The Unusual Ford Policy

Henry Ford implemented an unusual policy in his factory: he paid workers for the time spent not working. And it worked better than anything.

Workers responsible for the production line could sit in a room, do nothing and get paid.

However, if something on the assembly line would break, then a red light would come on, and it meant:

No Pay until Repaired.

Ford Policy Results

This unusual policy pushed workers to ensure that production line works without breaking.

They quickly came to conclusion - if they do their work with quality, they won't need to come back to the same problem again.

They really liked being paid for not working, so they had to get creative in how to prevent issues on assembly line. That meant they had to get creative:

• Pay more attention to details

• Inspect things on time

• Ensure quality work

• Use better quality parts

• Innovate how they worked

This empowered workers to take ownership of their work. They did everything to ensure assembly line runs without any disruption. And it meant they could get paid more for doing less.

They could sit and do nothing, but they knew that the red light would come sooner. So instead, they focused on making sure Red Light never comes on.

As the saying goes:
​"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." ​
- Benjamin Franklin

How does it relate to you?

Well, think of it, the process in AEC is like an assembly line with a lot of repetitive work.

If you could spend some time now and create a solution to your repetitive problems - you could prevent costly issues on-site. You need to take some ownership of your work and its consequences.

Think of all past issues on real projects and why they happened:

• Unnoticed clashes

• Miscommunication

• Bad Modelling Practices

• Rushed Delivery

• Human-error on repetitive tasks (inevitable)

Many could have been avoided with a little more attention or communication. But others could be automated and you could reuse this solution in your current and future projects.

It's all about thinking long-term and innovating.

Oftentimes, if you spend a few more minutes today, you can save a lot of hours in the future.

And what is a better way to do that, than programming?

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You can write code today with a step by step instructions for a computer, and it will be executed on every project without any human-errors and in an instant.

The Goal

Just imagine the day where you come to work, click on the button and you finish that annoying repetitive task you do on every project (Especially, if you hate it).

And now you have a full day to focus on more creative tasks where you actually need to use your hard-earned skill of an Architect, Engineer, BIM Specialist or any other profession within AEC you might have.

Would that be an amazing day?

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​Click here to learn more