Civil Engineering 101

Today's uncertain, hyper-competitive, fast-paced, technology-driven economic environment threatens to disrupt every single industry. In the midst of this pivotal time, we may wonder whether civil engineering is ready for such a daunting challenge. Let's take a brief glance at some fundamental components of civil engineering.

Civil engineering is all about knowledge

Firms within the industry, particularly small and medium ones, don't own significant assets —physical, financial or intangible— beyond their professional reputation, which is no small matter. What they possess is knowledge and, hopefully, a backlog of contracts. Part of that knowledge may be explicit, codified and documented, but the bulk of it will probably be tacit, the kind of knowledge that resides in the minds of their employees.?

Despite this knowledge being critical —its loss would be a clear threat to the organization— and valuable —it drives the business and represents a competitive advantage—, companies don't really know how to manage it.?

Making employees' tacit knowledge explicit and sharing it across the company is still a challenge today. When employees retire, they take their knowledge and experience into retirement and when a new hire joins the company it is hard to help her get up to speed since there are no explicit means of accessing and sharing the knowledge present in the company. We can teach her how to use tools, follow processes and comply with standards, but domain and business knowledge remain elusive. It is through personal interactions with more experienced colleagues that she can eventually pick up the necessary knowledge, provided the company environment encourages those high quality interactions. In large corporations, different teams may be striving to solve the same problem —trying to reinvent the wheel, so to speak— unaware that the problem has already been solved or is being solved somewhere else within the company. Unfortunately, unwittingly or deliberately, knowledge sharing is not in many companies' DNA.?

Knowledge management is a critical factor for the success of any organization and, specifically, civil engineering firms. It is not only a major competitive advantage, key to the company’s efficiency and productivity and essential to attract and retain the best talent, but also a powerful means of building ownership and promoting commitment and collaboration within and without the company —engaging clients and stakeholders in a true partnership and empathizing with the final user. In addition, it could be one of the fundamental elements of a 'one company' mindset, which is particularly important in the case of large corporations that have grown mainly inorganically.?

Open access to knowledge fosters transparency and trust, strengthens accountability and reciprocity, promotes interdisciplinary work, drives employee empowerment, nurtures innovation and encourages a more flexible, decentralized and horizontal structure, challenging traditional hierarchies based on personal relationships and information hoarding, so prevalent even today. Ultimately, open access to knowledge helps create a new culture and redefine corporate values, goals and priorities. By making knowledge management a core business strategy, companies refocus on employees, their most valuable assets.?

Many firms have some sort of knowledge management in place, though their approach is often rather simplistic and insufficient. Some may define a parallel organizational structure (chief knowledge officer, communities of practice, subject matter experts, ...) and a digital directory structure of folders and subfolders (waiting to be stuffed somehow). Others may develop specific, but often limited, applications (customized search engines, corporate social networks, internal messaging apps, ...). And yet others may consider it a separate corporate endeavor, to be discussed in executive committees and developed and deployed by management consultants. Most of these systems have a fairly rigid, top-down, design developed without the employees' active involvement, and end up generating disempowerment and resentment, just the opposite of what was intended. Not surprisingly, lacking employee buy-in and support, they tend to languish and, before long, are abandoned or cancelled.?

Proper knowledge management involves an integrated approach —a bottom-up design, stemming from those who generate and use knowledge— to identifying, acquiring, curating, interpreting, storing, sharing and applying knowledge, in a dynamic way, bearing in mind that knowledge is constantly in the making and it doesn't just happen at certain milestones or at project end. Knowledge management, and its constantly evolving requirements (regarding people, projects and organizations), demands a living-systems approach, starting with employees' development and their contribution to project teams, teams' development and their contribution to the organization and the organization's development. This process is fueled by new incentives for employees, new technologies for project teams and a new culture for the organization.?

Civil engineering is all about projects

Civil engineering companies are not into mass production, making use of assembly lines, always manufacturing the same product in the exact same controlled conditions. They are always doing something different in fairly different environments and circumstances. They are in the business of developing unique and time-bound projects, one-off products, sometimes in remote and hazardous settings, with a high level of risk and outcome uncertainty.?

Despite projects being at the core of their business —projects are the main drivers of value creation and retention— civil engineering companies don't really know how to manage them. Delays, cost overruns, quality failures or constrained functionality are not uncommon occurrences.?

Civil engineering projects are inherently complex and one cannot expect to anticipate all issues that may arise, particularly unknown risks. Weather-related events or poor interface management may cause delays; differing site conditions or external economic factors may cause cost overruns; new technology or inexperienced teams may cause quality failures; complex and contradictory requirements may cause functionality constraints, etc. However, effective and efficient project management can greatly improve quality and productivity, and increase the chances of project success.?

