Forget waiting on slow crews or excess materials, the real waste in construction isn't on the site. It's in our culture. The 9th Waste, toxic conflict, ego, misalignment, and fear-based competition is rotting teams, projects, and even nations from the inside out.

In this episode, Jason breaks down why our obsession with "winning" is destroying cooperation, how it's holding back the entire construction industry, and what it will take to rebuild a culture based on respect, alignment, and total participation.

If you care about people, projects, or the future of our industry, this one's not optional.

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

What's really holding construction back, the lack of tech, or the lack of truth?

In this raw and unfiltered conversation, Jason sits down again with Charles McKenna to take on some of the hardest questions in the industry: Why are we so slow to adopt technology? Why do so many tools make life harder instead of easier? And how did we go from the most productive generation in history to one that's proud not to learn?

This is not your typical "innovation in construction" talk. Jason and Charles dig into:

• Why software companies are chasing investors instead of improvement.

• How America's "money first" mindset is destroying quality.

• The myth of "too many apps" and why refusing to learn is killing growth.

• The real reason behind the trades shortage (and it's not what you think).

• Why general contractors, not trades, hold the key to fixing the system.

Jason pulls no punches. From tech burnout to cultural decline, from immigration policy to jobsite respect, this episode challenges every leader to face the uncomfortable truth: we've lost our discipline to learn, our courage to stop bad systems, and our respect for people.

If you care about the future of construction, this is the conversation you can't afford to skip.

Listen now. Get uncomfortable. Get inspired. And start building better. 

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

What if the secret to world-class quality isn't technology but pride?

In this episode, Jason unpacks the Japanese concept of Monozukuri - the deep pride and craftsmanship that drives excellence in every detail of work. From the story of Japan's Seven-Minute Miracle cleaning crews to the engineering perfection of the Shinkansen bullet train, Jason reveals how love for the customer, pride in your craft, and acknowledgement of people create unstoppable performance.

You'll hear:

• How one leader turned a team of burned-out cleaners into national heroes through Kaizen.

• Why "acknowledging your people" might be the single most powerful productivity tool.

• How friction, frustration, and lack of respect destroy craftsmanship on U.S. job sites.

• The simple daily practices that can reignite pride and quality in construction.

• And why every worker deserves to give their hands, head, and heart, not just their labor.

If you want to lead teams that love their work and deliver excellence worth clapping for, this episode is your blueprint.

Listen now and rediscover what pride in craftsmanship really looks like.

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

Ever been asked to "just redo that in a different format"…for no reason?
Or told "we don't have time for planning" even when it's clearly needed?

In this episode, Jason calls out the everyday thoughtless requests that chip away at team morale, respect, and productivity in construction. Whether it's lazy leadership, selfish budgeting, or tone-deaf directions, these requests aren't just annoying, they're dangerous.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• The difference between truly thoughtless vs. selfishly thoughtless requests.

• Why poor communication destroys trust on-site.

• How "small asks" actually cause massive waste.

• The one mindset shift that instantly builds respect in your workplace.

• And why "please" and "thank you" still matter more than ever.

If you want to build a high-trust, high-performance team, it starts with what you don't say and what you stop asking others to do.

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

It is not in Procore. Procore has a submittal register. It does not manage the supply chain. You need a buyout log, material procurement log, and design action log aligned to your Takt rhythm. About 25 percent of what you think is in Procore is actually in Procore.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Buyout log: trades ready with scope, contract, bonds, insurance, safety plans before Takt window opens
• Procurement log: submittals, approvals, PO release, fabrication, shipping, customs, buffer receipt on site
• Financial projections: fee, labor gains, exposures, contingency, owner budget buckets, gross margin target
• Procore gap: manages submittals only, does not map supply chain, does not manage buffers or supermarkets
• Project 101: buyout log, procurement log, permit log are basics we forgot or never knew in the first place

If somebody says it is all in Procore what I really hear is we are missing the fundamental logs needed to run a remarkable project

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

Too many PMs and PEs just focus on tools and check the box. Hospital analogy where every doctor checks machines, says tools are fine, and leaves while the patient is dying. Tools working does not mean the project is healthy. Treat the patient, not the equipment. Master the scopes, not just the skills.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Spectrum of done: nothing done, something done, done, done to not get in trouble, done well enough to win
• Hospital analogy: IV works, heart monitor works, all machines fine, but patient still dying, tools are not the patient
• DPR boot camp: project engineers manage scopes start to finish, not RFI monkeys or submittal monkeys
• Treat the patient: trade partner losing money, materials late, production failing, do not just show me your log
• Quote: don't just master the skills, master the scopes

If I'm a patient telling you I am going into shock and you tell me the IV and heart monitor are working, I would either die or throw a fit because you are not listening.

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

Production comparison is the missing tool for self-perform crews. Map every 10-minute interval against every station for every micro crew throughout the day. Compare planned versus actual production at each interval. Find deviations, name the causes, fix them in tomorrow's morning huddle. Civil utilities and self-perform contractors must do this to make money.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Production matrix: Excel grid, stations on left, every 10 minutes across top, track every micro crew position
• Micro crews: break full crew into sub-crews by area and task so no one is stacked or waiting
• Compare planned vs actual: if 8:20 task started at 8:40 and took twice as long, find out exactly why
• Morning huddle fixes: porta potty on site, lasers set up before excavator moves, materials pre-positioned, meeting timer set
• Self-perform truth: if crews are not making production and foremen are not doing this, we are losing money daily

Every time you look at your targeted production you have to figure out what actually happened, where were the deviations, and come up with corrective items for the next day.

