Construction Genius

Mark Twain says, "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks and starting with the first one."

Making massive improvements in your business is difficult and can be overwhelming. However, if you understand how to make incremental improvement, you can take on even the biggest projects with tremendous success. In this episode of Construction Genius Podcast, I share very helpful method you can use to make incremental improvement in your business.

Listen in and you'll learn how to stop being overwhelmed, and start making progress, right away.

Discussion Points:

• 0:00 Introduction

• 1:44 Four Parts of the simple path to Incremental Improvement

• 2:34 Think for a moment! When do you start to get overwhelmed?

• 4:18 Step #1: Describe the issue

• 6:13 Step #2: Generating a list of ideas and identifying the best one

• 8:42 Step #3: The drill down question that allows you to explore the best idea you chose

• 11:15 Step #4: Commitment to action

• 12:47 What's the best way to eat an elephant?

Resources:

• The Drill Down Method FREE Download: https://www.constructiongenius.com/drill-down/

• Are you a construction executive, looking for an industry expert who can coach you on improving your leadership? Contact Eric here: www.constructiongenius.com/contact

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Thank you for tuning in!

Why do employees perform poorly? 80% of the time, it's just because they're in the wrong position, and unable to leverage their strengths.

Our returning guest today, John K. Coyle — is one of the world's leading experts in Design Thinking, and an Olympic silver medalist. At a young age, John was able to identify his strengths and use those strengths to his advantage.

I've invited John to join us today to talk about the following topics:

• Why we're so obsessed with our weaknesses,

• How should we separate our ego from reality in defining our own strengths,

• How to define our strengths, and

• How we should be building our activities around our strengths.

Stop trying to fix your weaknesses, and start designing on the strengths you already possess in today's episode.

Discussion Points:

• 0:00 Introduction

• 2:25 Why it's crucial for leaders to stop fixing weaknesses and start designing for strengths

• 4:06 Identifying your strengths and communicating it to other people

• 6:43 Maximizing your own strength to do your job

• 7:56 John shares his story of how he figured out his own strength

• 10:55 Translating John's experiences into your role as a leader or for construction companies

• 12:33 Identifying your superpowers: Should you trust personality assessments?

• 14:45 For construction companies, how do you group people according to their strengths and build teams?

• 17:27 Team configurations can change from project to project

• 19:07 Being able to differentiate between ego from actual strength

• 21:22 Characteristics that beginners and seniors should possess to be able to maximize their strengths

• 22:42 Poor performer doesn't instantly equate to bad employee

• 23:36 When you're good at something but don't have the confidence to step up and do something about it…

• 25:38 The 5 step design thinking process

• 27:37 About John's book Design for Strengths

About Our Guest:

John K. Coyle is one of the world's leading experts in "Design Thinking" and Innovation. A highly sought-after speaker and lecturer, John is a graduate of Stanford University with a degree in Engineering - Product Design (Design Thinking) and Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of business with an MBA in organizational behavior, marketing and entrepreneurship. A former head of innovation for a Fortune 500 wireless telecom, John has also been the SVP of innovation for a leading strategy consultancy. John is a world class athlete in two sports (cycling and speedskating) and an Olympic silver medalist, as well as an NBC Olympic Sports analyst, and a guest lecturer on Innovation at several leading universities (Kellogg, Marquette, CEDIM). John is a two time TEDx speaker, and an award-winning author of two books, including the (2018) best seller: Design For Strengths: Applying Design Thinking to Individual and Team Strengths. John is also a thought leader in the field of "chronoception" - the neuroscience and psychology of how humans process time. Learn more at his website www.johnkcoyle.com

Resources:

• Design for Strengths by John K. Coyle (https://amzn.to/3nOeaX9) and (https://johnkcoyle.com/design-for-strengths)

• Visit John K. Coyle's website: www.johnkcoyle.com

• Follow John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkcoyle1/

• Follow John on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnkcoyle/

Do Your Project Executives Need to Become Better Leaders?

• Book a 10-minute call with Eric Anderton to see if/how he can help (https://10minutes.youcanbook.me/)

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Thank you for tuning in!

Construction companies often struggle to adopt new technology. It takes work, time, costs money, and entails risk.

Our guest, Yaron Dycian — Chief Product and Strategy Officer at WINT-Water Intelligence brings an outsider's perspective to the table today on how construction companies can benefit from adopting new technology and using it effectively.

We discuss the following essential highlights:

• The importance of getting into a rhythm of technology adoption in your organization,

• The importance of consistent communication between the people on the ground and senior executives to ensure good technology adoption,

• How to be more effective at adopting technology in your construction company, and many more.

