1. TITLE IN CAPITAL LETTERS
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
VIVIENNE OGBONNA
2. Road map…
1. Why Study Value (with case studies)
2. Meaning and Dimensions of Value
3. Stakeholder Value Perception
4. Value and the Construction Life cycle
5. The Research, Findings and Analysis
6. Recommended Solutions
7. Implications and Conclusions
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
3. Why Study Value….
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
Population 1.1
billion
Capital Investment
in Construction 50%
GDP $2.39 trillion
Projects are Temporary Endeavors with a defined Beginning and End undertaken to meet
Unique Goals and Objectives usually to bring about Beneficial Change or Added Value
4. Why Study Value….Case Study 1
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
Boys Academy in Northern Nigeria
‘A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives
would go a long way in making the world the better place we so
passionately dreamt of. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, (July 1918 – 5 December 2013)
‘Value therefore is only obtained when the right buildings which are
affordable, productive, easy to use, maintain or operate as well as
sustainable are delivered’ (Dallas, 2006).
5. Meaning and Dimension of Value…
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
‘Value means different things to different people’
(Miles, 1972).
‘Creation of new value is two dimensional, beginning with
the actual design and construction of the asset itself and
resulting in the production of the asset that is exploited
as a medium for an organisation to create is own value’
(Spencer and Winch, 2002).
‘a measure of the worth of something to its owners or any
other person, who derives benefit from it, this being the
amount which it can be exchanged’(Carmona, 2001).
7. Value and the Construction Life Cycle…
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
A Break in the involvement of critical stakeholders at any point creates loss of
hard and soft aspects of value. The range of input of each stakeholder might
enable successful outputs but does not ensure positive outcomes!!!
15. Case Study 2…
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
Church Guest House collapse
16. Recommended Solutions…
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
STAKEHOLDER
CO-CREATION
LEARNING AND
CONTINUOUS
KNOWLEDGE
TRANSFER
ALIGN
ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE AND
POLICIES
EARLY
STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT
COLLABORATION
FOR OPTIMAL
SOLUTIONS
ADOPT
APPROPRIATE
INDUSTRY
STANDARDS
17. eUREKa….or not?
•
•MULTI
ORGANIZATION
AL APPROACH
•VALUE
MATRIX
•VALUE
PROPOSITION
•GARDEIN 1985
•INTEGRATED
SOLUTIONS
Enterprise Structure
Holistic Solutions
Lifetime costing
Customer Centric Solutions
Risk Transfer across board
Product Efficacy to
Outcome Efficiency
Business Strategy form
Customers Perspective
Captures soft aspects of
value
Align Project Management
with Strategic objectives.
Service dominant Logic
Co-creation of Value from
Customers Perspective
Hard and Soft Logic
Product Leadership
Operational Excellence
Customer Intimacy
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
Purchase et al.
(2011)
Macintyre et al.,
(2011)
18. PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
Integrated Value Proposition…
• Client
• parent
• Consultant
• parent
• Contractor
• parent
• Beneficiary
• parent
• Formation of Project Enterprise
• Semi independent Organisation
• Harmonised Objectives and WIIFM
• Enables Quick decision making
• Ensures cradle to grave participation
• Peculiar policies and procedures
• Ensures shared risks and opportunities
• Combination of Individual value drivers
• Regulator
• parent
• Financier
• parent• Facility
• Managers parent
22. PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
o Ensures involvement of all stakeholders
in value co-creation, forging trust and
Project ownership.
o Focus remains on customer centric
solutions, focus on impact of outcomes
not output.
o It promotes skills transfer, knowledge
sharing and learning amongst team
members.
o It ensures benefits for all, for instance
retention of services, assurance of future
engagement and cost savings
(discounts) by the client due to
continuous engagement.
o Engagement of delivery team
throughout the project life span.
o Holistic identification and
management of risks through the
value chain.
o Knowledge generated is siloed in
the project but also shared and
exported to parent organisation
o learning is ensured and encouraged
due to the sense of permanence
that pervades the enterprise.
o The team continues to operate
virtually to renders post
commissioning services, for
instance monitoring of customers’
value-in–use, post-delivery.
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
Implications…
23. A Last Word….
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
‘Every one on earth spoke with one voice..co-creation,
and worked together ….collaboration.
