Elevate Construction

Too many people arrive at their leadership position, organize their desk, and enter a state of comfortable hedonism where they stop growing, stop stretching, and stop becoming who they were designed to be. Draw a line on a piece of paper from birth to when you die. On the left side, write down the beautiful moments that shaped you. On the right side, write down what you want to accomplish before you die. That right side is your why, and protecting it means you stop wasting time on things that don't get you there. Your future is so beautiful and your happily ever after is waiting for you, but nothing comes for free. You have to grind 100% to earn that remarkable life. What you'll learn in this episode: The timeline exercise that helps you find your why and stop wasting time Why so many leaders get stuck in hedonism after they arrive at their position How to identify what truly matters on the right side of your line before you die Why 85 to 95 percent success rate exists for superintendent bootcamp versus 95 plus percent for field engineers (stuck people who won't stretch) The reality that you have to grind Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday with no breaks to live that remarkable life If your career is not heading you toward the right side of your line, why are you there? What are you going to do about it? If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊). 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

Construction lacks kindness, and it's costing us more than we realize. There's actual science proving that kindness makes people healthier, more productive, and more resilient. Yet we treat trade partners like they're beneath us, we create toxic environments, and we wonder why our teams are struggling. Your job as a leader is not just to build projects. It's to create an environment where people are excited to come to work, where they know how to win every day, where they feel connected and relevant. At the end of your life, you will not look back at the buildings you built. You will immediately recognize the relationships you had, and you will hope those were positive. What you'll learn in this episode: The Rabbit Effect study that proves kindness makes people healthier on a molecular level Why the construction industry lacks kindness and what it's costing us How to create connection on your project team through measurement, clear expectations, and knowing people's families The true measure of courage: having hard conversations without getting mad or punishing people Why you need to be around kind people and step away from negative, destructive environments Are people excited to come to work on your project? Do they know how to win every day? Have you told them how special they are? If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊). 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

If you're managing six different scheduling systems and it's taking forever to update them all, you're missing the integration that makes everything work. Jason just had the epiphany that changes everything. The work steps in Takt planning translate directly into your weekly work plan and your sprint backlog. That means you're not recreating plans over and over. You're pulling from a collaborative flow system that already has the production rates, the trade sequencing, and the make ready work packaged. Instead of spending hours populating weekly work plans from scratch, you're pulling pre-planned work steps based on formulas and flow. This is the magic formula that will save you one twelfth of the time managing your schedule. What you'll learn in this episode: How Takt work steps translate directly into weekly work plans and sprint backlogs Why this integration saves you one twelfth of the time managing schedules The difference between planning far ahead in CPM (guessing what will happen) versus Takt (identifying what should happen based on production rates) How trades can actually commit in Last Planner meetings because supply chains are managed through the Takt system Why the current condition of managing six different scheduling systems is breaking down and what to do instead The current condition is it takes way too long to do our schedules and short interval planning. Now that we know how to integrate these systems, it's time to go. If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊). 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

You need to stop sounding like a professor and start using words that stick. Construction teams need simple, memorable phrases that rally them toward the right behaviors, not technical jargon that goes in one ear and out the other. A good buzz phrase gets everyone focused, re-centered, and moving in the same direction. When Jason created the rally cry "clean and steady" at the research laboratory, it worked because people could understand it, remember it, and repeat it. The question isn't whether you use buzzwords. It's whether you're using the right ones to create focus and drive the behaviors your project needs right now. What you'll learn in this episode: Why simple buzz phrases work better than technical jargon for rallying teams Jason's favorite lean construction rally cries and what each one means How "clean and steady" became a war cry that transformed behavior on the research laboratory project Key phrases like "plan it first, build it right, finish as you go" and "flow where you can, pull when you can't, don't push" Why "create flow" is the one word Jason would take if the whole lean house was burning down What's your buzz phrase? What's your rally cry? What does your project need right now to get everyone focused on the same thing? If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊). 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

