
Elevate Construction Ep.328 - A Superintendent's Standing Orders!
Jason talks about mental discipline and superintendent standing orders. Research shows we have an exhaustible, not inexhaustible, supply of self-discipline, study where people remembering eight numbers were twice as likely to eat donuts at end because mental discipline was exhausted. Judges after lunch are three times as likely to convict criminals. You can white knuckle habits or change your circumstances—your mind will either fix the problem or justify you having it, won't stay in contradictory gap. To change: get clarity on what you want, know when you're not on track, interrupt the pattern, fill void with good things, get accountability partner. Change space and time to support good habits. Superintendent standing orders: if you have Takt planning, you need Takt control. Superintendent must use Takt plan daily to plan, execute, and adjust work, simulate what changes do to all three flows (workflow, trade flow, logistical flow). Hold schedule start and end dates to reduce variation, don't randomly move trades early just because first wagon finishes in 3 days instead of 5, it ripples variation through everyone's plans. "If a superintendent can't run a clean site, they can't do anything else. Cleanliness plus organization equals safety." Production laws: Little's law (small batch sizes, improve cycle times), law of bottlenecks (optimize and improve), law of effect of variation (variation increases throughput times), Kingman's formula (cycle time affected by capacity utilization and variation).
What you'll learn in this episode:
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Why mental discipline is exhaustible, not inexhaustible, study shows people remembering 8 numbers twice as likely to eat donuts because discipline was depleted; judges after lunch 3x more likely to convict
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White knuckling vs changing circumstances: your mind will either fix the problem or justify you having it, won't stay in contradictory gap, so change space and time to support good habits
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The 5-step habit change system: get clarity on what you want, know when you're off track, interrupt the pattern, fill void with good addictive things, get accountability partner
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Superintendent standing orders for Takt control: use Takt plan daily, simulate changes against all three flows, hold start/end dates to reduce variation, don't randomly move trades early
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Why holding dates matters: if first Takt wagon finishes in 3 days instead of 5, don't move second wagon from Monday to Thursday, ripples variation through everyone's plans and slows team
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The clean site foundation: "If a superintendent can't run a clean site, they can't do anything else. Cleanliness plus organization equals safety.", this is where everything starts
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Production laws superintendents must follow: Little's law (small batches), law of bottlenecks (optimize constraints), law of effect of variation (variation increases duration), Kingman's formula (cycle time formula)
"If a superintendent can't run a clean site, they can't do anything else. Cleanliness plus organization equals safety."
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Also, here are links to our YouTube Channels:
· Jason Schroeder YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4xpRYvrW5Op5Ckxs4vDGDg
· LeanTakt YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/leanTakt
· LeanSuper YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQDevqQP19L4LePuqma3Fg/featured
· LeanSurvey YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Ztn3okFhyB_3p5nmMKnsw