Imagine what would have happened
Without divine intervention!
24. Credits…
o AJAM, M. & BAUWMANS, L. 2012. Four Dimensions of measuring Project Success. http://ipms.sukad.com/PM-blog-
English/bid/116142/Four-dimensions-for-Measuring-project-success [Online].
o ATKINSON, R. 1999. Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, its time to
accept other success criteria. International journal of project management, 17, 337-342.
o BARRETT, P. 2005. Revaluing construction: a global CIB agenda. International Council for Research and Innovation
in Building and Construction (CIB), Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
o BRADY, T., DAVIES, A. & GANN, D. 2005a. Can integrated solutions business models work in construction?
Building Research & Information, 33, 571-579.
o DAINTY, A. 2007. Achieving value through product-service integration: contexts and challenges. CIB Priority
Theme-Revaluing Construction: A W065 ‘Organisation and Management of Construction’ Perspective, 45.
o FROW, P. & PAYNE, A. 2011. A stakeholder perspective of the value proposition concept. European Journal of
Marketing, 45, 223-240.
o LANGFORD, D. 2007. Revaluing Construction–Hard and Soft Values. Sexton, M. et al.
o MACINTYRE, M., PARRY, G. & ANGELIS, J. 2011. Service design and delivery, New York ; London, Springer.
o OGC 2010. Management of Value – MOVTM., London, TSO.
o THOMSON, D. 2011. A pilot study of client complexity, emergent requirements and stakeholder perceptions of
project success. Construction Management and Economics, 29, 69-82.
o THOMSON, D. S., AUSTIN, S. A., MILLS, G. R. & DEVINE-WRIGHT, H. 2003b. Addressing the subjective view of value
delivery.
o VARGO, S. L., MAGLIO, P. P. & AKAKA, M. A. 2008. On value and value co-creation: A service systems and service
logic perspective. European management journal, 26, 145-152.
o WINCH, G. M. 2010. Managing construction projects, Wiley-Blackwell.
PMI AFRICA CONFERENCE 2015
Editor's Notes
Hi, my name is vivienne ogbonna. A little about myself..I am a registered architect with the Nigerian Institute of Architects, I am also a Project management and Risk management Professional with a prince 2 certification. I also have a professional diploma in procurement. However, i have worked as a project manager with the Central bank of Nigeria for the past 11years.
Prior to that I worked in the private sector, construction, Interior and consultancy. It is from this wealth of experience that I wish to share some thoughts with you on value creation and delivery on building construction projects. A bulk of the material utilized in this presentation is based on findings from an original research conducted, with emperical data obtained from interviews with project management practitioners and academicians.
This paper aims to put across a few innovative thoughts on value delivery as it applies to construction projects. Value delivery and creation are not new concepts in service delivery however the application in construction has seemed illusive due to the different perceptions of the diverse professionals in industry. With a highly disintegrated value chain, delivering consistent value has since been a mirage due to this lack of sync in industry. The most compelling literature on value creation I have come across recently was by Brady who questioned if integrated systems could be adopted in construction projects, where he concluded that this would remain a mirage if the fragmented and complex nature was not addressed. This paper therefore seeks to expose innovative ways which value can be holistically created and delivered in construction projects by applying best practices in service delivery logic.
The role of building construction in a nation’s economy cannot be over emphasized. It accounts for 10% of the wealth generated yearly in advanced countries and 20% in industrialized countries inclusive of its supply chain Further, approximately 50% of all capital investments of assets in countries is spent on construction, thus making it expedient for projects to be effectively and efficiently constructed and maintained to deliver value and benefits as well as to avoid waste of scarce resources. In Africa, with a population of 1.1 billion which is about 10% of the world population and a GDP of $2.39 billion as at 2013, achieving project success has been somewhat of a mirage in the construction industry. There is a high spate of abandoned projects, issues with poor housing inadequate road network, poor infrastructure and inability of the construction workforce to come up with innovative and holistic solutions to this challenges. Also, with rising awareness of genuine concepts and concerns like the sustainability, resilience, depletion of the ozone layer, green architecture and reduction of carbon footprints, delivering value in construction is critical to adequately capture these through the delivery of value along the project life cycle. In view of this, construction must depart and go beyond delivering product delivery to that of providing a total parcel of offerings which holistically meet the desired expectations of key stakeholders to a very large extent. It was in light of this that the call for other yardstick for delivering value in projects was pressed for both by the EPRSC and CIB for the adoption of the 10Cs in ensuring the value creation and delivery in projects.