There's so much to learn today. So keep the beat and dance to the rhythm of adopting new technologies in your construction companies, starting with tuning in to this episode!

Discussion Points:

• 0:00 Introduction

• 3:03 The biggest challenge in terms of construction companies adopting new technologies and using them effectively

• 4:22 What does getting in the rhythm of adopting new technologies really mean?

• 6:19 Balancing the need for profitability and adopting new technologies

• 9:53 Two sets of people involved in the process of adopting new technologies and why it's crucial for them to stay aligned

• 11:42 Technology providers: Distinguishing good vendors from bad vendors

• 12:37 Characteristics of a good vendor

• 16:02 Bringing innovation experts/executives into the team and what their roles are

• 19:36 Examples of the benefits you get when you have innovation executives

• 21:00 What WINT does for construction companies

About Our Guest:

Yaron Dycian — Chief Product and Strategy Officer at WINT-Water Intelligence brings over 25 years' experience in driving strategy, building disruptive products and running market execution at innovative startups and Fortune 500 companies. Before WINT, he ran IBM's cybercrime protection portfolio following its acquisition of Trusteer, and held executive positions at Consumer Physics, RSA, the security division of EMC, Mercado Software, Cyota and others. Yaron holds an MBA summa cum laude from the Tel Aviv University, an MS in Engineering summa cum laude, and a B.Sc. in Math and Physics with the IDF's Talpiot excellence program. He is also an avid road and mountain cycler. He also loves skiing and hiking, especially in remote locations like the Himalayas.

Resources:

• WINT's Website: https://wint.ai/

• CNN Spot: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/15/tech/ai-water-meter-wint-spc-intl/index.html

• Restaurant recommendation: https://www.timnatlv.co.il/ or https://www.instagram.com/timna_tlv

• Yaron's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yarondycian/#

• Company Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wint-waterintelligence/

Do Your Project Executives Need to Become Better Leaders?

• Book a 10-minute call with Eric Anderton to see if/how he can help (https://10minutes.youcanbook.me/)

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Thank you for tuning in!

I'm shopping for a new car. I make these types of decisions slowly, and do lots of research. Recently, I was driving by a dealership and popped in to see if they had the car I'm looking for. They didn't. What got my attention was after I was finished chatting with the employees at the front desk, they didn't ask me for my name and email to keep in touch. They just let me walk out the door, despite me being their perfect target customer. This got me wondering about the processes they had in place and whether their employees were trained on how to handle walk-in customers.

Processes that work are essential to your business success. How do you build new processes and fix the broken ones you already have in place?

Tune into this short Construction Genius episode and find out!

Discussion Points:

• 0:00 Introduction

• 4:52 What is a process and why are processes important?

• 6:46 3 reasons why processes fail

• 8:06 Tips to improve your processes

• 12:29 How to plan out a process

• 13:35 Steps to improve your processes

Resources:

• Free Download Process Mapping Tool: https://www.constructiongenius.com/process-mapping/

Do Your Project Executives Need to Become Better Leaders?

• Book a 10-minute call with Eric Anderton to see if/how he can help (https://10minutes.youcanbook.me/)

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Thank you for tuning in!

This week's podcast takes a detour from our usual leadership topics.

A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction. For example, Pepsin is an enzyme that acts as a digestive catalyst, speeding up the digestion of meat. We are also familiar with the use of catalyst to refer to a person that causes change or action. In this episode we will think about such a person. That catalyst is Jesus Christ.

Reading from the Gospel of Matthew, I explore how the birth of Christ impacted the lives of the Magi, King Herod and Joseph, the husband of Mary.

Here are the highlights:

0:00 Introduction

1:13 What is a catalyst?

2:14 The threefold nature of the catalyst

3:35 The response to the catalyst

3:53 The response of the wise men

5:58 The response of King Herod

9:37 The response of Joseph

13:13 How will you respond to this catalyst?

Resources:

Passage to Read: Matthew 1:18 - Matthew 2:23

YouVersion Bible App: https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/

Have a terrific Holiday Season with your family and friends, and thank you for tuning in!

Contrary to the popular belief the construction industry is an innovative and forward thinking industry.

However, there are some risks inherent in construction that can slow the pace of innovation.

Brian Potter — a structural engineer, returns to Construction Genius to discuss why it's seemingly hard to innovate in construction and how construction companies can do it more effectively.

We also discuss:

• What construction companies should focus on to make innovation happen,

• The difference between the United States, Europe, and Asia in terms of innovation.