Although there are several well-known project management frameworks and methodologies, all with their strengths and weaknesses and range of applicability, and a plethora of tools and software packages that can be used, each individual project has its own needs and resources and requires a specific approach and tailored strategy. Not surprisingly, one of the main problems in project management is the lack of adequate information of previous projects, stemming from the absence of proper knowledge management, which hinders the understanding of key requirements, major risks and likely outcomes. No less astonishing is the fact that companies routinely fail to align their organizational structure, processes and objectives to the project life cycle, compromising resource allocation, phase handoffs, quality control, financial and business goals, and making both the organization and the project perform at a suboptimal level. Regrettably, feedback regarding project quality and performance gets lost through the cracks and no lessons are learned to prevent problems from ever occurring again.

Many companies think of project management as a fixed set of processes and procedures and a way to structure and standardize project documentation. The result of this kind of approach is that project management becomes so absorbing as an end in itself that it leaves little time to consider other crucial issues. Project management is not just a methodology to organize and control information, teams, deadlines and money —and anticipate potential risks and outcomes— in order to meet the requirements and achieve the objectives previously agreed upon, but also, and most importantly, the key to establish reasonable requirements and objectives from the start (project and business-related) and determine how to best accomplish them, outlining clear feasibility and success criteria for project evaluation. This is more important than it seems, since companies often have to deal with unreasonable scopes, schedules or budgets proposed by clients —or scope creep during the course of the project, which changes scope and increases risks without modifying the contract to account for the likely consequences. Sound project management can be a strong argument to handle this uncomfortable and treacherous situation, which means that the procurement process should be revamped as well (focusing more on value and innovation rather than cost and schedule, in a more collaborative and partnership-like approach). In addition, project management can help to better align projects to business strategy and goals, and increase project quality and product excellence.

Ultimately, project management is akin to value management; it helps generate a valuable output for the client (product, service) and a valuable outcome for the company (knowledge, profit, reputation, new contracts, new talent, ...). Good project management blends and integrates the project's product and the project's client through value management, instead of considering and addressing them as separate realities.?

Civil engineering is all about innovation

Throughout history, engineers have been problem solvers, inventors and makers of the technology that has fueled growth and progress. Today, civil engineering is not renowned as a highly innovative industry and is fairly slow at adopting new technologies. Over time the industry has grown conservative, partly because of the liability behind projects —user safety is a significant concern— and major clients being public administrations —often regulators and code enforcers—, but also to maximize benefits from well-known solutions and industry best practices. Safety and productivity, however, can be enhanced with more innovation and technology.?

Becoming a larger organization by eliminating competitors and acquiring skills not develop internally (as we have repeatedly seen in the past years, in much the same way as the automotive industry before being disrupted) may be a good measure in the short run but not always a guarantee for success. Large and complex organizations tend to centralize control, enforce rigid policies and procedures, and focus on efficiencies rather than value, which makes them more fragile and less resilient, and suffocates innovation and best practices in the acquired company. Standardization and over-proceduralization is not a great answer either. Standards and procedures are unlikely to ensure adequate decision-making in complex and uncertain environments.?

This is particularly important in a time when the proliferation and globalization of engineering and construction services may result in their commoditization. Commodity margins are tight and the way to improve returns is to achieve economies of scale, leaving no budget for innovation. In the recent past, globalization may have ensured the growth of the industry but certainly not its sustainability. In the future, innovation should help ensure both.

Civil engineering should embrace a culture of continuous innovation and solution creation. Rather than relying solely on established codes and practices, civil engineers should actively seek out new ideas, technologies, and methodologies. A sound innovation strategy will attempt to strike a balance between exploitation, using and improving best practices (based on hard-earned experience) to sustain growth and maximize current earnings, and exploration, generating next practices (based on experimentation) to ensure sustainability and long-term profitability. The innovation strategy —which requires an explicit performance measurement system— has to aim for incremental improvements and disruptive changes at the same time.

Contrary to popular belief, innovation doesn't come out of daring ignorance, but out of humble ingenuity, a combination of profound domain knowledge and the ability to adopt different perspectives when analyzing a certain problem. Great innovators are not only problem solvers, they are problem framers and, obviously, problem seekers.?

At its simplest, innovation is the process whereby ideas are turned into opportunities —business or otherwise— through the use of the scientific method. It requires a holistic and systematic approach, integrating tools, methods, resources, strategies, and the company's culture and vision. Innovation, resting firmly on knowledge management and project management —key areas of any successful innovation strategy—, has to become a deeply ingrained company ethos. Obviously, it is possible and desirable to apply innovation to the process of innovation itself, innovating how to innovate (meta-innovation). How the company innovates will define, to some extent, what the company innovates.?