As part of its corporate social responsibility, The Bank intervenes in real sector projects. This boys academy in the northern part of Nigeria is one of such Projects. The beneficiaries required amongst
other things , the renovation of the classrooms and hostels. This was one of the few projects which was largely completed to time cost and quality however, shortly after the renovation works were completed and before commissioning, the roof of several classrooms were observed to have become discolored and were sagging. It was discovered that the young men had taken to cooking stolen chicken within the confines of the roof. Humorous and disturbing as that was when you consider the risk of fire, it beggars the question of appropriate and comprehensive stakeholder engagement and requirement solicitation, fit for purpose as against fit for use. Ultimately of what value was the end product if it couldn’t envisage and accommodate the excentricités of the end users
The Construction industry has been dominated by the objective view of value creation expressed through adoption of quantitative methods of creating and delivering value, known as value management and value engineering (value analysis) These methods are used to achieve balance between satisfaction of customer expectations and the resources expended to achieve that satisfaction, also known as ‘Value for Money’ (VFM) or the ‘value ratio’.
Value is created when a series of planned interventions is applied to an on-going process and is effective in meeting the stakeholder’s expectations or needs The implication therefore is; for value to be created in Construction projects they must reflect long term business needs of sponsoring organisation by delivering expected benefits efficiently and economically. Value therefore is only obtained when the right buildings which are affordable, productive, easy to use, maintain or operate as well as sustainable are delivered
These current subjective measures create a difficulty of expectation as value is defined based on purpose, intent and viewpoint of each stakeholder, as illustrated in the definition by (Miles, 1972) stating that:
‘Value means different things to different people’ , My all time favorite where he adequately captures the dual sides of Value tangible or quantitative and intangible Qualitative. In the construction industry which is heavily fragmented with different specialist handling diverse aspects, consistent and incremental value delivery along the chain would ensure all stakeholders expectations are captured, and there is no room for speculation.
This slide adequately captures the various perceptions of stakeholders in industry and the value they deliver. All the client wanted was a simple tree Fragmentation in industry allows for major hostilities With each actor angling for the star role. In Nigeria for instance, It has always been a battle between the quantity surveyors and the architects, cost before design r design before cost. Whatever the case consideration of each stakeholders WIIFM Must be taken into consideration to avoid getting a product unfit for purpose. This difference perceptions impact meaning and subsequently behaviour of stakeholders (Walker, 2007). For instance in industry the sentience of the various professionals creates strong allegiances which compel them to respond to projects requirements differently. Factors which dictate stakeholder values could be motivation, what’s in it for me (WIIFM), self-actualization or other factors in line with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Stakeholder perception could be varied and conflicting, and has to be properly managed to ensure a correct meaning is translated to requirements and subsequently solutions
Lets consider a typical product life cycle, cradle to grave for holistic solutions that’s the way to go really. The involvement of major key stakeholders and service providers as it obtains in most
Procurement methods commences and terminates at certain points thus reducing the opportunity for valuable contributions by all parties, many of whom desire to make an impact beyond their designated responsibility. The value stream in the construction Industry is considerably disintegrated as a range of specialized and integrated firms have emerged to compete and cooperate along the value stream as procurement specialists, consultants, contractors, nominated contractors and other service providers, with the Main Contractor focusing more on the provision of services to the final consumer and outsourcing many activities (Davies, 2004).
Construction projects are executed by client’s organisations who engage other organisations to carry out the activities to meet their objectives. These activities are executed by teams comprising different members with diverse expectations. The team composition, project processes and team management is affected by the organisational structure and policies of the key stakeholder organisations. All these in effect introduce more complexity into the process, which if properly managed will positively impact the delivery of project value.
Value is created when benefits are realized and utilized by the client’s customers and other stakeholders. Organizations achieve this by providing innovative solutions for their internal or external clients as well as other stakeholders, by utilizing the best mix of resources to attain overall project success.