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

Played Monopoly with kids over the holidays and saw construction in the game. Kids had money clumped up, could not see properties, made no strategic decisions. Jason spread money out, tracked every position, planned two to three rolls ahead. Great PMs and supers play the game the same way with data and metrics.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Spread the money out: always know cash on hand, financials, what properties owned, same as knowing project position
• Plan ahead: look two to three rolls ahead for risks and opportunities, not just current position
• Takt plan is everything: no procurement log, buyout log, or financial projections without it, use it four times a day
• Required metrics: Takt plan, buyout log, procurement log, risk and opportunity register, financial projections
• Kids vs Jason: kids went bankrupt making unstrategic moves, same as PMs without data playing blind

If you do not have a risk and opportunity register and accurate financial projections you are not playing the game to win.

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

Things said in construction mean different things than they appear. Fixed fee GMP incentivizes more people there longer and cost transfers out of self-perform. Adding manpower slows productivity and wastes trade partner profit. Systems thinking reveals real consequences behind innocent phrases. Assume positive intent but watch for negative consequences.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Fixed fee GMP: incentivizes longer schedules, larger teams, and cost transfers from self-perform to project budget
• Shared float: means owner and designer will absorb your float and push delays onto contractor
• Competitively bid: drives race to bottom, eliminates partnerships, creates adversarial culture from day one
• Add more manpower: actually slows productivity, creates blame loop, wastes trade partner profit until pushed beyond capacity
• Thinking in systems: every phrase has a feedback loop, identify destructive consequences and remove them

Everything has a true meaning and we need to understand these, identify the destructive ones, and remove them if we are ever going to get better.

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

Recording the fifth section of Elevating Construction Surveyors with Brandon Monteiro. Ten segments covering aesthetics, interpreting work orders, considering cost, and leading the crew. Chainman stood at end of every staked line and plumbed every stake so the product looked precise before anyone checked accuracy. Effective training creates efficiency.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Aesthetics matter: product appearance communicates professionalism, care, and clarity before quality is reviewed
• Interpret work orders: never accept at face value, ask who receives the work and how they will use it
• Consider cost: flag scope additions before doing them, only you know the level of effort involved
• Lead the crew: conductor metaphor, your pace sets their pace, your name is on their work
• Clear communication: leaders become what they want to see, passion and deliberateness carry through to the crew

Are you leading the crew to the level at which you would put your name on everything that they accomplished.

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 reviews the responses to his LinkedIn poll asking whether stress is good for you, a post that drew 834 votes, 72 comments, and 35,000 views. He walks through the strongest answers from the community, including the eustress vs. distress distinction, the Yerkes-Dodson law on arousal and performance, and the wisdom from Hans Selye that complete freedom from stress is actually death. He also lands on the most important nuance: there is a wide spectrum between fabricated self imposed stress and real trauma, chronic disease, or mental illness, and the right mindset starts with telling them apart.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why most of the stress people experience is fabricated, self imposed, and addressable with resources

• The Yerkes-Dodson law on how arousal increases performance up to a point and then decreases it

• Eustress vs. distress: cortisol with oxytocin builds connection, cortisol without it can cause harm

• Why allowing the body to release cortisol naturally during trauma can reduce PTSD outcomes

• Why "have faith" and "go on vacation" can both be true responses to different kinds of stress

• The challenge: reframe fabricated stress, honor real distress, and remove abuse, trauma, and torture from any environment we can influence

Don't run away from the stress that helps you grow. Don't dismiss the stress that requires help. Knowing the difference is the work. 

  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 and Brandon Montero record another long session for the upcoming book Elevating Construction Surveyors. They walk through ten sections of the manuscript live, sharing the stories, principles, and applications behind tolerance, measurement, double checks, best practices, the data collector, traversing, as builts, topographic mapping, two person crew flow, and intelligent exhibits. Each section follows the format of story or reflection, quote, and application or challenge, giving listeners a real preview of how the book teaches surveyors to think, plan, and execute at a master craftsman level.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why envisioning task tolerance is the first decision a surveyor makes on any work

• The hidden truth that "perfectly calibrated" still has built in inherent error

• Why everything you do should have a double check, including the basics

• How best practices get built by combining instrument capability, double checks, and waste elimination

• Why learning the data collector is the first step toward learning CAD

• Why applied traversing remains the only way to bring multi building site control together

• Why drafting on your own work makes you a better field surveyor

• How a two person crew creates flow when both people are working in parallel

• The discipline of creating intelligent exhibits that anyone on the project can understand

Surveying isn't a checklist trade. It's a thinking trade. Build the standards, do the double checks, traverse the site, and let your exhibits speak for themselves. 

  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 closes out the year with a reflective episode framed around A Christmas Carol and the question of what your own Christmas story really is. He walks through the year end ritual of reviews, bonuses, taxes, and tax projections, then pivots to the deeper work of remembering why your company, team, family, or project exists in the first place. He shares the recent leadership conversation at Elevate Construction about whether to keep giving away Miro boards and free content, the inspiration that came from praying about it, and the realization that giving really is who Elevate is. He closes with Gordon B. Hinckley's quote reframed for the Elevate philosophy and a charge to focus on becoming rather than having.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why the post Christmas depression goes away when the future inspires you more than the past celebrates

• Patrick Lencioni's thematic goal and defining goals framework for the year ahead

• Dean Graziosi's discipline of asking why seven times to find the real reason your company exists

• How Elevate's purpose ("to build people in construction to build families") shaped a recent giving decision

• Why Gordon B. Hinckley's standing on the summit of your life quote captures the whole goal

• Why becoming beats having, every time, in business and in life

Find your Christmas story. Live it. Stand on the summit of your life one day and look back on a trail of accomplishment, not a slew of wasted energies. 