Not all owner's representatives are created equal, and how you work with them can make or break your project. Some have high expectations that stretch you into becoming better, and you should thank them for it. Others create chaos, overburden your team, and slow the job down while thinking they're helping. And some are completely hands-off, which means you need to step up and take control. The question isn't whether your owner's rep is difficult. It's whether you're leading the project in a way that prevents problems before they ever need to get involved. What you'll learn in this episode: The three types of owner's representatives you'll encounter and how to work with each one Why reasonable owner's reps with high expectations are a gift that makes you better How unreasonable owner's reps destroy flow by overburdening your team and sympathy voting designers Why you can't just do what the owner's rep tells you if you know it's wrong—you're paid to get it done right How to take control of the project and prevent situations from escalating in the first place At the end of the day, it's not about what they told you to do. It's about whether you had the leadership to take charge and fix the job before they ever needed to step in. If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊). 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

Jason records from Southern California while finishing the second edition of "Elevating Construction Takt Planning." Opens with story: superintendent on failing project wants coaching, "That's not coaching, that's project recovery." Key warning: if your project is struggling and you start pushing harder ("I need more material, more manpower, keep pushing, rush it"), you're just extending the overall duration. "The more busyness you have, the longer it's going to take and the more it's going to cost. Unless you create flow, unless you stabilize the project with Takt planning, you will not recover your project. That is scientific." How to visit projects with purpose: talk to all levels (craft workers, janitors, entry-level engineers, foremen, senior team), attend team meetings to assess energy and trust, do lunch with leaders to get real feedback, walk the job using Ono circles (stand and observe flow for 30 minutes to 2 hours), ask about their problems, assess if people's strengths match their roles, use team health surveys. Signs of a project in trouble: lack of flow, poor safety culture, high turnover, dysfunctional team, bad bathrooms with graffiti, cancerous people not removed, more than one trade not performing, unreasonable owner's rep. Distinction: Lorna Gray (University of Arizona) had high but reasonable expectations that made Jason better; unreasonable reps believe every area must be busy, default to adding manpower, undermine GC with trades. What you'll learn in this episode: The busyness trap: pushing harder when behind ("more material, more manpower, rush") scientifically extends duration and increases cost, only flow and stabilization recover projects How to visit projects effectively: talk to all levels (don't walk past everyone to PM's office and close door), attend team meetings to assess energy/trust/conflict, walk the job using Ono circles The lunch technique: creates mental trigger for looseness and real-time feedback, "if you see them having fun, good sign; if stuffy, there's issues" Ono circle method: find a perch, stand for 30 minutes to 2 hours, observe energy and flow or lack of flow, see the waste Signs of trouble: lack of flow, poor safety culture, high turnover, bad bathrooms with graffiti, cancerous people not removed, more than one major trade not performing Reasonable vs unreasonable high expectations: Lorna Gray held impossible-feeling standards but they were logical; unreasonable reps believe in overproduction, busyness everywhere, adding people as first default "You will not recover your project if you start pushing. The only way to do it is if you start flowing." If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free, and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊). 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

