You wouldn't tell Gordon Ramsey how to build a chocolate cake... #construction

16 Mar 2024 · 1 min

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Short spoken segment from a YouTube video (creator: William Doyle MRICS, uploaded March 16, 2024) advising NEC practitioners and clients not to over-specify how contractors should perform work. The speaker argues that overly detailed 'how' requirements stifle innovation and collaboration in the supply chain, and uses the analogy: if you want a chocolate cake, specify the cake and constraints (e.g., no nuts) but don’t dictate how a skilled contractor (Gordon Ramsay) should set the oven temperature.

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I think it's over to the rich community of NEC practitioners the fantastic tools and systems that spring up. You know, we mentioned a few already and you know, let them help us configure the contracts. And in the same way that we're cautious with clients, as clients we're told not to over specify the how because by doing so you start to stifle innovation and shut down opportunities that you might not have unlocked through future collaboration. So be careful of that. In my training I always used to give the example of, you know, if you want a chocolate cake, you specify a chocolate cake. Constrain in terms of I don't want nuts in it. But you wouldn't go so far if Gordon Ramsay was your contractor to tell him what temperature to set the oven. Yes. So leave the how at large a little bit. Opens up some more possibilities and some opportunities for innovation and collaboration with, with, with the supply chain.