We didn’t expect to win the GIA award for several reasons:

1. We were new to the process and not members of CoreNet.
2. Past awards seemed to be given to specific projects.
3. Some past winners hired PR firms to help with messaging. We were approached by a few but declined their services.
4. Our “trust-based” turnkey team proposition resonates with early adopters and those fed up but we did not think it would play to main street – at least this soon.
5. We had 10 minutes to make our case to the nine judges and then 10 minutes of Q&A. That works well for a specific tangible project. Its a bit challenging to convey an industry changing message in 20 minutes.

I asked four of the judges, “Why Mindshift?” My thinking went something like this:

• We either dazzled them with our brilliance or there is a shift in the zeitgeist (spirit of the times) of the industry that Mindshift connected with. Rule out brilliance.
• If the judges were attracted to our message then this is also a reflection of how other owners might respond.
• The judges were exposed to over 100 innovative initiatives. It will be instructive to find out what made ours stand out.

Here is the criteria they shared:

1. Many of the case studies involved millions of dollars in investment, technology and specialized skills. Some of the cases were brilliant and dazzling. But the judges had to ask, “How easy would it be for other members to implement?”
2. Some felt that the ideas laid out in The Commercial Real Estate Revolution were open to anyone.
3. Mindshift is scalable to the owner’s interest and resources; they could go all-in or benefit from the different components.
4. There was debate among the judges about just how revolutionary were our ideas? Our proposition is not rocket science. In fact its very simple, but not easy. This part of the discussion may have been the turning point. Different judges began to compare the principles we presented with their past experience. Each said that they had been on jobs with good teams displaying trust, respect and transparency. Communication was good, the results were great – AND – they had fun. One of the judges said, “So, why are we keeping this a secret? Where has anyone actually captured these qualities, framed it in an understandable system and backed it up with solid case studies?”
5. One of the judges shared that he agreed the industry needs to fundamentally change and the story we shared reflects the best attributes of our industry when it does work.

The back story is really the front story for where Mindshift began. Owners want reliable promises, good design without compromises along the way and collaboration instead of conflict. Suppliers are not out to thwart these goals. They want same thing. However, everyone has to work within a system that has evolved to a point where it does thwart all of our best intentions.

If you took a blank sheet of paper and wrote down all of the attributes of a successful team effort you might record:

• Respect
• Good communication
• Common goals and incentives
• An ability to deal with conflict
• Transparency
• Practice

You could say these attributes are nothing but common sense. So what can we do if we all know what makes a good team effort but must work within a system that destroys these qualities?

I think we won because we explained how to recapture common sense using some of the emerging ideas, contracts and technologies that are forcing the industry to change.

Now its your turn. How would you like to see your projects change? If you are curious about The Commercial Real Estate Revolution I’ll send you a free chapter. All you have to do is send an email to rexmiller.net and insert “Send my free chapter” in the subject line.

You can still view and listen to the webcast and review answers to questions by going to WEBCAST. I’m offering a free copy of our the BIM chapter from our book. You can submit your request at the end of this blog.

One of the statistics shared during the Webcast is that BIM use has reached 50%. It is an accurate number if counting the number of architectural firms who have bought BIM software. However, this is where the mirage comes in.

My take is by no means scientific but I have probably visited close to 100 firms in the last two plus years and I always probe how firms are using BIM. Here is what I hear.

Most use BIM for visualization and some for clash detection. The clash detection is again a derivative of the visualization. Both of these applications only require “dumb objects.” A dumb object is a door, a run of ductwork or any part of a building that includes the geometric information but none of the objects properties or rules for how it behaves in relation to other objects. In other words these have the “M” or modeling part of BIM but none of the “I” part that provides analytics.

What are analytics? They can be anything. For example, analytics can contain the data and rules to provide the weight and compression for a section of concrete showing the required tension for reinforcement. One can then model the required balance between rebar and concrete. This not only allows one to make sure there is adequate reinforcement (safety issue) but also not too much (cost issue). A Dallas architect who is the real deal when it comes to BIM use was able to reduce the original concrete spec for a project by $300,000 through BIM modeling and analytics.

The most common use of analytics is clash detection. When objects have data that tell the object where it is in space and what is next to it can tell if someone is trying to design another object that will interfere; like plumbing through ductwork. But I seldom hear that use. Most of the clash detection I hear about from firms is the old fashion visual scan of a plan. I’d rather have the model tell me that I messed up than counting on catching it 100% of the time solely by human review.

There are several deeper levels of BIM use that distinguish the novices and wannabees from what I call the BIM Savants. If you think you are a BIM Savant let me know who you are and why you think you’re the real deal. When I go out to speak I try to recognize those I consider the real deal.

I’m asked less frequently if I think BIM will catch on – its been caught and rapidly growing. However, with the rapid adoption of BIM comes a side effect. Similar to what has been happening to the Green bandwagon. We now have a lot of BIMwashing. Half of the architectural firms are now out telling their clients that they “do BIM” when less than 10% are fully using analytics. Owner’s can’t tell the difference.

So if you are the real deal here is a checklist to see just how proficient you are. If you can check off most of these then pass this list along to your clients so they can test the next firm who promotes their BIM capabilities.

