I've been thinking a lot lately about many people's reaction to the BIM movement within the AEC industry. I've found that the word 'BIM' usually evokes one of three very different reactions.
The first reaction is one of extreme enthusiasm and optimism. We'll call them "The BIM Believers". This group really sees BIM for its potential and wants to everyone else in the world to become "One with the BIM". I find a lot of these people border on BIM fanaticism & what it can/will/should do. This is great but it often doesn't come across to people in the other two groups in a good, or even rationally sane, way. Not surprisingly, I find I usually fit into this category.
The second reaction is one of extreme pessimism and cynicism. We'll call them "The Anti-BIMs". This group of people get really irritated really fast when anyone mentions BIM. I used to be an Anti-BIM, before I started to understand what all the BIM Believers were rattling on about. The reason for this response is usually twofold. First, they hold they "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mindset. They've been working in CAD for XX number of years and they've had no problems with it, thank you very much. Secondly - and they often won't admit it, this group is actually quite scared of BIM. I know I was. BIM presents an entirely new way which projects are going to be run - legally, logistically, technically, etc, etc, etc.
The third reaction is one of complete ignorance. Let's call these the "BIM Huh?" group. These people have never heard of BIM and have no idea what you're talking about. End of.
What I'm trying to brainstorm these days is this... What's the best way to educate and train the 'Anti-BIMs' in a way which would be engaging and effective? How can this be done in an entire organization or project? We'll leave the 'BIM Huh?'s out of it because I found it to be less of a problem to 'convert' people who haven't had a chance to form a negative opinion yet. People that are turned off or threatened by an idea will revert back to their CAD comfort zone the moment no one is watching. Many of us have struggled through organizations or management which aren't committed to jumping into a BIM transition with both feet. From my experience, having one foot in and one foot out of BIM world for a project is bad news, and requires vigilance, air-tight QAQC controls, and substantially more hands-on management of information.
My father is an organizational psychologist with the US government's mining safety program. You can probably guess who gave me the idea to start thinking about BIM implementation from an organizational psychology perspective. He co-wrote this article on on-the-job training, which I think is very relevant. I'm in the process of reading it now, and I will update with further comments/ideas once I've had a chance to give it a thorough reading.
What experiences have you had with BIM implementation within your organization? Was it difficult (dumb question)? What methods, techniques, tips or ideas did you come across which helped the process?