Beyond its practical significance, innovation also helps challenge core assumptions (encourages self-disruption and shakes complacency) and stay in touch with the evolving reality (users, clients, competitors, regulators, society at large), even when company results are still impressive. This is crucial since some companies may be hardwired to avoid seeing the signs of an impending industry shift, despite the rapidly changing environment. In psychological terms, the combined effect of self-serving bias —tendency to distort negative feedback to maintain and enhance self-esteem— and cognitive dissonance —avoidance of information that contradicts our core ideas in order to maintain psychological consistency— explain why some organizations may not anticipate or accept the necessary changes. A culture of innovation and self-disruption does help companies realign and stay relevant.?

Civil engineering is all about integrity

Civil engineering firms should show their utmost respect for employees, competitors, clients and society at large, and not only for the usual reasons but because specific circumstances coalesce in this industry.?

Civil engineering projects may involve hazardous working conditions, isolated or remote construction sites and high-risk activities. Budgets and deadlines are often tight and companies are liable to hefty penalties for cost overruns and delays. In such a setting, employees' health, safety and security must be given the highest priority. In addition, companies must ensure they create a fair environment (regardless of gender, religion, race or ethnic background) and foster employees' empowerment and growth. We shall remember that employees are not resources.?

Civil engineering projects may be worth billions and there might be an incentive to try to win the contract at any cost. While it is understandable that one such contract may represent a substantial boost in revenues and reputation for any company, firms must commit to winning contracts fair and square. Unfortunately, protracted procurement processes and poor corporate governance generate opportunities for mismanagement and corruption. We must pledge ourselves to maintain high standards of ethics and integrity.?

Most civil engineering projects are financed by governments and public agencies, which draw their budgets from taxpayers. Engineering companies have to make the most efficient use of project funds, since there are always many other social priorities to be satisfied and economic resources are inevitably scarce. Taxpayers should always expect complete functionality and high project quality and never pay for technical mistakes, organizational inefficiencies or poor management practices that may cause delays or cost overruns.

Civil engineering projects may bring about a significant transformation of the area comprised in the scheme and companies have the obligation with society to not only minimize the potential impacts that may result from the project but to also make sure that the project itself makes environmental sense. The idea is that projects should contribute to overall resilience and sustainability, not undermine it.?

Summing up, we could say that knowledge management makes a company more robust and competitive, project management makes it more efficient and client and user-focused, innovation makes it more sustainable and valuable and integrity makes it more responsible and purposeful. Are these four elements all we need to transform the industry? We may still need other elements as well that I will relate next.?

Civil engineering requires a digital strategy

Civil engineering companies must fully embrace a new strategy, namely digitization. Digital versions of all the analog/physical elements involved in civil engineering will have to be created, through BIM and digital twins, and may be later used by computing systems for a number of reasons (being process automation one of the main motivations). Digital twins will enable the analysis of the entire lifecycle of a building or infrastructure project, from design to operations and maintenance. Through the use of digital twins, construction, operation, and maintenance can be simulated and optimized even before the actual beginning of the works.?

Digitization would be the strategy to become a digital, data-driven organization capable of leveraging advanced technologies effectively, like generative design or artificial intelligence. Obviously, it's not only about digitizing elements (BIM, digital twins) but about redefining processes and procedures and transforming the business model to become a digital company. Standardized processes and procedures will be automated, projects will be digitized, design will be driven by AI, construction will make use of IoT, VR/AR, drones and robotics, and operation and maintenance will harness all the digital information generated. Additionally, collaboration within the construction supply chain would be accelerated through digital transformation, leading to increased productivity and profitability.

Digital transformation is also driven by clients and the changing environment. As the world moves towards digital infrastructures and the rise of driverless vehicles, engineering and construction firms must prepare themselves for this transformative shift. This presents a massive opportunity for these firms to revamp infrastructure to meet the new digital demands. To facilitate this transformation, firms need to redefine their role in a digital world and become partners with clients, not just service providers, developing digital twins for operation and maintenance purposes.

Digital transformation will affect every aspect of a company, including products, services, operations, organization, business models, culture, and leadership. It is crucial to empower employees and foster a culture of learning, accountability, self-organization, feedback, and collaboration. As companies become data-driven, project managers will evolve into data managers, and new workflows and processes will emerge to accommodate the digital landscape. From using simple digital tools, to using more complex ones like BIM, to focusing on digital twins, to becoming a fully digital engineering company.

Civil engineering requires a learning culture

To be able to transform civil engineering in an enduring way, a change in culture —fostering trust, commitment, sharing and reciprocity— and a change in organization —encouraging openness, transparency and accountability— is required.?

