667. The Race to Efficiency & Why Construction Is Behind with Brian Potter
About this episode
Brian Potter discusses the challenges and stagnation in productivity within the construction industry compared to other sectors.
In a world of constant, rapid digital transformation, one industry has struggled to evolve: construction. With all the gains made in efficiency and productivity, what’s holding the construction industry back? Brian Potter is a senior fellow at the Institute for Progress and author of the book, The Origins of Efficiency which charts the history of production efficiency, examining the great leaps forward with inventions like penicillin, the light bulb, and automobiles. Brian joins Greg to share his experience in the construction industry that prompted his research into productivity and why construction productivity appears flat compared with manufacturing and agriculture. They also discuss distinctions between labor productivity and overall efficiency, the central role of scale and fixed costs, why tacit knowledge makes process transfer hard across plants and countries, and political obstacles such as guilds and unions resisting automation, including AI. *unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*
People in this episode
Host: Greg LaBlanc
Guest: Brian Potter
Topics covered
- construction industry
- efficiency
- productivity
- digital transformation
- labor productivity
- automation
Keywords
- construction
- efficiency
- productivity
- digital transformation
- automation
- labor productivity
- tacit knowledge
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Institute for Progress
Books & works: The Origins of Efficiency
More episodes of unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc
- 669. Liberalism and Discontent: Exploring Modern Democracy with Francis Fukuyama
- 668. Decoding Culture’s Role in Strategy and Success with Jennifer A. Chatman and Glenn R. Carroll
- 666. Decoding Disinformation in Numbers and Narratives with Aaron Brown
- 665. Understanding Trump’s Leadership Tactics and How to Counter Them with Jeffrey Sonnenfeld
- 664. A Pessimist’s View on What It Means To Be Human with William Ian Miller
- 663. The Quest for Authenticity in an Algorithm-Driven World with Kyle Chayka
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc podcast page.