  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 welcomes Tess Fiacca, Director of Employee Development and Engagement at O'Shea Builders, and Josh Fry, Assistant Director, for a deep conversation on how O'Shea has built one of the most respected leadership and team development cultures in construction. They walk through the deliberate recruitment and onboarding process, the commitment to learning at every level (including the president, the VP, and the director of business strategies), the use of DISC for behavioral understanding, the Leadership Circle 360 for development, and the rich library of books that underpin O'Shea's continuous improvement journey. The conversation lands on what it really means to respect the nature of people and why patience and persistence are the only honest way to build a learning organization.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why intentional recruitment and onboarding (3 weeks to 12 months) sets the foundation for everything else

• The respect for the nature of people: meeting each person where they actually are, not where you wish they were

• How psychological safety lets people surface what isn't working and offer real improvements

• Why a true learning organization needs leaders who are themselves fanatical learners

• The book stack: Edmondson, Wiseman, Lencioni, Maxwell, Schein, Stavros and Torres, Kotter, Dweck

• Why behavioral tools like DISC are pieces of the puzzle, not the whole puzzle

Tess and Josh leave us with the two Ps: persistence and patience. Continuous improvement is continuous. The work never ends, and the journey is the point. 

  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 Can't Make It Up on the Freeway" – The Myth of Going Fast in Construction

Ever leave late and tell yourself, "I'll make up the time by driving faster"?
Spoiler: it never works and neither does rushing in construction.

In this quick but powerful episode, Jason shares a real-life analogy that hits hard: speeding through traffic to make up for poor planning is no different than pushing crews on site without a stable plan. Both lead to stress, risks, and sometimes irreversible consequences.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• A personal story that will shift how you think about "urgency".

• Why rushing, pushing, and panicking only look productive.

• How late starts and poor planning are always the real problem.

• The dangerous ripple effects of last-minute chaos in construction.

If you've ever said "we'll figure it out in the field" or felt the pressure to crash-land a project, this episode is your wake-up call.

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 closes out the six part production control series with the final pillar: how to actually manage production using the underlying laws of construction work. He walks through the law of bottlenecks, cycle time optimization, the law of the effect of variation, Kingman's formula, and Little's law, then ties them together with the daily habits that put them to work. He closes with a powerful reflection: the entire industry is too focused on talking about when work will happen and not enough on how to make it happen. That single shift is the heart of Takt control.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• The law of bottlenecks: optimize one process bottleneck and the next one appears

• Why cycle time optimization is a plan, do, check, act loop run by the whole crew

• How limiting work in process and finishing as you go keep the team capable of improvement

• The labor productivity boosters: less context switching, consistent leaders and crews, right team size, no manpower spikes

• Why Little's law and right batch sizes make every other improvement possible

• The closing reflection: high functioning teams spend their meetings on how, not when

When meetings stop revolving around when and start revolving around how, you've reached Takt control. That's the destination.

  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 continues the production control series with part five on installing with a quality product. He opens with a sharp clarification a colleague asked for: the real difference between throwing manpower at a problem and swarming. Then he walks through why quality is not the opposite of production, why finishing as you go is the right kind of production, and how four practical pillars (quality at the source, finishing as you go, standard work, and prefabrication) become the engine of a real production system on any project.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• The clear distinction between throwing manpower at a problem and swarming with existing resources

• Why production and quality aren't a trade off, they're the same thing

• What quality at the source actually means: any worker can stop the line and call leadership

• Why finishing as you go (all conduit, back boxes, putty pads, screws, labels) is the only true production

• The dream of every crew having a beautifully formatted feature of work board with QC checklists

• Why prefabrication is really about vetting problems early in a safer, better environment

You can't push your way to production. You install with quality at the source, finish as you go, and let prefabrication absorb the roadblocks before they hit the field.

  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 continues the production control series with part four on roadblock removal. He makes a bold claim: the industry has no business talking about percent plan complete until it can demonstrate a fanatical, visual roadblock removal system. He then walks through the five pillars that make roadblock removal actually work, from using buffers and seeing deviations, to running real make ready lookahead conversations, to maintaining color coded roadblock maps in Bluebeam, to managing buffers as a finite resource that has to last to the end of the project.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why a Takt plan lets you see, remove, and absorb roadblocks in a way CPM cannot

• Why a five day Takt locked between Monday and Saturday prevents single day buffer use

• How to run real make ready lookahead conversations that go beyond "is it ready?"

• How roadblock maps in Bluebeam with color coded polygons make blockages visible at a glance

• Why project leaders need to be chemically addicted to checking the roadblock board first thing every morning

• Why managing buffers across the life of the project is just as important as using them

Without a fanatical roadblock removal system, Takt planning can't function. Build the system, work it daily, and let buffers do their job.

  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 continues the production control series with part three on leveling work. He opens with a clear contrast between the old way of pushing productivity (manpower, overtime, larger batches, frantic motion) and the lean way of building capacity (preparation, flow, rhythm, removing roadblocks). Then he walks through the histogram problem on construction projects and lays out the five concrete tactics for leveling work that keep crews, materials, information, and equipment all moving at a consistent pace instead of spiking and crashing.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• The difference between pushing productivity and creating capacity

• The histogram problem: why spikes in worker counts overburden every supporting system

• The frosting bag analogy for choosing a bigger nozzle instead of squeezing harder

• Tactic one: adjusting Takt zones to balance complexity and effort

• Tactic two: adjusting work packages and work steps to keep worker counts consistent

• Tactic three: leveling information flow with designers and approvals

• Tactic four: leveling worker counts crew by crew

• Tactic five: bringing materials and equipment just in time using supermarkets and staging yards

Leveled work keeps the team capable of doing the things that keep projects running. Spikes break the system. Smooth flow keeps it alive.

