The Learning Curve We Accept… Until It’s Tech
In one real-world study, formwork and rebar crews on a 20-story building doubled their production over the first five floors.
Same crew. Same building. Same materials. Just more reps leading to better results.
We don’t blink when a crew is a little slow pouring that first slab.
In fact, in construction, we expect it. Whether it’s tying rebar, hanging pipe or laying track, we know it takes time for crews to get into their groove. But once they do? The cycle times tighten, coordination sharpens and production climbs. This “learning curve” is as common in construction operations as hard hats and boots.
But, when we implement new construction technology, suddenly that same curve becomes a panic.
We roll out a new field app, introduce a reality capture or go all-in on a new project management software… and when it’s not instantly flawless? The reaction is often frustration, disengagement or even abandonment.
Why is it that we give our crews grace to learn how to build — but not our teams time to learn how to build better?
The Learning Curve Is Not a Bug, It’s a Feature
The similarities between an operation and an implementation are hard to overlook.
When a new operation kicks off on-site — say, installing prefabricated MEP racks — the first few cycles are rough. Teams are figuring out sequencing, coordination, toolsets and communication. It’s not unusual for the first install to take twice as long as the tenth. But no one pulls the plug after rack #1. We adjust. We iterate. We know that the path to success includes a slow start.
That exact same curve exists with new tech.
The first time your PMs enter daily logs into a new platform, it’s slow. The first time superintendents check models on a tablet, they’re clunky. The first time a VDC coordinator tries to automate clash detection, there’s confusion.
It doesn’t mean the tech is bad. It means the team is learning.
Somewhere we forgot that tech is a construction operation as well. It is only right to give it the same runway we give our boots on the ground.
What We Know from the Field
We’ve studied the learning curve in construction for decades. And the data is rock solid: repetition leads to efficiency.
When a crew starts a new operation, like forming the first floor of a high-rise, they are figuring things out as they go. And boy will it feel like a slog early on. But by the fifth or sixth floor they’ve moved into their rhythm. But that was no fluke. It’s been measured again and again all over the world.
On concrete frames in Europe, researchers found that production improved by 5-15% every time the crew doubled the number of pours. That’s a huge gain. Think about it: after pouring 4 slabs, the crew is roughly 15% faster than they were after 2. And 30% faster by the time they’ve done 8. They learned the workflow, the layout and the quirks while smoothing out the snags.
Even with complex systems like prefabbed MEP racks, we see it. One hospital project found it took 3 weeks to install the first rack. But once the team got their footing? After that each one took only 2 weeks, a 33% improvement. The racks didn’t change, the team did.
In fact, most companies teach that forecasting an operation on past performance is only applicable after the first 20-30% of the work is complete. Anything before that, it’s a learning phase. It’s such a reliable pattern that experienced project managers don’t expect peak performance at the start, because they know that performance builds with familiarity.
That’s simply how learning works.
So, when we see that exact same dip at the beginning of a tech rollout — when the first users are slower, the first reports are clunky, the first mistakes are made — we shouldn’t be surprised. We should be nodding. We've seen this story before. We already know how it ends. It ends with better, faster, smoother results.
Stop Expecting Mastery on Day One
Technology is no different than formwork. The first few attempts are clunky. But with repetition, teams become faster, more confident and more creative in how they use it.
Yet most construction companies give new tech less grace than they give a rookie carpenter. We roll it out, expect instant results and throw our hands up in abandon it when it doesn’t work out immediately.
Let’s change that.
Let’s normalize slow starts and build the learning curve into our adoption phase. We should be treating digital workflows like the construction operations they are: repetitive, learnable and improvable.
Progress Requires Patience
There’s a reason your best crews hit their stride after a few cycles. And there’s a reason your tech adoption will too — you just have to be patient and allow it.
The learning curve isn’t a barrier. It’s the price of admission for doing something new and better. We already accept it in construction, it’s time we accept it in ConTech too.
Construction is cool, tell your friends!