Same, same but different – My mother is not getting paperfreeconstruction, the concept.

My mother has been a solid supporter of my BIM journey over the last 3 decades. She speaks very little English but has lived with us for long enough and attended enough of my Serbian/Hungarian presentations to get the gist of what I am about.

She has no idea what the ‘BIM’ acronym stands for exactly, but is closely associating it with all my professional ups and downs.

She loyally shares my blog announcements on Facebook and looks over Slideshows, YouTube movies, PP presentations I make. I can say, she is a fan of mine.

Launching the ‘paperfree’ movement, I managed to unsettle her.

She is confused.

Sure, she is happy, that I am again enthusiastic about the BIM-thing, the apathy that was consuming me over the stagnation of its development, worried her.

She is just not following the logic.

Almost thirty years ago, I was first talking about computer modelling of buildings.

I ‘drew’ the first axo chair in AutoCAD 25 years ago and showed it to her.

I documented full houses in 3D ArchiCAD 20 years ago in our design studio, while she looked after our children.

I designed and modelled iconic commercial buildings in Teamwork Architecture when we moved to a bigger town 15 years ago.

I built a business based on super-clever construction modelling some 12 years ago.

I taught how to BIM globally 10 years ago.

I’ve been writing a blog on the topic that is widely read everywhere over the last 5 years.

She could see the technology developing, my ideas maturing, the stakes rising.

And now? My blogposts keep coming up with the same hand-phone logo? And talking about paper?

She is curious, of course.

I tell her this is exciting. It is radical.

What can be more radical that all the ideas I presented over the years, many we pushed through fruition even at high personal price?

She questions, wants to understand.

So I say, this is not really radical.

This is nothing new.

It is the old BIM. The same BIM. The BIM that many have been selling and few doing.

Or not even BIM, at all.

I am just trying to get rid of paper from my working life and am encouraging others to do so.

Just asking people to work paperfree.

Keep doing the same things as always (draw, model, write, read, sketch…) just don’t use the paper.

She understands but remains puzzled.

Same, same – but different?

In time, I will be able to explain to her the logic of going back to basics and eliminating the paper from the processes.

I’ll tell her the theory, that a large portion of the industry, that is by and large ambivalent to BIM-ish changes, I believe would respond to positive development given the push in the right direction.

Rather than ‘forcing’ people through BIM training, modelling courses, even just theoretical seminars,

I’d love to see them ‘just’ go paperfree.

Think before you print! (good for the environment too, but my major objective is different, here).

Can you get by doing everything on a laptop? Or a tablet.

Save to a cloud straight away?

Mark up drawings on screen?

Sort them, check against models?

Is it hard? Why? Is it the tools? Or something else?

Can you get rid of your paper note book?

I’d love to hear what keeps you hanging onto paper?

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12146802/