  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 continues the six part production control series with part two on creating stability. He walks through the foundational conditions any project needs before any Takt, scrum, or last planner system can actually work: a clean, safe, and organized site; a healthy and balanced team; aggressive delay management; trade partner ownership of geographical areas; held start dates; a real meeting system; and a deliberate choice between Takt control alone, scrum, or last planner as the weekly engine. Without these in place, no production system can take hold.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why clean comes before everything else, even safety in practical sequence

• How a dirty site hides production problems, morale issues, and unsafe conditions

• Why team balance and health must be graded at least monthly

• Why holding start dates instead of pulling work forward creates real stability

• How geographical area control assigned to trade partners protects the work and reduces damage

• The meeting cadence: strategic planning, weekly tactical, foreman daily huddle, worker daily huddle

Stability is the foundation. Without a clean, safe, organized, balanced, and well managed project, no production system can stand on 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 kicks off a six part series on production control, also known as Takt control, the term he picked up from Marco Binninger and Janosch Dlouhy in Germany. This first episode focuses on the role of the superintendent and foreman in actively controlling production in the field. He shares the meeting system that creates the environment for Takt control, then walks through six concrete behaviors that the simulation work with German lean teams keeps confirming as the universal pattern for increased flow on any project, regardless of scheduling method.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• The integrated meeting system that creates the environment for Takt control to live in

• Why staging materials ahead of the Takt time is one of the highest leverage habits in the field

• Why preparing other areas during the buffer is smarter than pulling next week's work forward

• How improving handoffs requires foremen to think like customers on both sides of the line

• Why matching Takt zones with lay down and staging areas prevents treasure hunts

• How swarming problem areas keeps flow from collapsing under bottlenecks

Imagine a NASCAR pit crew. They don't run cars back to back. They prepare, brief, stage, and explode into action. That's what Takt control looks like in the field.

  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 flags a trap he sees on jobs all over the country: schedule extensions that look like wins but quietly destroy the project financially. Owners grant extra time, supers and PMs celebrate, and nobody asks who's paying for two extra months of general conditions, trailers, dumpsters, porta potties, and salaried staff. Jason walks through why every schedule extension needs a parallel cost analysis, and why the right strategy always loops schedule, cost, quality, production, team health, and owner satisfaction together. He also shares an update on his upcoming Lean Fundamentals in Construction course launching with Nicholas Modig's worldwide construction excellence program.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why teams celebrate schedule extensions without ever calculating the financial cost

• How general conditions and general requirements get tied to a specific project duration in the bid

• Why two extra months can mean two extra months of trailers, dumpsters, porta potties, and salaried staff

• Why owners sometimes grant extra time knowing the burn rate falls on the contractor

• The right reflex: any schedule change triggers an immediate cost analysis

Schedule and cost have to move together. An extension isn't a win until you've checked who's actually paying for 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 a short, punchy episode built around a quote he heard from a trade partner during a coordination meeting: if you want to, you'll find a way, and if you don't want to, you'll find an excuse. He uses the story of his son Reno mastering Logic Pro and Libsyn from scratch in three weeks because he wanted to, contrasted with not being able to send a fifty dollar payment because he didn't, to show how leverage on yourself is the real currency of progress. The episode lands with a self coaching invitation to recognize where you're inventing excuses and where you can build enough leverage to actually want to.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• The quote that captures it all: if you want to, you'll find a way; if you don't, you'll find an excuse

• Why Reno could engineer the podcast workflow in three weeks but not send a fifty dollar payment

• The difference between coach mode and learner mode when applying this filter to yourself

• Eric Thomas's line: want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe, and you will

• How to build enough leverage on yourself to actually want to in the first place

Excuses are easy when leverage is low. Build the leverage, and the way appears.

  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 prepares for an upcoming presentation by riffing through the topic of psychological safety on construction job sites. He opens with the personal story of being suspended once for not standing up for someone being harassed, and how that defining moment shaped a permanently higher standard for inclusion and respect in his work. He then reframes stress through The Upside of Stress, walks through the four stages of psychological safety from Amy Edmondson and Timothy Clark by way of Cabri Lehrman-Schmidt's article, and connects it to the hard reality that construction's suicide rate is nearly four times the national average.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why the measure of harassment is impact, not intent, and why the bar must stay high regardless of intent

• The difference between healthy stress and survival stress, and why hard work itself isn't the problem

• The two by two of standards and psychological safety: high performance lives in high and high

• The four stages: inclusion safety, learner safety, contributor safety, and challenger safety

• How psychological safety enables the healthy conflict required by the five behaviors of a team

Psychological safety isn't softness. It's the foundation that lets people work hard, take stress in stride, and stay connected enough to deliver remarkable work together.

  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 takes a quick podcast to fully endorse WhatsApp as the best communication app for scaling teams, cultures, and project sites. He walks through his personal journey from text chains at the BSRL research lab, to GroupMe with Carlos, to being one of the early Microsoft Teams adopters at DPR with Spencer Easton in Oakland, all the way to his current standard: WhatsApp for everything from construction project teams to international clients to church leadership groups. He also connects this to Paul Akers's principle that you can't scale a lean culture without easily sharing pictures and videos of what bugs you, and what's working.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why WhatsApp beats GroupMe, Teams chat, and text strings for daily project communication

• How WhatsApp lets new members join a chat and see the full history without losing anything

• Why the rest of the world already uses WhatsApp at infrastructure scale

• How pictures, videos, voice notes, and polls inside one app accelerate culture building

• Why Paul Akers's "see and fix what bugs you" requires a media first communication tool

Get the app, run the experiment, and start scaling pictures and videos through your teams. That's how culture actually moves.

