Analyst from Software Development. The people that work to grease the wheels between tech and operations and strive to connect the dots.

  • Weston Tanner posed several questions regarding why BIM may be central to the Construction Technologist role, but that doesn’t necessarily mean VDC.

To round out the whole discussion, Mike Gadus, Jonathan Marsh and Travis Voss decided to have a call and talk about how best to evolve the Construction Technologist discussion acrossed a broad set of construction industry peers.

The notion of starting a Construction Technologist peer group was floated, and it was quickly pointed out that such a group would need to be open and inclusive in order to assure perspectives from across the built world value chain.

All stakeholders in the built environment welcome. The A, the E, the C, and the O. GCs, trades, union, nonunion, technology providers. It’s a group of construction technology peers. A place we can share ideas, questions, pains, solutions.

So what happens next?

There is somewhat of an informal network forming already as we all go to these shows and have talks. Should we create a formal organization? Leverage some different online tools to create a virtual network and try to connect people at events across the country and the various verticals?

So now the ask, Tweet this out, share on LinkedIn, Facebook, among your peers. Let’s get connected. Let’s settle on a platform to connect the group, let’s charge this whole industry forward!

If you’d like to get involved, join our LinkedIn Group below or contact Travis Voss on Twitter or LinkedIn.

What will the role of the Construction Technologist be in 5 years?

This question sparked an idea and a discussion.

It begged another question, what is a Construction Technologist now, anyhow?

With many teams trying to leverage technology within their organization, it seems wise to begin a discussion and forum centered around defining the role of a Construction Technologist.

Below there is a list of attributes and “duties” that have been thrown out as characteristics and tasks of a Construction Technologist. This is not intended to be a complete list, but just a starting point. A seed to begin more dialogue.

Is this role to be filled by someone from tech? From construction? From elsewhere? What are key traits needed now? How will it evolve in the future?

With those questions posed, let’s look over a quick list of initial thoughts:

A Construction Technologist:

  • Strives to assure the team has the technology necessary to drive precise, timely, and efficient outcomes for customers

  • Continually curates tech and workflows that are nimble and fit the business needs to drive better outcomes for customers, employees, and the business.

  • Experiments with new technologies that fit the jobs the team is trying to complete for the customer

  • Tackles opportunities for automation that allows team members to focus on customer centric activities — both in the back office and in the field

  • Assures that data from both internal and external applications all talk, and can be harnessed in a way that allows the business to measure impact, drive new insights, and continuously learn (Becomes Data Sherpa)

  • Understands technology spend, utilization, and impact

  • Leverages a toolset and/or team of internal and external resources that assess and implement improvement opportunities

  • Value stream mapping, metrics based business process mapping, lean, 5S, design thinking, etc.

  • Has learned the right questions to ask of stakeholders in order to find the true pain points or business needs then is able to translate those back to feature sets of existing technologies or build them into requirements for an internal or external resource to develop

  • Has to build a network across both technology and construction from all sections and levels, competitors and peers, that allows for the sharing of ideas, concepts, and best practices. Doesn’t need to give away the special sauce, but must open to sharing with others to better the organization and industry.

Technologies being leveraged:

  • Function specific software applications with open standards of communication

  • BIM

  • AR/VR (In the field, In Planning, In Design)

  • Edge Connectivity — Sensors/IoT (Use cases are broad and will vary by AEC subsegment)

  • Drones collecting advanced data as an extension of teams

  • Advanced dictation/audio, camera, and early stage robotics

  • Exoskeletons

  • “Smart” tools

The construction technologist should NOT be doing:

  • LAN/WiFi setup

  • PC setup

  • VDC design/management

  • Job trailer setup

  • Mobile device management

We tend to try to wear multiple hats in the construction industry. As a result, the “NOTs” tend to blend and get blurred into the “WILLs”, but this is not the best use of the Technologists time and skills.

How do you see the role of the Construction Technologist evolving?

This is merely meant to be a discussion starter. Please comment, share, discuss, and challenge.