Today I’m going to introduce you to a new acronym.
That’s right. One more.
Just this last one, then we’re through. Done. Kaput. I promise.
You ready? Good.
JAT
There, that wasn’t so bad. Right?
It’s short for
Just a Tool
As in…
Well, you know.
The oft heard sentiment that
“BIM is just a tool”
Here, it’s the word “just” – not “tool” – that triggers my outrage.
And this rant.
So, fasten your seatbelts.
Not “just.”
BIM is not “just” anything.
This blog’s brand is more horse feathers than high horse, more horse sense than nonsense – so accept what I’m about to say as an exception to the rule.
My anger – and incredulousness (yes, it’s a word) – in online discussions and interviews.
The nonchalance of those who declare that
“That’s not a BIM problem.”
As in
“I have a hospital to design in a seismic zone and I have no time to do it. That’s not a BIM problem.”
Or
“That’s not an issue brought about by BIM.”
That BIM is “just a tool” – like it’s just a can opener or a pair of pliers or a hammer.
If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
– Abraham Maslow
“If we didn’t have it – we’d use something else.”
As in
“No Revit? No problem. I’ll use a stapler.”
At least until BIM becomes a staple in the industry.
These dismissives come from those who are immersed in the technology
Like fish who, it is said, cannot discover water – or like Madge in the 70’s Palmolive ads
You’re soaking in it
They swat away the insinuation that what they are using or doing is anything more than a revved-up 2H pencil with an off-handed dismissive sweep of the hand like they were swatting flies.
But a tool?!
The way that the iPhone is just a tool.
Or the GPS is just a tool.
Or the human brain…
Only that BIM is ALL of these in one.
And the add-ons are BIM’s apps.
App-like tools available for every part of the BIM process.
BIM is not a tool, authoring, analyzing or otherwise.
Apps are tools, I’ll concede you that.
BIM is…
BIM is a process
BIM is our saving grace
BIM is our ticket to ride
BIM is our pass out of here
BIM is our card that says pass GO
BIM is our last golden ticket
BIM is our salvation
BIM is the innards of an intricate clock
BIM is the white horse you rode in on
BIM is the deus ex machina – that arrives at the end of the play to save everything
BIM, the enabler
BIM, the balm
BIM makes IPD possible
And also likely, relevant, necessary and inevitable.
BIM is more than what’s happening on your desktop.
No one would say
BIM is just a process.
BIM is just a strategy.
BIM is not just a technology: software is.
BIM is a disruptive technology. And…
BIM requires that you just focus less on Revit, ArchiCAD and their add-ons and more on process and strategy
BIM is a product
BIM is an IT-enabled, open standards based deliverable and collaborative process
BIM is a facility life-cycle management requirement
BIM is a fundamentally different way of creating, using, and sharing building lifecycle data
BIM is just evolving and will continue to as the capabilities of user and technology improve
BIM can serve as a reliable basis for decision making
BIM is a rebirth of excitement and hope. (T/Y Alberto Palomino, master of the poetry and metaphysics of BIM)
No one asks “Can peanut butter exist without jelly?”
Yes, BIM can exist without IPD as IPD can work without BIM
Just as peanut butter can exist without jelly.
But
WHY ON EARTH WOULD ANYONE WANT TO DO THAT?!
And yes,
BIM is a pretty amazing, evolved, in-process of developing, still in-progress
Tool.
But a pretty amazing one at that. And…
Get on your high horses, people – the Age of Aquarius for design professionals is upon us.
Just as HAL – the fictional computer in Space Odyssey – plus one letter in the alphabet is IBM (H<I, A<B, L<M) so too CAD minus one letter is BIM*
*Except for the last two letters. Shucks.
Definitions of Just BIM
No one would ever say
BIM? It’s just a computable representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a facility.
or
BIM is just information use, reuse, and exchange just with integrated 3D-2D model-based technology. No big deal.
or
BIM is just a single repository including both graphical and non-graphical documents – that’s all.
or even
BIM is just a building design and documentation methodology characterized by the creation and use of coordinated, internally consistent computable information about a building project in design and construction. Nothing more, really.
Why qualify it?
So fuggedaboutit.
There’s no need for the acronym JAT.
BIM isn’t “just” any thing.
So stop saying it.
BIM just is.
BIM + Integrated Design 