We also touch on some opportunities for innovation in terms of 3D printing, and the future of innovation in the construction industry for the next 4-5 years. Press that play button and let's get started!

Discussion Points:

• 0:00 Introduction

• 3:02 The construction industry is quite advanced than outsiders actually think it is

• 4:53 Why it's hard to innovate in the construction industry

• 7:25 Micro approach vs macro approach to innovation?

• 8:20 Who should be initiating innovation in a construction company?

• 10:50 The role of project owners in terms of driving innovation

• 12:21 Characteristics of a General Contractor or Subcontractor who are effective at innovation

• 13:37 Maintaining profitability while promoting innovativeness

• 16:02 How construction companies manage risk without taking so much of a toll on the financial aspect

• 17:26 Understanding that failure is a part of innovation

• 19:54 Key innovation trends in the next five to seven years

• 21:06 The future of 3D printing in the construction industry

• 23:32 Adopting innovation: The difference between the United States, Europe, and Asia

• 25:34 The effect of the American business system towards innovation in construction industries in the United States

• 27:20 The characteristics of a highly effective company when it comes to innovation

About Our Guest:

Brian Potter is a structural engineer and formerly worked at the construction startup Katerra. He is the author of the "Construction Physics" newsletter.

Resources:

• Episode 131: Katerra: The Rise and Fall of a Billion Dollar Construction Start Up: https://www.constructiongenius.com/podcast/katerra-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-billion-dollar-construction-start-up/

• Subscribe to Brian's blog: https://constructionphysics.substack.com/

• Another Day In Katerradise https://constructionphysics.substack.com/p/another-day-in-katerradise

• Follow Brian on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-potter-6a082150/

Do Your Project Executives Need to Become Better Leaders?

• Book a 10-minute call with Eric Anderton to see if/how he can help (https://10minutes.youcanbook.me/)

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Thank you for tuning in!

Your projects will be profitable if your field crews are efficient. How can you increase your crew's efficiency so that you can make more money? On this week's episode of the Construction Genius Podcast we are joined by the co-founder and CEO of Clue Insights Inc. — Oded Ran. Oded is obsessed with helping construction companies make more money by improving their field efficiency using data and AI.

We invited him over to share with us some insights into:

• What we need to look out for to make sure we're using technology in an effective way to better our organization
• What construction companies need to do to win every shift
• And lots more of valuable insights

Make sure to check out the video of this podcast episode for a clearer view of a very useful slide Oded shares with us halfway through our podcast. Lots of valuable lessons to learn so press that play button and let's get started!

Discussion Points:

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:48 Biggest, most common problems of contractors that impact profitability
• 3:38 Why does the construction industry seem to have minimal to no improvement?
• 6:32 Is it true that most data is inefficiently communicated within a company because of this reason?
• 9:07 Solving communication inefficiency within a construction company
• 10:07 How the most effective construction companies go through the debriefing process
• 10:11 Step 1: Preparation of Data
• 10:56 Step 2: Using the data effectively
• 13:31 Making data collection easier with this framework
• 17:24 3 questions you need to ask yourself if you're in charge of process improvement
• 22:15 What Clue Insights does as a company
• 25:56 Empowering field crews with the data they need
• 31:32 What a construction company needs to do to win every shift

About Our Guest:

Oded Ran is Co-founder and CEO of Clue Insights Inc. — a company that aims to help construction companies maximize their company's efficiency through the use of data and AI. He is obsessed with helping construction companies improve their productivity which is why they founded Clue Insights. Oded is a hands-on leader from early-stage start-ups to Fortune 500 Companies.

Resources:

• Clue Insights Inc. Website: www.getclue.com
• Clue Insights LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clueinsights
• Clue Insights Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clueinsights
• Clue – Real Time Productivity Monitoring
• Restaurant Recommendation: https://www.truefoodkitchen.com/menu/

Do Your Project Executives Need to Become Better Leaders?

• Book a 10-minute call with Eric Anderton to see if/how he can help (https://10minutes.youcanbook.me/)

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Thank you for tuning in!

In the 1960s, President Kennedy set the goal of sending a manned flight to the moon. To achieve that goal, three programs were put in place — the Mercury Program, the Gemini Program, and the Apollo Program. Three programs which can be perfectly used for analogies with regards to growing businesses including construction companies.

Today, we have Doug Howard — Director of Consulting at Remodelers Advantage explain to us how we can relate these three programs to our businesses and use them to our advantage.

Other important highlights we include in our discussion are:

• Using your most valuable asset — time — effectively,

• Moving from working in your business to working ON your business,

• Achieving your goals by using your resources efficiently, and many more.

