https://doi.org/10.24928/2024/0153

The Right Kind of Wrong in Construction: Analysis From a General Contractor Perspective

Paz Arroyo¹ & Sulyn Gomez Villanueva²

¹Quality Leader, DPR Construction, San Francisco, USA, [email protected], and co-founder CollabDecisions, orcid.org/0000-0002-8098-8172
²Quality Leader, DPR Construction, Redwood City, USA, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-2367-9880

Abstract

The idea that not every mistake is preventable and that we can make mistakes and not be ashamed of them if we learn from them is not new in Lean Construction; however, new research from the field of psychology sheds light on human behavior and our willingness to explore and learn from failure. This paper explores how these new findings apply to construction. In this paper, we study different types of failure using Edmonson’s classifications of basic, complex, and intelligent failure. We illustrate with cases of failure collected in the Building Quality Builders Class, which is an internal training provided by a general contractor in the USA. Finally, we present strategies for preventing basic and complex failures and encouraging intelligent failures in the context of construction projects. More research is needed to develop a culture to foster learning from all types of failure.

Keywords

Failures, psychological safety, continuous improvement, quality, and learning.

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Reference

Arroyo, P. & Villanueva, S. G. 2024. The Right Kind of Wrong in Construction: Analysis From a General Contractor Perspective, Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 32) , 1135-1146. doi.org/10.24928/2024/0153

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