Читать книгу The Construction Technology Handbook - Hugh Seaton - Страница 18

Intuition works by simplifying the world, by mental rules of thumb, so that we can take all the information in and do something quickly. We evolved to be fast on our feet, to see issues immediately, which is why we are so good at managing what we can see.

However, modern construction involves huge numbers of people, across months of work and multiple sites. That is too much for our brains to handle directly, so we either use reams of paper and tons of meetings to keep it all straight, or we change the domain of technology we use to digital software.

Digital problems, involve lots of data, either because of a large scope of information, or really fine measurements only a machine can make.

For example, tracking events and progress across a company, or even a job, will include thousands of points of data, over weeks and months of a project's lifetime. This is not what our brains are good at, and this is where digital technology helps – with what we cannot directly experience with our senses.

The analyses that come from digital software can show us patterns that we would not otherwise see, and at least as importantly, create proof that these patterns exist, so we can discuss them with management and start to create improvements.

But just as analytics can provide context for intuition, intuitive “gut‐checks” on data and software are absolutely critical. There is no software in existence that can really correct itself when it has bad data or other unexpected issues. Human oversight of software, robots, and other digital technology is essential.

Our mindset shift, then, is to accept digital technology as a tool for seeing the scale and scope of information that cannot be directly seen. We need to build trust that these technologies can do what humans alone cannot, but also understand their inherent limits.

We'll develop a clear understanding of what technologies can, and cannot, augment how you already do things. Just as today's manufacturing includes all of the experience, intuition, and “gut” from experienced managers and applies it to incredibly advanced machines, software, and analytics, technology as a part of your construction toolkit only makes sense if it adds to what you are already good at.

Nothing can replace the almost magical ability of the human mind to understand what's going on and with deceptive ease, know what to do next. This is a book about technology, but the most important technology of all is how you think.

This construction technology mindset will change how we build the world. Let's see how, with an example from manufacturing, specifically the Lean mindset.