A learning culture encourages both continuous improvement and innovation, enables transformation and anticipates disruption. It fosters knowledge generation, moving beyond relying solely on best practices to embracing next practices. This shift requires moving away from proceduralization and standardization towards experimentation and innovation. Civil engineering is not just about codes and regulations; it is a field that embraces knowledge, projects, and technology. It requires valuing commitment and empowering employees to contribute their ideas and expertise.

Often, resistance to change (technical, organizational or behavioral) can be interpreted as resistance to learning. When individuals understand what needs to be done and have the necessary knowledge, change becomes less daunting. Therefore, cultivating a culture of learning helps reduce fear and empowers individuals to adapt and embrace change with confidence. Hierarchy and structure may have their place in organizations, but they should be adjusted to boost performance and maximize value, within a self-managed environment that encourages trust, flexibility, autonomy, and judicious risk-taking. Transitioning from a focus on quality to a focus on excellence, from compliance to value creation, from training to learning, from best practices to next practices, requires a commitment to continuous learning and development, nurturing the potential of employees.?

By harnessing the power of technology-driven teams, fostering knowledge management, project development and innovation, civil engineering firms can challenge traditional players and revolutionize the industry. It's about rethinking and rebuilding the engineering industry to fully leverage the potential of modern technologies and approaches.?

Regrettably, engineering often feels like a male-dominated field driven mainly by concrete and testosterone, sometimes beset by corruption. It is no wonder that women are hesitant to pursue careers in this field. To attract and retain a diverse and talented workforce, the industry must change its values and foster an inclusive culture. Embracing a learning culture is a crucial step towards transforming the image of engineering and making it more attractive to a wider talent pool.

Civil engineering requires a thought leadership

As we navigate an era of rapid global change, it is crucial for civil engineering to embrace thought leadership and adopt a fresh perspective, a bold new vision. The challenges facing our planet, from climate change to urbanization, energy, food or water, require innovative and sustainable solutions. By developing a pioneer's perspective, civil engineering can envision a future where infrastructure seamlessly integrates with the urban and natural environment. This vision should prioritize resilience, sustainability, and adaptability, ensuring that our built environment can withstand the uncertainties of the future. In the long term, civil engineers may even play a role in designing the infrastructure that will support other planetary habitats, transportation systems, and resource utilization. By pushing the boundaries of knowledge and capabilities, civil engineering can contribute to the expansion of humankind beyond Earth.

Civil engineers should conduct themselves as scientists, relying heavily on scientific knowledge, and not activists, keeping at bay passionate perspectives. As scientists, civil engineers possess a wealth of technical expertise and empirical understanding. By leveraging this knowledge, they can make informed decisions and propose evidence-based solutions. Furthermore, civil engineering should transition from a problem-solving approach to a problem-framing approach. This shift entails reimagining challenges as opportunities for innovation and creativity. Instead of simply addressing existing problems, civil engineers should proactively anticipate future needs and design solutions that are adaptable and forward-thinking. This mindset enables the discipline to stay ahead of the curve and drive positive change.

While financial objectives remain important, civil engineering must expand its focus to encompass social and environmental considerations. As responsible corporate citizens, civil engineers should prioritize the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit. This entails integrating social equity, environmental stewardship, and economic viability into their projects. By doing so, civil engineering can ensure that their work benefits communities, preserves the environment, and drives sustainable development.?

Civil engineering should seek to embrace the principles of the circular economy. Moving away from a linear model of production and consumption, the integration of civil engineering in the circular economy involves designing infrastructure that promotes resource efficiency, waste reduction, and sustainable practices. By adopting this holistic perspective, civil engineers can contribute to a regenerative economy that minimizes environmental impact and maximizes long-term value.

In order to achieve these transformative goals, civil engineering must shift from being service providers, merely following instructions and executing clients' requests, to becoming partners and trusted advisors with their own voice. Integrity should guide their decision-making process, ensuring that their work is driven by a strong moral compass. Principles and values should be visible in the outcomes they deliver, reflecting a commitment to integrity, safety, sustainability. This shift involves actively engaging with clients, stakeholders, and communities to collaboratively develop solutions that address their needs and aspirations. By fostering partnerships, civil engineers can create a shared sense of ownership and responsibility, leading to more impactful and sustainable outcomes.

A company that effectively handles knowledge, projects, and innovation while maintaining ethical standards and is able to implement a solid digital strategy and foster a learning culture while becoming a thought leader can bring about a significant market disruption. Although the task may be difficult, those who persist will reap remarkable rewards, quickly eroding the dominance of current incumbents.?