Jason shares Chapter 17 of "Calumet K" by Merwin Webster, the final chapter. Planning postponed Christmas dinner, need big hall, weather too cold for distributing floor. Max, Pete, Bannon making tables from planks and boxes, decorating with flags and scalloped shelf paper. Bannon offers Max assistant position on Indianapolis concrete elevator project: "It's going to be concrete from the spiles up. There ain't anything like it in the country." Max wants to talk to Hilda first. Pete asks Hilda to be guest of honor, she refuses: "I only came to help." Awkward tension. Hilda sends Max for napkins—signal she wants to talk to Bannon alone. "Did you mean it? Did you mean the whole thing?" She slowly nods. They hang flags together. Bannon tells her about Indianapolis project, then realizes: "Can you go with me Monday?" She nods. "And you'll stay for the dinner, won't you?" She nods again. James tries giving speech praising Bannon—Bannon physically stops him: "We aren't handing out any soft soap at this dinner." James shouts: "How about this, boys? Shall we stand it?" Chorus: "No!" "All right then. Three cheers for Mr. Bannon. Now, hip hip—" Response unstoppable. End of Calumet K. What you'll learn in this episode: The apprentice-to-assistant pipeline: Bannon recognizes Max's growth, offers him assistant role on revolutionary concrete elevator project, investing in people who proved themselves Why Hilda initially refuses guest of honor seat: knows it will force public acknowledgment of relationship before she's decided, she wants control of timing The napkin signal: "Max, won't you go out and get enough napkins?", Hilda taking control, creating space to talk to Bannon, reversing her week of avoidance Bannon's forgotten promise: gets excited about Indianapolis project, forgets vacation entirely until she asks "When are you going to begin?", work comes naturally to him The Monday question: "Can you go with me Monday?", not the romantic St. Lawrence trip, just straight to next job together, she says yes Why Bannon stops James's speech: "We aren't handing out any soft soap. If you try that again, I'll throw you out the window.", protects both his reputation and Hilda's privacy "Three cheers for Mr. Bannon. Now, hip hip" There was no stopping that response. If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free, and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊). 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

Jason shares Chapter 16 of "Calumet K" by Merwin Webster. After the proposal, Bannon exhausted but wanders elevator aimlessly. Carpenter finds him at top of marine tower: "I ain't on this shift. I just come around to see how things were going. We're going to see you through, Mr. Bannon." Finest tribute he ever received, reinvigorates him completely. Pete physically forces Bannon to bed around 10pm, literally picks him up: "I'm boss here at night and I fire you till morning." Bannon oversleeps next morning, first time ever, deeply humiliated. Final day: water buckets placed by every bearing. Bannon inspects everything four times, writes "Okay, CB Bannon" on stairway door in blue pencil. Big powerhouse siren signals start, men streaming in from everywhere. "Here's where we go slow. All machinery thrown in one thing at a time." Wheat pours in from cars and barges. Marine leg descends 90 feet into barge hold: "magnificent audacity, heavy enough to wreck the barge like birch bark canoe if it got away." Pete climbs down sleet-covered leg to patch leak. December 30th noon: clear they'll finish. Next morning: "She's full, Mr. Bannon. I congratulate you." McBride: "Do you want to sleep or talk business?" Bannon: "Sleep? I've been oversleeping lately." What you'll learn in this episode: The power of earned loyalty: carpenter not on shift, came just to watch, "We're going to see you through, Mr. Bannon"—tribute recharged Bannon completely after emotional exhaustion When the boss needs forced rest: Pete literally picks Bannon up and carries him, "I'm boss here at night and I fire you till morning", sometimes leadership means overruling the leader The signature of completion: Bannon writes "Okay, CB Bannon" on blank stairway door in blue pencil, simple mark of personal accountability and pride Starting big systems carefully: "Here's where we go slow. All machinery thrown in one thing at a time. Line shafts first, then elevators. She's got to run light 15 minutes." Risk-taking under pressure: Pete climbing down sleet-covered 90-foot marine leg over open barge hold to patch leak mid-operation, "playing his neck against half hour's delay as serenely as most men walk downstairs to dinner" The final accounting: December 31st morning, superintendent holds out hand, "She's full, Mr. Bannon. I congratulate you." "We're going to see you through, Mr. Bannon." The finest tribute he ever received. If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free, and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊). 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