In view of this, an investigation is required to understanding the challenges encountered by project management practitioners in delivering value in industry. This is with a view to identifying the major factors which constitute barriers to value creation so as to formulate a framework which can effectively manage them to ensure project overall success.
This research project therefore utilises a phenomenological approach to solicit and analysis ‘meanings’ of value creation experiences from project management practitioners in industry, through semi structured and focused group interviews. The results are examined in relation to their impact on project success, with a view to recommending solutions which would form a rationale for an integrated value proposition (IVP) The research was a qualitative study adopting a philosophical stance based on the ontological construct of idealism which on ‘Idealism’ which asserts that reality is knowledgeable through the human mind and socially constructed meanings addresses questions on nature of reality, denoting that reality is formulated from the minds of participants in a study, and not ‘out there’ (Ritchie and Lewis, 2003, Creswell and Creswell, 2007).
The research was a phenomenological one using empirical data solicited from Industry practitioners through open ended Interviews, which was analysed using the Nvivo Software. First we aimed to identify what value
And delivery meant to the respondents and Later what the challenges were in delivering This value identified alongside their perceived SolutionsAs identified by the literature, there is no one definition of success; the research findings indicate that perception of success is influenced by respondent’s expectation. Stakeholders have perceptions of value based on their knowledge, goals and context (Kelly et al., 2004), Interviewee responses were further broken down by percentage in figure 6.3 below. While 100% of respondents placed emphasis on achievement of success by outputs meeting strategic business objective, 80% attribute success to the product being completed to time cost and quality, 40% define success as creating a product which gives value for money and 60% attribute it to yield of intangible value. This is reflected in the major descriptions of success which include: A product which possess intangible value and An outcome which meets the strategic business objective of the client or sponsor, A product which is completed to the triple constraint of time cost and quality ,An output which give value for money.
This confirms the assumption that the perception of success in industry transcended the triple constraint as proposed by literary scholars (Atkinson, 1999)
Analysis of the challenges experienced by respondent in creating value throughout the project life was categorisation into four major themes or factors with different emphasis of Stakeholder factors, Value creation process factors, Organisational factors and External factors as illustrated above. While Value Creation process and Stakeholder issues seem to dominate the barriers to value creation, external factors presents the least challenges, this is probably because the challenge is already defined and sometimes known before the project, as in the case of building regulations which should be complied with.
Organisational factors were considered as barriers as they describe the conflict between the project organisation and the individual organisations represented in the construction process. This conflict could be explained by the friction which exists between the permanent state of the organisations and the temporary state of projects as highlighted by Walker (2007) and which is further emphasized by Organisational Policy
The stakeholders representing different organisations, possess different cultures and mind-sets(Walker, 2007) professional cultures, thus introducing conflict, different levels of knowledge
Change in Service Providers
The penchant for industry is to further fragment deployment of services between providers, as exemplified in division between designers, and builders The impact of this change on the project is loss of time as well as knowledge Procurement Method
Three main issues where identified with the procurement method;
Continuous insistence with adopting traditional methods (Winch, 2003) which results in focus on outputs or products to time cost and quality (Cookes and Williams, 2009), while negating involvement of the contractor at pre contract and post commissioning, More contemporary solutions adopted to address these issues are public private partnership (PPP) for public buildings or the public finance initiative (PFI) (Winch, 2010). Other initiatives identified by the research include the NEC, Build Operate and transfer (BOT) or the turn key projects. While these methods seek to ensure shared risk and profit proportionally amongst stakeholders, the demerit is that the involvement of the contractor beyond the defect liability period, it is usually at a premium.
The main external issues identified as affecting the creation of value in industry were
Influence of External stakeholders,
Market pressure
Economic Pressure
The external stakeholders identified were planning authorities and political stake-holders whose influence is sometimes largely beyond the control of the project managers and domiciled with the client. The influences, for instance of building regulations or an environmental impact analysis (EIA), affect the building structure (outputs). However, the effect is added value in the project, with a beneficial outcome for the larger community (Sadeh et al., 2000; Barrett, 2005), bringing for instance factors like sustainability. . However the length of time it takes for the authorities to, for instance, process planning permits as well as approve designs and obtain planning approvals, introduces severe time constraints on the process.
