Marvel vs. DC, 5 lessons construction can learn from the comic books

Marvel’s Avenger Infinity War has changed the game for comic book films. Described as the ‘most ambitious crossover movie in history’ it had the potential to fall flat on its face. Either from overcrowding with 22 superheroes and inflated expectations from the Disney hype machine. Instead its currently sitting at number 4 in the all-time box office list. And with overwhelmingly positive reviews, it did something rare, a perfect 10/10 landing.

For me, it reinforced the differences in approaches and outcomes between the Marvel and DC Comics movie universes. Approaches which closely mirror where the construction industry wants to move to, and where they have been stuck for decades.

Marvel are now 19 films in and still sticking the landing with no signs of slowing down with plans with 13 more films planned by 2022. Compare that to DC, only 5 films into the current movie universe, they have succeeded financially but with very mixed reviews. It already feels like the wheels are falling off. There are rumours of actors leaving the franchise, films being cancelled and further changes in direction. Of the 19 upcoming rumoured DC films only 5 look likely to happen with lots of doubt over the star property of Batman and who may play him in future films. With just one DC film making it into the top 10 from the recent comic book universes (Batman vs Superman at #7), the numbers speak volumes. So, what can the construction industry learn from their superhero counterparts.

1.   Remove silos, give someone responsibility for the whole thing

Marvel have Kevin Feige, a self-confessed comic book geek looks after the whole Marvel comic book world. He’s been there since the start and has been responsible for crafting the bigger, interwoven stories brought to a head in Infinity War. Compare this to DC, they very recently employed Walter Hamada to try and get their world back on track, before then it was every director for themselves with very little consistency between films.

For the construction industry how would that work. Each project is its own business and profit and loss centre, one project can go bad but if the others are doing OK, alarm bells tend to get muted. If things go wrong then projects can lurch from one extreme to the other and the trade-off between cost, time and quality becomes a more difficult balancing act.

How are you managing the risk over multiple projects? What consistencies can you get in your approach? How are those different profit and loss centres working together to the bigger company goals rather than just in the self-interest of their balance sheet. Having an overarching responsibility means sharing resources and skill sets across teams and sharing learning's from both successful and less successful projects? Modern technology allows you now to utilise project data to help wider decision making and proactive problem solving rather than firefighting.

2.   Plan for the long term, set a vision

One of the biggest public failings so far of the DC universe has been how it’s lurched from film to film taking reactive measures based on feedback from the last. Their worlds were managed by multiple directors with their own visions of each superhero's world, without the direction of what a DC universe would look like.

Whilst in contrast Feige's clear vision was “I would like to take all of the comics and start to build the Marvel universe” led to many decisions to achieve that vision. From actors with multi-film contracts, cameos and cross pollination of characters across films and a common tone and humour that provides boundaries for directors and producers but doesn't limit them.

What can you learn from this? It means construction needs plan on how to stop firefighting projects to thinking how you will work in 5 years. Set up a plan your key stakeholders get behind of where you want to be in that time-frame. Whilst you might adjust your plan, if you set this broad vision right then everyone involved should be able to make their day to day decisions based on whether this supports the vision. Take BAM for example, they set a clear vision, they are a digital construction company, so when a decision is being made to work in an analogue or digital method for a process, everyone knows which route they should take.

3.  Invest in the future

How many times have you watched the film credits all the way through till the lights come up? Fans of the Marvel films have made it a habit, with regular teasers of new films appearing during and after the credits. Iron Man, ten years ago teased Samuel L Jackson as head of S.H.I.E.L.D., the agency who brought together the Avengers set up all the following films and bought people into a wider universe. Bringing in other characters for cameos introduced longer term bets to the Marvel universe, such as Infinity War's Thanos.

In comparison DC's main bet on the future was a bizarre dream sequence in Batman vs Superman introducing a star property, the speedster Flash. It didn't make much sense at the time and the common view is that it won't be revisited in future films as it was so badly handled. Many felt DC hadn't earned the right to introduce the wider universe at that stage after one film with mixed reviews.

What does this have to do with our world? Well construction has consistently been a low investor in research and development, which helps explain why it also consistently appears towards the bottom of lists of productivity in the sector. Typically, innovation relies on big bets on something revolutionary when you haven't laid the groundwork to prepare for it, leading to failure. Take those looking at Augmented Reality when they still largely use paper on site and work in 2D. It may impress people in the short term, but there's a lot of work before it could ever be used by those on site, leading to a more demotivated workforce than before.

Diversify risk by placing small bets teasing some of the potentially revolutionary longer-term developments, and some larger bets on technology and processes that are proven to be working for others today. This will give you a better chance of both succeeding when you come to implement them, rather than coming to them cold turkey.

4.   Invest in unlikely heroes

One of the biggest surprises from the Marvel world was Guardians of the Galaxy, a classic rock loving scavenger, a tree, a raccoon, a green orphan alien and a very literal warrior. A comic team no one thought would translate to screen, but somehow became many fans favourite characters and one of Marvel’s biggest hits. DC on the other hand have largely relied on their big guns, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and a Suicide Squad heavily marketed on the Joker and Harley Quinn. By investing and expanding the cast of superheroes, Marvel have set themselves up for a strong future with multiple franchises that don't just rely on how long Captain America and Iron Man have contracts for. DC currently can't plan too far past how to use Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

Who are your superheroes? Typically, the problem solving, firefighting site manager is the exemplified as the most valuable person for successful projects. This assumes that things are going to go wrong. To avoid this better planning is needed, construction relies on good quality information, and information management. For that you need high standards in your BIM Managers, Information Managers and Document Controllers, a problem in planning can cost thousands, but an effective process can save millions. These are the people who can identify issues at the desktop for a fraction of the cost of the traditional heroes out on site when things have already gone wrong.

5.   Have a strong supporting cast

Marvel’s biggest strength come from the wider tapestry set up in its films, the Iron Man films are just as much about Pepper Potts as the main man. People care about whether Captain America can bring back Bucky Barnes and whether he’ll get together with Sharon Carter. Michael Pena’s Luis in Ant-Man, John C Reilly as Rhomann Dey in Guardians and Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok highlighted the strength in depth of those films. Look across at DC and outside our heroes, there's little depth past known elements of Lois Lane and butler Alfred, which reflects with the poor reviews received.

Whilst historically on construction projects, it made sense to rely on those few superstars who happily take their work home at night and weekends. It’s the supporting cast who can help take them to new heights or make their job ten times more difficult. For many firms their weakest link can be their supply chain. By upskilling the wider teams in new technologies and enabling them to help continuously improve processes will get greater buy in across the whole team rather than a pure top down approach that often leads to resistance.

Conclusion

Who are your company's superheroes and who are their supporting cast? Are you leaning from one extreme to another? How are you training the next generation of superheroes? Are you providing them a long-term vision and investing in innovation so they want to stay with you for the journey. If you want to change your approach to construction and avoid repeating of mistakes of the past, then be aware that those strategic decisions you make now will have a direct impact on your results years down the line.