A comment from a construction management firm executive was relayed to me recently. He had reportedly stated that there was nothing his company could learn from anybody working at another company. Is the “not invented here” syndrome alive and well in the building industry?
Hopefully not, as it is antithetic to a Lean philosophy. Imagine an NFL head coach declaring they would refuse to study opponent game video because there was nothing to learn. After going 0 – 16 they will no longer be an NFL head coach, assuming they last the season.
It’s important to cultivate at a minimum a curiosity for understanding how to improve the work, not only for yourself, but as importantly for the others on the project team. Then make the leap from curiosity to ravenous hunger. Teams hungry to make the work better are those that succeed more quickly, and with less frustration.
