ABSTRACT
Disruptive technology forces change upon us, often faster than our social, economic, and cultural institutions can absorb and adjust to it. To take an early example, the invention of interchangeable parts at the beginning of the industrial revolution pitted artisans against industrialists in a struggle that the artisans were foreordained to lose. “Made-to-measure” craftsmanship gave way to the new concept of “tolerance”, or standardized error.
Innovation in the tradition-bound construction industry is notoriously difficult to accomplish amidst resistance mounted by entrenched interests. Labor practices are slow to change, and productivity in construction has been stagnant for nearly 60 years. Pressures on construction firms to earn a profit under these conditions mean that resources for research and development are scarce. By contrast, R&D funding in the industrial sector is ample, and central to the product development process.
This complex array of forces have made innovation in design and construction difficult to accomplish, and are stubbornly resistant to change. Principle #10: Design Thinking proposes a non-linear problem-solving methodology to address the conflicting and competing interests in the construction sector by engaging all stakeholders in an ongoing, collaborative, and iterative process.