So go ahead and press that play button 'cause we've got a lot of valuable lessons to give away in today's episode!

Discussion Points:

• 0:00 Introduction

• 3:21 Top 3 issues that limit a business' growth

• 4:03 The struggle between working ON the business vs IN the business

• 7:05 Developing middle level management with organizational charts

• 10:22 Two issues that need to be addressed in a growing business

• 11:51 The problem with micromanaging

• 14:34 What does it mean to set a budget for mistakes?

• 15:57 Moving from a mindset of being in control to allowing the staff to interact with customers

• 18:31 First steps to take in managing time effectively

• 19:08 The Moon Shot Analogy (Mercury Program, Apollo Program, Gemini Program)

• 22:25 Playing the dynamics between a Gemini Program phase and the business owner not wanting to do something that needs to get done

• 23:54 How much time should a senior leader be spending working on the business?

• 24:52 Tried to manage your time effectively but failed? Here's how to reset and try again

• 26:23 It's all about Accountability

• 29:51 4 action items you need to have to start working ON the business

About Our Guest:

Doug Howard is Director of Consulting at Remodelers Advantage. He is an experienced Leader, entrepreneur and business consultant with over 25 years of success in leading organizations, starting new companies and assisting client businesses as they start-up, grow or transition. Throughout his career, Doug has served in leadership in for-profit, nonprofit and government organizations. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business. Doug joined Remodelers Advantage as Director of Consulting Services in 2017 and he now specializes in helping remodeling company owners develop strategic plans, streamline processes, improve profitability, and navigate growth.

Resources:

• Doug Howard's Email: [email protected]

• Doug Howard's Website: www.15minuteswithdoug.com

• Remodelers Advantage Website: https://remodelersadvantage.com/

• Remodelers Advantage LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/remodelers-advantage-inc-

• Remodelers Advantage Twitter: @RemodelersAdvan

• Remodelers Advantage Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Remodelers.Advantage

Do Your Project Executives Need to Become Better Leaders?

• Book a 10-minute call with Eric Anderton to see if/how he can help (https://10minutes.youcanbook.me/)

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Thank you for tuning in!

Generation Z is the most ethnically diverse generation the United States has ever seen. Tapping into this pool of talent will be essential for your business's progress in the next 15-20 years.

Paul Robinson — the founder and CEO of ConstructReach — a company that focuses on diversifying the construction industry, is here with us today to explore diversity, and why it's important to your company's success.

Some of the highlights of our discussion include:

• How leadership and construction companies can drive diversity initiatives,

• How construction companies can sustain this over a period of time,

• Some of the roadblocks to diversity and how to overcome those,

• And many more.

Get some fresh perspective from today's conversation with Paul. Understand the issues and challenges around diversity that construction companies are currently facing and how you can overcome them!

Discussion Points:

• 0:00 Introduction

• 2:55 Paul's background

• 4:31 Paul's journey towards ConstructReach

• 6:49 The reason behind the lack of diversity in construction

• 8:22 The business case for diversity

• 9:33 Strategies to apply if you want your construction company to be successful in terms of diversification

• 10:59 What are the schools' roles in terms of promoting the diversification initiative?

• 13:29 Trends on shop emphasis vs having our heads up in the technology cloud

• 15:19 How construction companies build relationships with schools so they can tap into the vast pool of talent afterwards

• 17:24 Sustaining a diverse workforce

• 22:17 Persuading construction leaders into hiring a diverse workforce

• 25:35 Stop jumping on the bandwagon with your marketing

• 28:15 Closing in on the generation gap

• 30:06 What ConstructReach does for general contractors and subcontractors

• 30:56 The importance of the onboarding piece

• 32:29 The difference between a successful company in terms of diversification and the not-so-successful one

• 33:18 How Paul helps construction companies overcome the challenges of diversification

• 34:06 Definition of small wins in the context of a diversity initiative

• 35:29 Setting specific diversity goals in a construction company

• 36:28 Paul talks about ConstructReach and what they do as a company

• 38:18 First steps you need to take if you're looking at diversifying your workforce

About Our Guest:

Paul Robinson joined the Target Corporation in 2006 and quickly rose to become a Construction Project Manager. In 2012, he, his wife, and growing family, decided to move home to be tangible examples in their St. Louis, MO community. In 2015, construction leadership at Target reached out to Paul with a proposition: assistance in ensuring the construction pipeline stays filled with competent employees and increasing the diversity of those employees. Paul founded ConstructReach in May 2018 — a construction industry workforce development initiative and consultancy that seeks to increase the visibility of the construction industry by educating students about career opportunities within construction, connecting general contractors to interns, employees, and internship curriculum, and creating content, experiences, and a social network to expose a diverse population to sustainable construction careers. ConstructReach works with students, educators, high school counselors, large brands, and general contractors throughout the country to ensure they have the information and connections they need to facilitate the longevity of a new, more diverse construction industry. ConstructReach is currently adding general contractors, and expanding brands to its network.

