Bouwdata

Last Saturday morning, while driving to the stable, I heard on the radio an expert from Gradon explaining his figures. The most important thing in his message was that he advocates a system economy rather than a competition economy as the way to a sustainable economy.
Something the construction industry desperately needs because the conflict model has made hypocrisy and withholding information a profitable thing. Associated budget overruns and burn-outs are no more than ‘collateral damage’ that can be vigorously argued about.

But what do you do about it?

Pixii wanted to devote an Expert Day on the 10th of October 2019 to communication but the event did not take place due to lack of interest. After all, an engineer prefers to talk about software and technology rather than his deepest feelings.

However, system economics will force us to talk about us humans for once. And not viewed as consumers, staff or data, but simply how people, as a species, talk to each other without the bells and whistles of technology.

Our current communication in a conflict economy can be outlined as follows:

But how did it come to this?

Let’s open the frame to some history and philosophy. Economics always seems to be about 100 years behind the latest science.

In the late 17th century, an apple reportedly fell on Isaac Newton’s head, resulting in the ‘Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica’.

In the mid 18th century, the Industrial Society emerged in England with three main characteristics:

1. ‘Linear’ thinking, the learning process follows a step-by-step plan
2. Information is ‘property’ and you are entitled to it on a ‘need to know’ basi
3. Certainty: everyone bends towards one system

In the early 20th century, when scientists thought they would soon have it all under control, Albert Einstein showed up and scientists dove into quantum mechanics en masse. The smallest objects are simultaneously wave and particle. If you look at the particle, the wave disappears. If you study the wave, the particle is nowhere to be found. Things seem to occur in different places at the same time and nothing is certain. Everything is about ‘probability’. Scientists still haven’t figured it all out nevertheless our recent technology is based on it.

Today, 100 years further, we can feel at everything that the ‘Industrial Society’ is creaking at the seams. The ‘Network Society’ is emerging with equally important three characteristics:

1. ‘Database’ thinking, young people want to learn ‘on the spot’ and not hear a long-winded speech

• Information is ‘public’: available anywhere and anytime providing there is an internet connection
• Probability: everyone has their own angle, one single system fits all no longer does the job

Prof Eddie Obeng explains this turnaround magisterially in his TED talk ‘Smart failure for a fast-changing world’.

Our economic paradigm has changed heavily but biologically humans have hardly changed during the past centuries.

So on Saturday morning I was on my way to the stable because horses are my long life. And in terms of communication, we can learn an extraordinary amount from them.

ISES, International Society for Equitation Science, has a 10-point programme for what they call ‘Well-being at Work’ – working time of/with horses that is.

And honestly: I also apply these principles when dealing with people!

The BouwData© methodology starts with a workshop and accompanying project guideline defining the philosophy, applied standards and classification scheme , definitions, meetings, workflows and project documents.

Anne Muller uses the following standards and values in her book ‘Rijkunst zit in de basis’  (the art of riding resides in the basics) – when reading, replace ‘horse’ with ‘colleague’, ‘student’, … in short, your fellow human being with whom you want to achieve something together:

1. How and with what words something is explained is not important, only the result counts
2. All aggression, impatience and pain lead only to misery
3. Leading (joining forces) is different from taking the lead (pulling the cart)
4. When we say you, we also mean you; when I say ‘I’ I really mean it personally
5. You can learn something from everyone and every horse
6. If you don’t give up, neither will I
7. Everyone does his/her best even if you don’t see it
8. The description is not reality, no one is going to take anything off your hands, you do the work yourself or not, no book, coach or instructor can change you
9. If a solution is right, it is right because all (!) parties benefit: 

horse, riders, instructors, from breeding to top sport, from recreational to commercial, win, win, win.

The BouwData© methodology uses as core values:

• Transparency – all documents are on a groupware; if it is not on there, it does not exist. Simple.
• Discipline – reports are available by the end of the week because they include information the team needs to work with the following week. Lack of accurate information stalls the machine and jeopardises both the project deadline and the budget!
• Accountability – report any presumption of change immediately and get a ticket number. No ticket number, no money! Work complete, all associated settlements put on the table and finalised!
• Empathy – if a project partner admits a mistake, don’t abuse it by planting a knife in his/her back because you think it will benefit you.

But above all, there is the one golden rule: a keypartner may bear responsibility but it is always ‘we’ who have a problem.