  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

The Lie of Being Unique: Why Construction Keeps Reinventing the Wheel

Let's bust a myth that's quietly killing our productivity in construction: "This project is different."

In this eye-opening episode, Jason challenges one of the most common (and dangerous) beliefs in our industry that every project is so unique it can't follow a standard process. But what if that mindset is the very thing holding us back from stability, repeatability, and excellence?

He shares:

• A powerful question from his CEO that sparked this whole reflection.

• What software, lean systems, and builders like Hensel Phelps already know.

• Why thinking you're unique can tank your schedule and lead to chaos.

• The truth about production systems: different buildings, same process.

Whether you're a superintendent, project manager, or craftsman aiming to level up, this episode will shift your mindset and sharpen your focus.

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 takes on a hard topic in this episode and calls out the mindset that's silently killing project leadership: playing tennis instead of football. He shares the story of a project engineer who likened his job to tennis, and a project director who would show up to a site, open his laptop, answer emails, and leave without ever leading a single thing. The episode breaks down the real difference between a project engineer who supports and organizes and a project manager who leads and is accountable. Then Jason layers in the productivity laws from his Scrum training with Felipe Engineer-Manriquez to explain why context switching and project hopping destroy real leadership.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• The tennis vs. football analogy and why construction is a team sport, not a back and forth

• Why "hot potatoing" emails and tasks is just organized avoidance

• The clear distinction between a project engineer (supports and organizes) and a project manager (leads and is accountable)

• Why context switching, transferring between teams, and managing too many projects exponentially destroys productivity

• What a real project manager looks like: owns cost, schedule, customer satisfaction, and the entire project scope

Stop hitting the ball back into someone else's court and calling it done. Real project managers run with the ball, lead the team down the field, and spike it in the end zone.

  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

Recording stories for Elevating Construction Surveyors book with Brandon Monteiro. Sections on resection, planning daily tasks, applied leveling, level loops, and layout basics. Resection means shoot known points throughout day for QC. Three-wire closed level loops provide double QC methods built right into it. Layout basics means turn 90s manually, flop instrument, see equipment capabilities.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Resection: shoot known points throughout day to verify, solve to ground point, multi-angular resection downtown Los Angeles
• Plan daily tasks: not just work order, entire day from arriving to leaving, extends past work to family time personal goals
• Applied leveling: understand leveling math and QC process, bucking in same principles apply, close loops to ensure no error
• Three-wire level loops: seems like double QC methods built in, distances available, get faster at intelligent concept that cannot steer you wrong
• Layout basics: turn 90s and 270s manually, flop instrument turn reverse create average, see capabilities not just accept robotic accuracy

Rampant elevation problems throughout projects based on fact that they were not using good leveling techniques, incorrect trigonometric leveling, improper instruments, not applying basics.

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

O'Shea Builders shares lean journey results with Harry Schmidt and Tyler Cormany. Mike O'Shea hired organizational development professionals when company had 35 employees. Doubled staff from 30 to 60 FTEs and got 10x revenue growth. Five people dedicated to overhead: two for people development, three for business strategy.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Flywheel concept: overnight success 10-15 years in making, discipline people then discipline thought then discipline action creates breakthrough
• Build people first: Mike O'Shea vision that leadership matters, hired Tess for organizational development with 35 employees, rare investment
• Sequence matters: build people, create stable environment, reduce variation and waste, then flow, then continuous improvement, earn it
• Controlled chaos to calm predictability: spend time on front end planning, get input, stable environment lets you see waste and focus on flow
• New team members: even if quarter of team is new go back and onboard them, pick them up, bring them along journey

Tools are just tools, if you don't have the people and the leadership and the culture you are never going to get full advantage of the tool because you will just use it the same way you used it before. 

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

Petty Coach Schmidt Micro Mondays presented Ten Commandments of Construction Change Orders. Know thy contract. Do not give away thy leverage. Never perform change work without written signed authorized change order. Ryan Young tracked everything with PCO number in CMIC. Thy job is not finished until the money be collected.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Ten Commandments: know contract, do not give away leverage, never perform without written signed authorized change order, depend not on attorneys, if ask not receive not
• Time is money: have pricing down, get money and time for changes, read the rules
• Surprise not thy owner: advanced notice regarding potential cost increases, team tried to absorb then surprised owner at end, didn't get work again
• Be persistent: persistence gets results, bargaining power equal unless don't know rules or throw away leverage
• Ryan Young system: nothing done without PCO number tracked in CMIC, never started work without financial approval, finished right on time

Are you stomping ants while elephants run wild, are you straining at gnats and swallowing camels when it comes to managing change orders properly.

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

The Upside of Stress book came into Jason's life after praying about enjoying the journey. Stress is only harmful to your health if you believe it is. Stress paradox says happy lives include stress. Japanese life expectancy is longer despite more stressful lives. Channel stress into energy that boosts performance instead of trying to calm down.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Three lessons: stress harmful only if believe it is, stress paradox says happiness and stress belong together, channel stress into energy
• Japanese culture: longer life expectancy despite more stress, 52 times more expensive workers than China, resource deficient competing with superpower
• Study results: high stress increased premature death 43 percent only for those who believed stress harmful, others had lowest death rate
• Truck analogy: stuck in sand, put load on tailgate for traction to move forward, humans same need load to get unstuck
• PTSD research: less cortisol stress hormone predicted more PTSD, body naturally deals with stress when not running away

Stagnation and ease never was happiness, and when people say go do something you love they are not saying go do something easy but go do something you can be passionate about.

