Digital Vision Automation

Change is the only Constant by John Stebbins, Assoc. AIA March 1 '10

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The forces that will encourage the architectural profession to change in response to the opportunities BIM presents:

1. Leadership from within the Noble Craft. Get involved with your local AIA, join the buildingSMART Alliance, join the Association of General Contractors, etc.

2. Losing jobs to other architects that are more BIM-powered

3. Give up fear: of change and of releasing the digital model as part of the “new deliverables” (yes, make sure you get a signed waiver from whomever you release your intellectual property to)

4. Get trained and don’t look back

5. Become change leaders within your own firms (realize that leaders often take people where they do not want to initially go, so expect resistance)

6. Realize that we have always been in the information business (drawings have always been information) and learn to leverage the “I” in BIM

7. Never stop learning! “In times of change, learners inherit the earth.” - Erich Fromm

8. Plan your work, work your plan, for successful BIM implementation

9. Invent the future: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” - Alan Kay

10. Discover new ways to place value on your work, beyond fee for service, hourly rates, percentage of construction…how about a percentage ownership in the building or project…an ongoing income stream, for starters?

11. Dare: take more risks, be bolder, be more introspective; for example…work more closely with contractors; ask them what they want to see in project deliverables and to critique your profession…then respond accordingly.

12. Use the slow time in the economy to reinvent yourself and your business.