Jason shares Chapter 15 of "Calumet K" by Merwin Webster. The national wheat speculation fight explained: Paige Company vs "the click", if Paige can't deliver by December 31st, he loses everything. Storm arrives December 18th, northwest blizzard, 60 miles per hour, two feet of snow. Workers don't change shifts for 24 hours clearing snow. Days of biting cold where "carpenters who earned $3 a day envied the laborers whose work kept their blood moving." New delegate James points out drenched workers aren't productive, Bannon orders oilskin coat for every man, "they swarmed over the building looking like glistening yellow beetles." Christmas night: Bannon and Hilda in office, rain tapping on glass. "I've been thinking about my vacation. I've decided to go up to the St. Lawrence." They go to see completed belt gallery in the storm. Max realizes "for the first time in his life, another knew Hilda better than he did." In the belt gallery, rain driving through windows: "I don't believe we'd better write. You come along with me. Up to the St. Lawrence." Bannon proposes. Hilda silent, looking at him. "I think we'd better go back." He guides her back. "You don't mean that you can't do it." She shakes her head, hurries to office. What you'll learn in this episode: Understanding the stakes beyond the project: Paige's entire empire riding on Calumet K completion, "if Bannon should fail, Paige would be short 2 million bushels" with millions at risk Crisis leadership during natural disaster: 24-hour shifts clearing snow, no one takes regular hours option, "they felt as soldiers feel when led to the charge" The practical care principle: James points out wet workers aren't productive, Bannon immediately orders oilskin for everyone, not sentiment, just smart management Why the system works under pressure: "Division superintendents snapped out orders, conductors made flying switches in defiance of company orders", everyone aligned to single mission The proposal context matters: Bannon doesn't propose in comfort, he proposes in a rain-soaked belt gallery they just built together, in the middle of the biggest fight of his career Ambiguous ending interpretation: "She shakes her head", is it "no I can't" or "no, you don't understand, yes"? The text leaves it unresolved until next chapter "I don't want to go anywhere alone. I guess that's pretty plain, isn't it?" If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free, and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊). 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

Jason shares Chapter 14 of "Calumet K" by Merwin Webster. Victory's effect everywhere, Peterson won't sleep anymore this year, working harder than ever. Bannon has rare discouraged moment complaining about the job. Hilda diagnoses him: "You need excitement. The trouble today is everything's going too smoothly. You weren't afraid yesterday because you thought there was going to be a strike." Belt gallery challenge: railroad permits it but postcript says "not allowed to erect trestles or scaffolding in right-of-way", seemingly impossible. Bannon's solution: hang massive steel cable across tracks, suspend gallery construction from pulleys sliding along cable, build it hanging in midair. Brown finally sends silk hat, immediately blows into river, gets fished out thoroughly drowned. Christmas Eve: "Is tomorrow Christmas?" Bannon genuinely astonished. Makes audacious ask: "Can't we put it off a week? If you'll say Christmas is a week from tomorrow, I'll give every man a Christmas dinner you'll never forget." 48-hour build in northeast gale, gallery swaying wildly, men exhausted. Christmas afternoon 4:00pm: last bolt drawn taut, gallery done. Bannon worked 16 consecutive hours, ate two sandwiches. "She'll hold." What you'll learn in this episode: How victory changes everything: after Grady expelled, Peterson transformed from sulky afternoons to "I ain't going to sleep anymore this year, I don't like to miss any of it" The discouragement diagnosis: Hilda recognizes Bannon needs problems to solve, "if the elevator caught fire you'd feel all right again", some leaders thrive on crisis Engineering under impossible constraints: railroad says "no trestles, no scaffolding", Bannon hangs entire 150-foot gallery from cable suspended across tracks while building it The Christmas negotiation: asking men to work Christmas Day, offering fair trade, postpone celebration one week, everyone gets feast "you'll never forget, bring your friends" Why the ask worked: reciprocal commitment, Bannon's been working alongside them for months, proved he'll do what he asks of them, offers genuine compensation The final sprint execution: 16 hours straight Christmas Day, northeast gale shaking the structure, "sheer goodwill that drove the hammers" "Can't we put it off a week? If we work tomorrow and have her full of wheat a week from today, does that go?" If you like the Elevate Construction podcast, please subscribe for free, and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like the Elevate Construction podcast, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (Maybe even two 😊). 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