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

Recording stories for Elevating Construction Surveyors book sections six through ten. Math is fundamental pillar, property corners set wrong because party chief did not know doubled angle math. Work is done when math checks out not when finished performing task. Surveyor's client is draftsperson not civil engineer. It's on the cap is not good enough for professional surveyor.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Learn the math: property corners wrong, party chief did not know doubled angle math, just writing random numbers
• Work done when math checks: not done when finished task, level loops that don't check completed for nothing
• Learn equipment: know capabilities and QC methods for each piece, perfect basics like instrument setup hard sites
• Learn AutoCAD: surveyor's client is draftsperson, think how will he draw this, take own work home create exhibit
• Overcoming error: it's on the cap not good measurement, target right measurement not just good enough

If we don't know the math we will not be able to check the math and things performed incorrectly will just slip by us constantly through the course of our career.

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

Recording stories for Elevating Construction Surveyors book with Brandon Monteiro. Sections one through five covering Rodman technician through learning to read plans. Joe the chainman cut line in wrong direction because head was down working. Plan set is gospel but must QC everything. Don't trust anybody like Indiana Jones Last Crusade.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Rodman technician: Joe cut line wrong direction, absorb environment around you, ask questions, know big picture
• Preparing for work: means you know what the work is, ask for work order, think ahead what needs might come up
• Accomplish in mind first: accomplish task in your mind in office before step foot on site, envision obstacles
• Learn to read plans: plan set is official version, QC everything by others, don't trust anybody
• Grid lines example: check AutoCAD matches architectural matches structural, send RFI to verify coordinates

Always absorb the environment around you and take the opportunity to learn instead of just getting lost in the process of your work.

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

Created Miro board with complete outline for Takt planning journey. Start here, step by step instructions with links to podcasts, blogs, books, Amazon orders. McCarthy $480M project shaved three months with Takt. Board has red notes for future content Spencer and Jason will add.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Miro board outline: complete step by step Takt planning journey for individuals teams or companies
• McCarthy success story: superintendent read book, experimented, shaved 3 months, optimized concrete, predictability around commissioning
• Links embedded: podcasts blogs books Amazon landing pages all linked from images in board
• Red notes for future: blog posts and videos Spencer and Jason will add as they learn more
• Available to everyone: email Jason or check show notes for link, will post on LinkedIn next week

In three months this will be the most complete outline for how somebody could take their Takt journey whether individual team or company implementing on their job.

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 industry has a major problem. General contractors abusing trade partners and running dirty job sites. Stop victim mentality about COVID and supply chains. Everything wrong on project site is general contractor's fault. Superintendent saying I've been doing this 35 years and it's fine is stupid because everyone around him had to smell the mess.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Industry problem: GCs abusing trade partners, pushing through knothole, making people regret construction, dirty disgusting sites
• Stop victim mentality: stop whining about COVID deliveries workers supply chains, you are god of that world, step up
• Criticizing actions not person: I love you, but what you did is separate from who you are, new generation doesn't get this
• Jason credentials: came through field age 13, surveying AutoCAD Revit, ran jobs through preconstruction, not sideline observer consultant
• We stink and need to fix: trade partners didn't win, owner didn't win, workers didn't win, families didn't win, you get no credit

We have the solutions and the answers to fix an industry who doesn't want it, and we have to figure out how to wake people up because this 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

Being a life diabetic means having too much care but not enough time to communicate it. Blood sugar is your care and concern. Insulin is time and resources to transfer that care to people who need it. If you care about too many things and everything is important then nothing is important. Would you rather be 100 percent with four things or 40 percent with 10 things.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Diabetes analogy: blood sugar is care, insulin is time and resources, high care with low time means care cannot be communicated
• Too much blood sugar damages organs: too much saying yes, too packed schedules, everything important damages you and burns you out
• Insulin deficiency in life: sign up for 10 things but only have capacity for four, attempt to do all 10, then do none well
• Balance required: need equal levels of care and time and capacity, personal organization systems create buffers and discipline
• Investment question: have 100 units of stock, invest in key investments with high return or one dollar in 100 different places

When everything is important nothing is important, and you are not able to show the amount of care that you have because you are spread too thin.

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

From Hammer to Hero: The Team-Building Genius of Mark Story

Ever wondered how the best construction leaders turn chaotic projects into high-performing teams?

In this episode, Jason sits down with Mark Story, a 37-year industry veteran with roots in the trades and a reputation for transforming troubled jobs into thriving team environments. Mark isn't just a builder; he's a relationship architect.

They dive deep into the habits, mindset, and philosophies that set Mark apart: how he listens to lead, empowers others to win, and creates project cultures where people feel safe, supported, and inspired. From letting people fail on purpose to showing up like their biggest fan, Mark's leadership lessons will change how you think about team dynamics on any construction site.

Core Habits for Effective Leadership and Connection:

• Look, listen, and feel: Stay present and tuned into your surroundings and team.

• Help people win: Focus on empowering others to succeed.

• Mark 'L' at the top of your notepad to remind yourself to listen: A visual prompt to stay in listening mode.

• Be curious: Approach challenges and people with genuine interest.

• Ask thoughtful questions: Use inquiry to understand, not to control.

• Make intentional time to connect: Prioritize meaningful engagement with your team.

• Watch how you ask: Frame questions in a way that invites honesty and collaboration.

• Try not to lead the witness: Avoid biasing responses; let insights surface naturally.

• Let people fail safely: Give room for learning and growth through experience.

• Care enough to have tough conversations: Address real issues with courage and compassion.

• Plan using visual learning tools: Make information accessible, clear, and easy to act on.