Resources:

• Restaurant Recommendations:

• Imo's Pizza: https://www.imospizza.com/

• Sugarfire: https://sugarfiresmokehouse.com/

Do Your Project Executives Need to Become Better Leaders?

• Book a 10-minute call with Eric Anderton to see if/how he can help (https://10minutes.youcanbook.me/)

Connect with Paul Robinson/ConstructReach:

• Paul Robinson - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-robinson-a528151a/)

• ConstructReach - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/constructreach/)

• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/constructreach/)

• Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/constructreach/)

• Twitter (https://twitter.com/ConstructReach)

• Website (https://constructreach.com/)

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Thank you for tuning in!

Marketing is one particular area of business I've always been fascinated about. Probably because of the fact that I've been involved in sales and marketing my whole life but I always feel like I'm just getting started. There's so much to learn and it's always a pleasure to get expert advice on the matter whenever given the opportunity.

So, I've once again invited Wayne Mullins — founder and CEO of Ugly Mug Marketing, Wayne is the first ever three-time guest on Construction Genius. Great marketing is essential to your business success, and I'm delighted to have him back on the show to share his expertise with us.

Today, we talk about the A.I.D.A (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) framework and break down why it's still relevant today. Here are some of the points we discuss in this episode that you may want to ponder on:

• How the A.I.D.A. framework can fit with your marketing messages, and

• How the A.I.D.A. framework can influence the way you communicate with clients

Make sure to take down notes 'cause there's a lot of valuable takeaways from today's episode!

Discussion Points:

• 0:00 Introduction

• 3:49 What is A.I.D.A and its importance in marketing strategies

• 5:07 Breaking down the acronym (A.I.D.A.)

• 6:28 Marketing vs Branding

• 7:40 The importance of branding in attracting and retaining customers

• 8:42 A for Attention
  • 8:59 Why is it difficult to get people's attention?
  • 10:57 This is why you need to be clear about the type of customers you wish to serve
  • 11:59 Ineffective ways for businesses to seek attention

• 12:43 I for Interest
  • 13:05 What is the customer avatar?
  • 15:10 Tips in building your business' own avatar
  • 15:51 What is a Magic Journal and how can it affect your marketing strategy?

• 19:14 D for Desire
  • 19:31 Why is desire vital to marketing?
  • 20:09 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
  • 21:08 Examples of products/services and where they fall on the hierarchy

• 26:24 Why the A.I.D.A. framework is still relevant today despite it coming from a hundred years ago

• 29:19 A for Action
• • 29:57 The three elements required for the Call-to-Action

• 32:32 The next step for construction company owners who would like to lay hold of the A.I.D.A. framework

About Our Guest:

Wayne Mullins is a husband, father of four, founder, and author. Over the past twenty years, he has had the privilege of scaling multiple companies and has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs do the same with their companies.

His marketing agency, Ugly Mug Marketing, has won the praises of some of the leading influencers in the business world such as Neil Patel (Founder of Quicksprout), Chris Voss (author of Never Split the Difference), and Greg McKeown (Author of Essentialism and Effortless).

Resources:

• Avatar Exercise Mentioned in Podcast: https://bit.ly/3CMjAa4

• Full Circle Marketing Book Web Page: https://www.yourfullcirclemarketing.com/

• Episode 118: How to Turn Your Company into a Marketing Machine (https://www.constructiongenius.com/podcast/how-to-turn-your-company-into-a-marketing-machine-ep-118/)

• Episode 137: The Natural Progression: Stranger - Friend - Client - Evangelist (https://www.constructiongenius.com/podcast/the-natural-progression-of-marketing/)

Books mentioned in the episode:

• Full Circle Marketing, Wayne Mullins (https://amzn.to/3o1Qsps)

Connect with Wayne Mullins:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/fireyourself

• Website: www.uglymugmarketing.com

Do Your Project Executives Need Coaching to Help Them Develop as Leaders?

• Book a 10-minute call with Eric Anderton to see if/how he can help (https://10minutes.youcanbook.me/)

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher!

Thank you for tuning in!