1. Programming and feasibility – converting programming data into massing models
2. Visualization of complex shapes – nonlinear fabrication (i.e. Disney’s Opera House in LA)
3. Visualization of finished products, the reference model – photo-realistic renderings and virtual tours
4. Design iterations and variations – showing the evolution of the design and different solutions
5. Construction Documentation and layout
6. Quantity take offs and cost analysis
7. Automated integrated specification; material properties and attributes (objects know what they are)
8. System clash or conflict resolution (objects know where they are)
9. Construction Administration (scheduling and work optimization)
10. Communication tool in all phases of a project
11. CAD CAM manufacturing and offsite fabrication
12. Shop drawings and installation data
13. As-built corroboration and systems commissioning
14. Facilities management interface
15. Maintenance and operations
16. Inventory Control
17. Database for renovations and additions
18. Equipment performance simulation
19. Building energy use simulation
20. Virtual collaboration (i.e. BIMStorm)

I also recommend you look on pages 182-183 in our book to see the evolution path for a firm developing its BIM capabilities.

Here is a short video of Kimon Onuma, a BIM Savant, sharing BIMStorm. Every firm serious about BIM may want to consider playing in a BIMStorm.

For a free copy of the BIM Chapter send me an email at rex@rexmiller.net. Once you read this chapter you’ll probably want to read the rest of the book.

Construction, architecture, FF&E and all related stakeholders have seen their businesses drop 20%, 30%, 40% and some even more.

Some hope that this recession will be like others; hunker down, wait a while and then a new resurgence will emerge. But is this like recent recessions?

Here are some factors to consider:

1. There a large excess of inventory (buildings).
2. $3 trillion in financing is up for renewal this fall. It is estimated that 1/3 of these loans will default.
3. The credit rules have changed requiring more equity from developers by a factor of 5 and more. That means fewer more selective buildings.
4. The green steam roller is in full gear. Old buildings will be devalued and fewer, smaller buildings will be the new strategy.
5. Corporations are divesting of their fixed overhead and new mobile technologies will be the beneficiaries.
6. The warts of our industry are under full scrutiny and owners are demanding lower cost, higher quality green buildings.
7. There is a digital generation (70 million) who are stepping into the workplace and their agenda is not their mom and dad’s agenda.

There is a new normal coming. But I see little innovation (changed life style) in the wake of this industry wide near-death experience.

What will your business look like in 2010? What will your new markets be? Where will your new customers come from?

Here is a short clip from Dr. James Canton, author of Extreme Future.

Mindshift began as a simple dialogue about the current and future state of design and construction. It took a little time for our conversation to get beyond the thinking that the current state was a simple fact of life. When we looked outside our current system we arrived at the following conclusion:

Conventional design and construction is broken. It seems obvious. We all say it to ourselves and express our exasperation at our various networking gatherings. The odd dynamic is that when you get a room full of stakeholders together – for the first time – we talk as if we came from some alternative reality. Our projects all go smoothly, on-time and within budget.

I like to quote one of the executives from our first Mindshift gathering; “We all have good companies, good people and happy clients. We begin each projects with good intentions and high hopes. For some reason there is something about the system that gets in the way of all of our best efforts.”

The system clearly creates a lot of waste and conflict. That seems obvious. What was less obvious is that this waste and conflict is the result of a system that is fragmented, assumes distrust and is designed to defend against that distrust.

So here was our “aha!” We asked, “How do you create a system that assumes trust and is designed to foster it and lead toward integration?”

That is the story told in The Commercial Real Estate Revolution.

This video enhances the theme – innovation through developing a capacity for the obvious. This is Paul Bennet presenting at the TED conference.

Scott comes with strong credentials. Clayton Christensen is the author of The Innovator’s Dilemma and sits on the board of Scott’s firm.

Here are a few points I walked away with:

1. You need a strategy that keeps a focus on your core business, invests in innovation and pursues transformation.
2. Innovation addresses the same markets and issues with new insight.
3. Transformation takes place when an organization does something fundamentally different. This happens most often when a company enters a new market. Apple, Interface, Google, IBM and P&G offer good examples.
4. A transformation strategy is essential in disruptive markets when the old rules and ways of doing business no longer produce sustainable returns.
5. Market leaders have less time than ever to take advantage of that leadership. Without a transformation strategy they are at risk and can be easily overtaken.

The mindshift initiative allowed fifteen organizations to explore both innovative thinking and transformation. Our industry will look and perform in ways that fall completely outside our current paradigms. We will create buildings and communities that we have just begun to imagine. Most of our industry, however, exhibits the same kind of thinking and behavior that brought both GM (see the David Brooks article) and Chrysler into Chapter 11.

I attended the AGC’s BIMForum in Dallas last week. During a lively debate between a panel of national architectural firms and the audience one member (we will call her Sally) in the crowd shared that their firm was creating 3D objects with enough intelligence to provide costing, logistics and provide ongoing operational data that easily ports over to a computer aided facility management program. Pretty cool!

Now for the fun. The moderator first challenged Sally stating it wasn’t possible to do what they were doing on the scale she claimed. Another member of the audience, a structural engineer, validated the claim and said they were on the same series of projects together. The moderator then questioned why they would put all that time and effort into doing so since “they were not getting paid to do it.”

Sally said that doing so reduces errors and reduces the schedule – so it more than pays for time in recouped contingency and fewer errors. She said the project was 18 weeks ahead of schedule which saved the client more than $700,000 in general conditions. The client likes that and has handed several additional projects to this firm without bidding.

Not to give up easily – the moderator finally said – “You should not be doing this kind of work in the first place. That’s not the role of the architect!”

At that last comment several in the audience got up and walked out – exasperated.

One would think that with a 30% drop in the market every firm would have their radar finely tuned for any sign of something new, innovative or better. Not so.

Take a look at this interview with Scott Anthony. If you want to learn how Sally’s firm acheives results that defy conventional wisdom – click here – and buy a copy of The Commercial Real Estate Revolution.