Contact Mark Story:

Mark Story.
Commercial Construction Services LLC.
Construction Consulting.
Cell 612-968-0257
Mark@storyccs.com

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

How you do one thing is how you do everything. No such thing as good superintendent who cannot write emails or schedule. Jason took college courses and learned essay structure, grammar, and how to communicate clearly. Executive positions require skilled communicators in interviews, proposals, OAC meetings, design meetings, and emails.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Master big and little things: no good surveyor with bad notes, no good PM without risk management, no good super without scheduling
• College writing courses: learned essay structure, grammar, punctuation, how to summarize and tell stories in coherent way
• Bad email examples: all caps, too short with no context, too long like a book, rambling random thoughts, no structure
• Communication shows up everywhere: interviews, proposals, schedules, OAC meetings, speeches, audits, owner interface, daily reports
• Room for improvement questions: handwriting, email structure, email length, copying team in more, writing better RFIs, advancing career

If somebody said Jason I think you are being dramatic about this fine it is your career, I am simply telling you that this is a fundamental skill you have to have to reach executive levels.

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

Fixed mindset versus growth mindset determines progress. Fixed mindset defines self by what they know, growth mindset by what they are learning. Boot camps reveal people to themselves like Navy SEAL training. Heaven is about choice, agency, and progress. Organizations need boot camps to give everyone opportunity regardless of circumstance.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Fixed versus growth: fixed defines by knowledge, jealous, no feedback, growth always learning celebrates others takes feedback
• Boot camps reveal: identify who gives and contributes, who are good but not progressing, who don't play nice
• Heaven and earth: can see people living in three degrees of glory right now based on choices
• Equality for all: everyone should have opportunity to see path forward and choose, not condemned by circumstance
• Religious perspective: no way highest heaven is selfishly sitting, heaven is progress learning service giving health kindness

If something is true good enlightening beautiful honest praiseworthy I am willing at any time to give up everything I believe for a higher truer better faith.

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

Pilot on plane cannot be heard, flight attendant clear. Are you clear with your message or mumbling wasting time. Message needs to be clear, passionate, repeated seven times. Katie says everything is your fault if not clear enough. Leaders must overcommunicate where they are going.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Pilot mumbling: can't hear a thing, flight attendant projects clearly, are people hearing your messages
• Seven times minimum: repeat message seven times with passion and clarity for people to know where going
• Elevate overcommunicates: Miro boards map out future, pictures of training facility, website, marketing funnels, positions, structure
• Everything your fault: if not clear enough, didn't explain, didn't repeat often enough, wasn't passionate
• Famous leader example: every year press asks what focus is, repeats same thing until mastered

Don't be the pilot just whispering and mumbling and wasting everybody's time because one day when we actually need to hear from them we can't even hear them.

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

Fixed mindset versus growth mindset determines progress. Fixed mindset defines self by what they know, growth mindset by what they are learning. Boot camps reveal people to themselves like Navy SEAL training. Heaven is about choice, agency, and progress. Organizations need boot camps to give everyone opportunity regardless of circumstance.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Fixed versus growth: fixed defines by knowledge, jealous, no feedback, growth always learning celebrates others takes feedback
• Boot camps reveal: identify who gives and contributes, who are good but not progressing, who don't play nice
• Heaven and earth: can see people living in three degrees of glory right now based on choices
• Equality for all: everyone should have opportunity to see path forward and choose, not condemned by circumstance
• Religious perspective: no way highest heaven is selfishly sitting, heaven is progress learning service giving health kindness

If something is true good enlightening beautiful honest praiseworthy I am willing at any time to give up everything I believe for a higher truer better faith.

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

Moving walkway analogy about safety managers. People stop on walkway and go slower than walking. Three options: walk yourself at good pace, use walkway and walk twice as fast, or use walkway and stop going slower. Culture eats strategy for breakfast determines which happens.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Three options: do without at good pace, use moving walkway and walk twice as fast, use and stop going slower
• Culture determines outcome: not strategy of having safety manager, but culture of team using that position
• Safety managers work: if right culture adds efforts plus help, goes twice as fast with less friction
• Cannot delegate safety quality: superintendents PMs do not delegate, you are in charge, cannot check box
• Eternal truth: pee into wind, dancing middle of floor, kids front of church, supers do not delegate safety quality

The question is not is the moving walkway helpful but can the culture utilize it to go faster or will they stop and go slower.

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

Widen your circle by looping in your team. Fire truck incident taught Jason to copy everyone on emails and text the group. WhatsApp is best platform for team communication. Field engineer asked how to make decisions without stepping on toes. Trust is built when team knows what each other is doing.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Fire truck lesson: Derek asked why Jason didn't tell team, you are member of our team
• WhatsApp system: send message to team, two hours to respond or move forward with decision
• Team should know: where you are, what doing, what decisions making, heading same direction
• No problems belong to individual: all problems belong to team, no stress so bad it can't get worse bearing alone
• Opposite of widening: find out after fact, never in sync, could have quality controlled with second set of eyes

Trust is built when we know each other but also when we know what each other is doing because great teams always work together.

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 calls this one of the single most important podcasts he could ever record. He builds on the German simulation with Janosch Dlouhy and Marco Binninger and uses two simple games, a clapping rhythm exercise from church and the opposing squares game, to explain what flow actually feels like inside a Takt system. The big idea: stop pushing work forward into the next Takt time, and start using the buffer to finish as you go, QC, demobilize, prepare materials, and set up the next trade as your customer. Flow doesn't come from focusing on tasks. It comes from focusing on the people next to you.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why Takt is the first system and last planner and scrum pull to it, not the other way around

• The clapping game analogy: rhythm appears only when you look at the other person, not the task

• Why proper use of buffers for QC and prep speeds up flow as much as interruptions slow it down

• How the opposing squares game shows that teams win only when they appoint a leader and plan together

• How Kingman's formula plays out at the work step level inside every Takt wagon

When trade partners see each other instead of just their own tasks, flow appears. That's the whole game.

