Creating Experts

Back in 2003, Revit would change the way architects thought about process. The excitement I felt all those years ago would spread like a virus and all who came in contact with its greatness would be swept up in the coming apocalypse. There was just so many ground breaking, sea changing capabilities in this software; literally doing in 2 minutes what used to take 2 weeks. How could this not catch on?

A decade later and the question I have is this:

How do you make someone an expert?

Pictured: Shared Parameters

Or put a little differently. What makes someone an expert? 

Why doesn't everyone understand how Phases work? Or what Schedule Keys are? Or even that there are such a thing as View Templates?  I think the answer is basically experience, but is there something else? Training is great, mentoring is required, evangelizing is in my job description, but I can't make the horse drink (a Texas proverb, apologies). Maybe it's something else entirely. Gamma radiation exposure, anyone?

HULK SMASH BEST PRACTICES!!

How are you fostering individual growth in your company? Are your experts treated differently by management? Incentives? Accountability? Or are we relegated to the 'CAD Manager/Expert' business model? Sitting in the darkened cave in the back of the office, wishing everyone would just 'get it'.

The Architect Geek

These last few years have taught me many things about the profession I have dreamed about since the 3rd grade. I have seen more massive changes (or at least, potentially massive) in the last 3 years than all of my previous 11 combined. One thing has stuck out the most in my mind, and that is, what are we turning into? The subtitle of my blog here is "BIM is changing us into something different". I really mean that. I wonder what the future holds for the hold-outs. Can those of us early adopters push hard enough without marginalizing the cause? I recently asked a question of my team to see what they thought. I have since asked the same question to those in my office who would listen.

"Is the future architect a geek?"

Not pictured: Horn-rimmed glasses, vests, or fedoras.

Not surprisingly, I didn't get an answer. It's not so easy to say yet. Will the technology one day become so easy that anyone can and will understand it? AutoCAD has been around for more than 20 years, yet companies still need support. It pains me to hear someone talk about technology like it is a burden. I realize that I may be in the minority here, but the problems posed currently by our industry are most easily solved with technology. Do you want to house your own energy modeling database internally? Can you adequately describe the best solution for your building skin without tangible metrics? Metrics give us something to prop ourselves up against when everyone wants to throw us under the bus. Using scripting languages to better optimize our design, sending a model into the cloud to render or for analysis to free up resources so we can continue to work, or simply bending a particular tool to our will is our future, isn't it?

So I ask again, does understanding those concepts make me a geek? Is the merging of IT and AE such a bad thing? Are we the future for the industry, or are we the back of house sweaty programmer types that keeps everyone's shared parameter files and Revit warnings in order? 

Please make sure you check your worksets! Gah!

Enjoy your weekend.