Value is created using a combination of project management processes and procedures; some identified during the study include risk management, value management and engineering, change management, project and program management and requirement management. The research did not explicitly investigate the methodologies adopted in practice as it was erroneously assumed only value management studies were done. The semi-structured interview however clarified otherwise; indicating that several methods are adopted in ensuring value is created in industry.
Nevertheless, research showed that unfamiliarity and ignorance with these processes poses a problem with adopting them to create value in projects. Project management processes ensure that the right techniques are applied to obtain required results. Other issues associated with this factor include sources of fund, inadequate planning, non- integration of project management plans, poor management and facilitation of the project process, for instance non engagement of key users resulting in proffering of solutions which do not yield real business benefits (William and Parr, 2004), poor transition of project phases, resource constraint, scope and change management, unclear objectives, unforeseen technical issue.
Managing people was identified as one of the biggest issues in creating value in industry, especially in one that is not only highly fragmented but also the largest employer of small scale businesses with diverse specialities. The human factor is critical as people, not processes are the key resource to delivering projects (Macintyre et al., 2011; Cooke-Davies, 2002). The number of interfaces which exist between the stakeholders involved in value, benefits and satisfaction decisions (Kelly, 2006) all have an impact on the creation of value. People come into the process with diverse and unpredictable expectations, which should be managed to prevent scuttling the entire project or program.
The stakeholders in industry are at different hierarchies and powers levels, which are not necessarily matched (Kelly et al., 2004). Failure to identify the roles and influence of these stakeholders could have a negative impact the project. Other complicated traits identified during the research but not spotted in the literature reviewed include bias, pride, and conflict.
A distinct challenge identified by one of the respondents was that of value judgements, which informed stakeholders’ definition of project success and as such drove their actions. Conflict which might arise as a result of these differing value judgements can be addressed by first ensuring the joint production of a brief (Chinyio, 2007) which adequately communicates the clients ethos to the rest of the team. The issue with this scenario is that solutions which have been argued on between consultants and clients may be radically challenged by the contractor (who was not engaged at the briefing stage), but who could possess a better and more cost effective solution than the one agreed upon
This collapse of this building made the history pages on the dark day of September 12th 2014 in which a total of 116 deceased our hearts and prayers goes to the families that lost their loved ones in the tragedy, but there are lessons which we can draw from this for posterity. The inquest and coroners verdict of October identified the lack of structural errors in the foundation failure based on bad detailing and poor structural designs as the main cause of the collapse. Further construction of the building was well under way before approval was sought. Indeed at the time of the inquest there was no approval for the building. The contractor was also to be charged for criminal negligence for supervision without relevant approvals of the designs
To prevent future occurrence, Komolafe further recommended that:
• Individual /organisation must endeavour to obtain relevant building permits before commencement of any building construction; and
• individual/organisation must engage the services of qualified and competent engineers/consultant in carrying out building constructions.
Also, the court said government agencies responsible for ‘monitoring and inspection at every stage of construction should be alive to their responsibilities. “Government agency must be rid of corruption, including issuance of fake receipts and greasing of palms during inspection of construction works on site; Statutory/first responders should be adequately equipped to perform their functions effectively and efficiently.
“Government should reduce the cost of obtaining necessary building permits/ approval and remove all administrative bottlenecks in order to encourage individual/ organisation go through the due process of obtaining necessary building permits/approval before commencement of building construction(s).
The first is with the definition of the term ‘user’. This refers in a broad sense to the beneficiary who ends up with the output; in the narrow sense however, it refers to all those involved in the value chain who have to make use of each other’s outputs in creating added value as inputs requisite for the client’s customer’s outcome. This ensures a single continuous chain of focus. For instance the contractor is the secondary user of the architect’s (output) drawings and the client’s customer the primary user of the contractor's out –put.
Secondly, ‘holistic’ refers to the capture of the two key dimensions of value creation, tangible (hard, objective) and intangible (soft, subjective).Thirdly, a holistic approach to construction activities addresses the break in value creation activities which occur upstream and downstream in the project life cycle (Barrett, 2005) by forming a project coalition.
