For the better part of a decade, we’ve watched AEC firms and real estate owners and developers pluck business practices, technology, and talent from the tech and manufacturing industries—digital workflows, automation, innovation competitions, hackathons, maker culture, Lean operations, technologies like predictive analytics, AI, and immersive reality.
AEC “outsiders” hold prominent positions in large firms, with titles like Chief Data Officer and Chief Innovation Officer. Firms are angel investors, startup backers, and purveyors of custom-built software tools and tech platforms. They are exploring real-world applications for nascent technologies like digital twin, blockchain, and haptics for VR. They are backing or launching increasingly sophisticated offsite construction enterprises.
Indeed, the nation’s leading design and construction firms have embraced innovation culture in a big way—whether through formal structured processes or departments (still rare in our market), or an R&D “tinker” approach (much more common).
As firms begin to adopt the practices and mindset of Silicon Valley tech and advanced manufacturing, it’s fair to ask: Are all of these innovation projects and initiatives working? More to the point: Does your firm track the success rate of its innovation projects?
If you do, and your success rate is 50% or greater, guess what? You are faring much better than many of the tech firms that we collectively hold up on a pedestal as leading innovators. A new survey, conducted by Oracle, of more than 5,000 decision makers across 24 markets in software development and cloud solutions found that less than half of innovation projects ever make it to market. And it is the biggest firms (workforces up to 50,000) and the fastest-growing companies that struggle the most.
Survey respondents cited a host of reasons for the less-than-ideal “hit rate” on innovation projects: poor processes, lack of focus, absentee leadership, an over-commitment on the number of innovation projects, and an insufficient commitment from the business.
Another glaring issue: a lack of clear ownership. Executives (48%) and IT (46%) were identified as the most common owners of projects, but a variety of other functions were identified as champions in near-equal proportions, between 35% and 41%, according to the survey.
“Employees will always be a critical factor in any innovation program, but they need an effective and supporting culture of innovation to be successful,” said Neil Sholay, Oracle’s VP of Innovation. “This starts with a clear vision from leaders and the prioritization and funding of chosen projects.”
While the Oracle report is somewhat of an apples-and-oranges comparison to AEC, the survey findings demonstrate that even the most finely tuned organizations struggle to innovate.
Download the key takeaways of Oracle’s “Having a Successful Innovation Agenda” report at: tinyurl.com/yxathbeg.
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
Prefab Trailblazer
The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community center under way in NYC seeks LEED Platinum
A curving, 550-foot-long glass arcade dubbed the “Wall of Light” is the standout architectural and sustainable feature of the Battery Park City Community Center, a 60,000-sf complex located in a two-tower residential Lower Manhattan complex. Hanrahan Meyers Architects designed the glass arcade to act as a passive energy system, bringing natural light into all interior spaces.
| Oct 12, 2010
Guardian Building, Detroit, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. The relocation and consolidation of hundreds of employees from seven departments of Wayne County, Mich., into the historic Guardian Building in downtown Detroit is a refreshing tale of smart government planning and clever financial management that will benefit taxpayers in the economically distressed region for years to come.
| Oct 12, 2010
Owen Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Officials at Michigan State University’s East Lansing Campus were concerned that Owen Hall, a mid-20th-century residence facility, was no longer attracting much interest from its target audience, graduate and international students.
| Oct 12, 2010
Gartner Auditorium, Cleveland Museum of Art
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Gartner Auditorium was originally designed by Marcel Breuer and completed, in 1971, as part of his Education Wing at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Despite that lofty provenance, the Gartner was never a perfect music venue.
| Oct 12, 2010
Cell and Genome Sciences Building, Farmington, Conn.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Administrators at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington didn’t think much of the 1970s building they planned to turn into the school’s Cell and Genome Sciences Building. It’s not that the former toxicology research facility was in such terrible shape, but the 117,800-sf structure had almost no windows and its interior was dark and chopped up.
| Oct 12, 2010
Full Steam Ahead for Sustainable Power Plant
An innovative restoration turns a historic but inoperable coal-burning steam plant into a modern, energy-efficient marvel at Duke University.
| Oct 11, 2010
HGA wins 25-Year Award from AIA Minnesota
HGA Architects and Engineers won a 25-Year Award from AIA Minnesota for the Willow Lake Laboratory.
| Oct 11, 2010
MBMA Releases Fire Resistance Design Guide for metal building systems
The Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) announces the release of the 2010 Fire Resistance Design Guide for Metal Building Systems. The guide provides building owners, architects, engineers, specifiers, fire marshals, building code officials, contractors, product vendors, builders and metal building manufacturers information on how to effectively meet fire resistance requirements of a project with metal building systems.
| Oct 6, 2010
Windows Keep Green Goals in View
The DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has almost 600 window openings, and yet it's targeting LEED Platinum, net-zero energy use, and 50% improvement over ASHRAE 90.1. How the window ‘problem’ is part of the solution.