  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 the car with his daughter Effie Lee Schroeder and Brandon Montero on the way to a boot camp, and they tackle a topic that hits home for nearly every leader: creating capacity in your personal life so you can keep showing up at your best. They reflect on people Jason and Brandon both know who started powerful improvement efforts but stalled out under overburden. They share what each of them does to recharge, why delegation only works when paired with real training, and why protecting buffer time isn't a luxury, it's the only way to live remarkably.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why turbulence calls for slowing down, not speeding up

• The hidden cost of holding onto work you should be delegating

• How morning runs, meditation, ukulele, and refinishing furniture all serve the same purpose

• Why Kingman's formula applies to your life: cycle time plus variation plus utilization

• The right delegation question: can they do it, or should they do it after I train them

You can't help people if you don't have the help you need. Build the buffer first, and the remarkable work follows. 

  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 continues recording from his hotel in Mexico and takes on the short interval scheduling responsibilities of foremen and assistant superintendents. He walks through the history from 1965 push CPM lookaheads, through the last planner system with weekly work plans and percent plan complete, all the way to today's gap where many new foremen and supers can't even create a three week schedule themselves. He lays out the good, better, and best progression and lands on Takt control as the highest expression of short interval execution, where standard work steps inside each Takt wagon get refined cycle after cycle.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why every superintendent and foreman must be able to build a Gantt chart in Excel at minimum

• The history of short interval planning from CPM lookaheads to last planner to Takt control

• Good, better, best: super made lookaheads, last planner pull plans, then Takt control

• Why Takt control targets 100 percent completion of work steps inside each Takt wagon, not just 80 percent PPC

• How standard work sequences inside cycle times let foremen perfect a plan instead of inventing a new one each week

If every week is a fresh round of chaos, the system is broken. Standardize the cycle, control the Takt, and let the work get better every time around. 

  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 a hotel room in Guadalajara, Mexico, before delivering a Takt training at LCI Mexico, and tackles one of the biggest reasons projects say Takt planning didn't work for them: the rigid five day Takt time locked between Monday and Saturday. He walks through when a five day Takt is the right call (early conceptual and schematic design schedules), when it stops working (during optimization and execution), and why locking yourself into the week prevents eating into buffers when interruptions hit. The episode is a direct invitation to open up to other Takt times and to let the phase shift by a day or two when reality calls for it.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• When a five day Takt with weekend buffers is the right tool: conceptual and schematic design

• The 20 percent gap between bid duration and actual duration that macro level Takt planning closes to about five percent

• Why locking into Monday through Saturday prevents real optimization with Little's law

• How over packing Takt wagons turns Takt planning into push planning the moment something delays

• Why shifting a phase by one, two, or three days to eat into buffers is the right response to interruption

Don't lock the calendar to the calendar. Let the math, the optimization, and the buffers do their job. 

  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

Are you a leader who brings clarity or chaos?

In this bold and refreshing episode, Jason Schroeder tackles two tough truths:

1. Why blaming owners for not doing Lean is just an excuse.

2. And what it really means to be a toxic seagull on the jobsite.

He unpacks a real conversation with a former CEO who claimed Lean wasn't used because "owners didn't want to pay for it." Jason respectfully calls BS and explains why doing the right thing isn't optional for real builders.

Then it gets personal.

Have you ever flown into a project, stirred things up, then flown back to corporate thinking you "added value"? You might be a toxic seagull.

This episode will challenge how you show up as a leader, how you serve your team and whether you're dropping solutions… or just dropping crap.

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 coins the Jack in the Box Effect to describe what happens when leadership teams implement strategic decisions in a silo and accidentally trigger the opposite of what they wanted. He shares the story of being asked to back up two car lengths at a Jack in the Box drive thru so the timer would reset, then maps that exact pattern onto leadership teams that issue safety policies, performance metrics, and other initiatives without ever asking the field for input. The episode is a direct challenge to stop armchair managing culture and start including the people who actually have to live with the decisions.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• What the Jack in the Box Effect is and why it punishes the customer to protect the timer

• Why culture eats strategy and you can't enforce a culture you don't live in

• The trap of grading people on outcomes they have no influence or control over

• Why every decision affecting the field must be vetted with feedback from the field

• The Petticoid Smith model: leaders on every consult, every site visit, every boot camp

If Congress wouldn't pass laws they're exempt from, leadership shouldn't either. Total participation isn't a buzzword. It's the antidote to the Jack in the Box Effect. 

  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 a short, enthusiastic podcast from the road about Miro and how it's transformed the way he coaches, consults, and runs Elevate Construction. He traces his journey from using Mural during Felipe Engineer-Manriquez's Scrum course to discovering Miro through Nicholas Modig's work, and how it's now the visual backbone of every client coaching board, podcast outline, and church service project. He also makes the case that Miro belongs all over a construction site: scrum boards, last planner pull plans, weekly work plans, daily huddles, and team meetings.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why visual collaboration tools like Miro change how clients retain information and stay engaged

• How using Miro live with clients wows them, builds clarity, and reduces follow up confusion

• Why mapping out coaching, problems, and planning visually is therapeutic for everyone involved

• How Miro fits into a tacted system as the pull side of scrum supporting flow

• The seven interaction rule: you'll likely need to use it about seven times before you're addicted

Stop trying to remember everything in your head. Map it visually, map it once, and let the picture do the heavy lifting.

  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