Therefore this research proposes an integrated project enterprise as a coalition which ensures collaboration between streams of independent activities enabling co-creation, by drawing on the strengths and resources of each of the major stakeholders (Macintyre et al., 2011). However where Macintyre et al. (2011) allude to coalitions as temporary structures, the researcher argues for a state of semi-permanence, which does not necessarily contradict the definition of projects as “temporary endeavors with a definite beginning and end” (PMI, 2000), as the project enterprise becomes virtual and dormant until further services are required.
Adopting an integrated project enterprise structure as a form of construction coalition is proposed as an effective way to manage the identified factors which introduce barriers to value creation. This structure would require a temporary break from parent organisations to form an integrated semi-independent entity similar to a joint venture company (JVC) (Barrett, 2005). The resources (men and materials) are contributed by the individual parent companies, but the policies and processes adopted are peculiar to the project.
The enterprise structure enables the combination of individual value drivers to co-create best solutions for client’s customer, and manage activities requisite for the creation and delivery of both hard and soft dimensions of value, thereby resulting in benefits for all stakeholders. This structure further enables the project manager to plan, synchronize and manage stakeholder requirements based on the project without recourse to parent organisation. Being a symbiotic relationship, this approach further ensures involvement of all stakeholders from cradle to grave, and ensures appropriate distribution of risk and profit (Winch, 2010). Finally it enables the project manager to have limited interference and pressure from parent organisations, set realistic estimates and bestows on him more authority and power to be flexible in decision making and innovatively.
Resource Based View (RBV) is a Management strategy in which people are the dominant feature (Boxall and Purcell, 2011). Identifying what is most valuable to Apple and protecting it with barriers to imitation is the heart of RBV. Identifying and harnessing unique competencies result in competitive advantage (WMG OPP Notes, 2012). Resources are seen as either adding strength or a source of weakness of an organization, they could be tangible or intangible and as in the case of Apple could be the brand name, technical expertise of the personnel, trade contacts, procedures and processes (Wernerfelt, 1984). In RBV, Apple must rely on a ‘sustained’ competitive advantage, which the competition would be unable to imitate (Barney 2000).
Adopting an integrated project enterprise structure as a form of construction coalition is proposed as an effective way to manage the identified factors which introduce barriers to value creation. This structure would require a temporary break from parent organisations to form an integrated semi-independent entity similar to a joint venture company (JVC) (Barrett, 2005). The resources (men and materials) are contributed by the individual parent companies, but the policies and processes adopted are peculiar to the project.
The enterprise structure enables the combination of individual value drivers to co-create best solutions for client’s customer, and manage activities requisite for the creation and delivery of both hard and soft dimensions of value, thereby resulting in benefits for all stakeholders. This structure further enables the project manager to plan, synchronize and manage stakeholder requirements based on the project without recourse to parent organisation. Being a symbiotic relationship, this approach further ensures involvement of all stakeholders from cradle to grave, and ensures appropriate distribution of risk and profit (Winch, 2010). Finally it enables the project manager to have limited interference and pressure from parent organisations, set realistic estimates and bestows on him more authority and power to be flexible in decision making and innovatively.
Resource Based View (RBV) is a Management strategy in which people are the dominant feature (Boxall and Purcell, 2011). Identifying what is most valuable to Apple and protecting it with barriers to imitation is the heart of RBV. Identifying and harnessing unique competencies result in competitive advantage (WMG OPP Notes, 2012). Resources are seen as either adding strength or a source of weakness of an organization, they could be tangible or intangible and as in the case of Apple could be the brand name, technical expertise of the personnel, trade contacts, procedures and processes (Wernerfelt, 1984). In RBV, Apple must rely on a ‘sustained’ competitive advantage, which the competition would be unable to imitate (Barney 2000).
The story of the city of Babel is recorded in Genesis 11:1–9. Everyone on earth spoke the same language. As people migrated from the east, they settled in the land of Shinar. People there sought to make bricks and build a city and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for themselves, so that they not be scattered over the world. God came down to look at the city and tower, and remarked that as one people with one language, nothing that they sought would be out of their reach. God went down and confounded their speech, so that they could not understand each other, and scattered them over the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city. Thus the city was called Babel. As it appears in the King James version of the Bible:
The spoke with one voice….co-creation, and worked together collaboration. Imagine what would have happened without a divine intervention!
