Elevate Construction

Jason kicks off a five part series on Mortensen's 5S field guide, starting with sort: nothing hits the ground, materials arrive just in time, and unneeded items get removed from the site entirely.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why nothing hits the ground is a simple, rallying cleanliness rule
• How just in time deliveries differ from skipping a lay down area
• Why unneeded items on site quietly slow down production
• How cleanliness and organization signal a project's real health
• Why sort is the foundation the other 5S steps build on

If your jobsite still has trash, scrap, or unneeded materials sitting around, the honest question is whether your team has actually sorted the site, or just gotten used to stepping around the clutter.

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 five part series on Mortensen's 5S field guide, starting with sort: nothing hits the ground, materials arrive just in time, and unneeded items get removed from the site entirely.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why nothing hits the ground is a simple, rallying cleanliness rule
• How just in time deliveries differ from skipping a lay down area
• Why unneeded items on site quietly slow down production
• How cleanliness and organization signal a project's real health
• Why sort is the foundation the other 5S steps build on

If your jobsite still has trash, scrap, or unneeded materials sitting around, the honest question is whether your team has actually sorted the site, or just gotten used to stepping around the clutter.

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 walks through the eight wastes in their natural cause and effect order, starting with overproduction and excess inventory as the mother and father of all the others, through defects, over-processing, motion, transportation, waiting, and finally not using the genius of the team.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why overproduction and excess inventory are the root of every other waste
• How defects trigger costly over-processing and rework
• Why motion and transportation waste time even when they feel like work
• How waiting quietly drains both cash flow and productivity
• Why not using the genius of the team is the most damaging waste of all

If your team cannot recite the eight wastes the way Jason can, the honest question is whether you are actually seeing the waste happening around you every day, or just walking past it without a name for what you're looking at.

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 introduces Kantor's Law, the idea that everything looks like a failure in the middle of any change effort, and shares how holding the line through months of pressure at the research laboratory ultimately paid off.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why every project or change effort feels worst in the middle
• How Cantor's Law explains the two steps forward, one step back pattern
• Why despondency in the middle is a normal part of real change
• How construction's long project cycles demand extra patience
• Why a growth mindset carries teams through the hardest stretch

If you are in the messy middle of a change effort right now and it feels like failure, the honest question is whether you are actually failing, or just standing exactly where Kantor's Law says everyone stands before the results show up.

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 breaks down Bill Drayton's definition of a changemaker into Six steps: seeing patterns, identifying real problems, solving what people actually have, organizing fluid teams instead of complaining, and continually adapting rather than fighting to protect an idea once it's found.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why pattern recognition is the starting point for real change
• How prosperity can blind people to problems they need to see
• Why solving the problem people actually have beats implementing what you assume
• How organizing fluid teams beats complaining about circumstances
• Why true changemakers keep adapting instead of defending old ideas

If you have ever fought to defend an idea instead of updating it when it stopped working, the honest question is whether you are truly a changemaker, or just protecting something you found once and stopped improving.

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 introduces the point of no return, the moment a project is too far along to recover, and explains why the first two thirds of any project determine whether the last third can still be won.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why every project has a point of no return
• How the one third and two thirds milestones protect a schedule
• Why locking in decisions early prevents late stage disaster
• The yellow brick road method for tracking monthly progress
• Why pushing critical decisions to the end is a losing strategy

If your project is already past its two thirds mark with major decisions still unresolved, the honest question is whether you are still in control, or already living with a plan that is baked.

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 reflects on the idea of working your ticket to make it home, using the story of Bobby the Wonder Dog to explore what home really means: the people and places where we feel loved, accepted, and able to serve.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why home means where you feel loved, accepted, and fulfilled
• The story of Bobby the Wonder Dog and its meaning for us
• How small decisions can quietly lead us away from home
• Why settling for less keeps us from the people who matter
• The challenge to work your ticket back to what matters most

If you have been settling for less in the relationships and places that matter most, the honest question is what it would take for you to find your way back home.

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 talks with Hal Macomber about why Takt construction succeeds or fails based on the system around it, not the mechanics. Hal walks through the three reinforcing cycles a learning organization needs, personal results, networking, and business results in that order, then explains why not enough time, executives not walking the talk, no help available, and it's not relevant are the archetypes that drag change efforts down.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why personal results must come before networking and business results
• Why superintendents and project executives can never dissent from the plan
• How stopping unnecessary work like CPM updates creates real capacity
• Why connecting work to its true purpose makes change relevant
• How changing the goal to flow naturally keeps people and equipment busy

If your team keeps saying there is not enough time or it is not relevant, the honest question is whether leadership has actually closed the gap between what is required and what is available, or just told people to make it 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 shares the merit badge analogy: caring hard and doing your best has almost no correlation with whether a project actually succeeds. Success comes from productive paranoia, double checks, fresh eyes meetings, and relentlessly hunting down roadblocks, not from good intentions alone.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why performance and project success are not correlated
• The two separate merit badges of caring and getting it done
• Why productive paranoia earns the getting it done badge
• How top performers can still let a project fail
• Why awesome teams are most at risk of skipping double checks

If you believe your effort alone guarantees your project's success, the honest question is whether you have actually checked every corner for problems, or just assumed your best was enough.

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 breaks down a simple shift that's completely changed how assignments get done at Elevate Construction: clearly defining what "done" actually looks like before handing off a task. Pulling from what he learned in Scrum training, he explains why a task without a clear definition of done forces people to guess, dig for context, and often deliver the wrong thing entirely. Using a fun cake-baking analogy, he shows how a few specific details up front can eliminate nearly all rework and confusion, whether you're delegating to an employee, a scheduler, or a trade partner.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why so much rework and miscommunication comes from never defining what "done" actually means

• How to write a clear definition of done without needing a lengthy description

• Why this concept is the same as "conditions of satisfaction" in the Last Planner System

• A simple analogy (baking a cake) that shows how specificity eliminates guesswork

• How defining done up front has virtually eliminated missed or incorrect deliverables on Jason's own team

Next time you hand off an assignment, have you actually defined what done looks like, or are you just hoping the other person reads your mind?

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