Elevate Construction

CPM does not obey any of the four production laws. Little's Law says throughput time equals flow units times cycle time. CPM does not allow calculating optimal batch sizes. CPM does not help reduce work in process. CPM does not enable finishing as you go. The Bottleneck Law says every system has at least one constraint. CPM cannot see bottlenecks because you cannot see trade flow. The Law of Variation says as variation increases, duration increases. CPM is so chaotic it takes all management capacity just to update the schedule. Kingman's Formula calculates waiting time. CPM has no buffer strategy. Takt obeys all four production laws. Weak leaders and non-accountable trades will not like Takt because it requires holding the line and keeping rhythm.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• How Little's Law in Takt translates to: number of takt wagons plus number of takt areas minus one, multiplied by takt time equals duration
• The FOCCCCUS bottleneck strategy: Find, Optimize, Coordinate, Collaborate, Curate, Upgrade, Start again
• Why Takt takes one-twelfth the time to manage, freeing 55 percent of time from schedule management to roadblock removal
• How to level trades using throughput times: if electrician takes 100 days and others take 50, add a second crew to match the rhythm
• Why we focus on throughput and collective efficiency for all trades, not individual contractor efficiency

We want everyone to succeed together as a group and optimize the project, not just individual companies.

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

Takt has been used successfully in Europe for over a century. The Empire State Building used it. The Pentagon renovation used it. Yet CPM continues to dominate in the United States. Do not build boats when you can build trains and railways. Rivers cannot be controlled. Railways let you control your destiny. Takt is a collaborative system where you predict what should take place and prepare for success instead of hoping for the best in the moment. Rhythm is smooth and smooth is fast. The decision is not between going fast and finishing early versus going slow and finishing late. The decision is between going fast and failing versus going at the right rhythm and finishing at the soonest possible moment.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why Takt shows what SHOULD be done and CPM guesses what WILL be done, which is why Takt brings problems to the surface faster
• The four things needed to see a problem: know the target, see the deviation, see what it affects, see it within 5 to 48 hours (only Takt does all four)
• How Takt takes one-twelfth the time to manage compared to CPM because teams focus on making work ready instead of managing the schedule
• Why non-Takt meetings focus on when things should happen but Takt meetings already know when and focus on removing roadblocks
• The four considerations for flow: rhythm, capacity, consistency, and continuity

In non-Takt systems, teams spend most time managing the schedule instead of making work ready.

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

Flow is the single most important condition to strive for in construction. It is the most value-added effort on the journey to increase safety, customer delight, profits, employee satisfaction, and reduce production durations. Overproduction and excess inventory are the mother and father of all wastes. When we overproduce, we have excess inventory which needs to be transported and causes excess motion. The distraction of moving inventory creates defects or allows us to ignore them. Defects need to be fixed which causes overprocessing and that creates waiting. Workers are the heroes who make the money. We do not lose money while crews are working. We lose money when the flow of work or the crews are interrupted. Jason realizes there is no other system than Takt that implements the 14 principles of the Toyota Way.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• The four pillars of lean in construction: respect for people and resources, stable environments with flow, total participation with visual systems, continuous improvement
• Why overproduction and inventory are the mother and father of all wastes and how they cascade into all other wastes
• The stop, call, and wait principle: discover abnormality, stop the process, fix immediate problem, investigate root cause
• How 3S (sort, straighten, sweep) creates the ability to find and see problems so they can be fixed
• The 14 principles of the Toyota Way and why Takt is the only system that implements them (level workload, create continuous flow, use pull systems, stop to fix problems)

We do not lose money while crews are working. We lose money when the flow of work or the crews are interrupted.

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

Takt planning is a one-page, one-process flow schedule that focuses on throughput, bottlenecks, and creating flow. The water vortex demonstrates why this works. Forcing water through the opening as fast as possible creates turbulence and takes 11 seconds. Creating a coordinated spiral flow with space in the center for air to rise takes 5 seconds. CPM pushes activities through as fast as possible and creates turbulence. Takt coordinates all parts to work together while giving space for roadblocks to rise and be removed. You can take the best basketball players in the world and encourage them to make slam dunks after placing the hoops 25 feet in the air, but they will fail. CPM puts Scrum and Last Planner into an impossible game with unrealistic dates and non-rhythmic milestones. Takt brings a game where we can win.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why Takt must show time and space and how they relate to workflow, trade flow, and logistical flow
• The three main considerations in Takt planning: continuity (flow without interruption), rhythm (repetition at same rate), consistency (leveled materials and worker counts)
• The difference between roadblocks (temporary, can be removed) and constraints (permanent, must work within them)
• How flow enables long supply chains by holding consistent dates and reduces material inventory by bringing materials just in time
• Why Scrum and Last Planner cannot maintain flow when based on CPM milestones because they are not receiving materials on time in the chaotic system

When CPM puts Scrum and Last Planner into a game with unrealistic end dates, we are setting our hoops 25 feet in the air.

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

Takt is a holding system, not a push system. Holding means flow. When you flow you go fast, much like the Navy SEAL saying slow is smooth and smooth is fast. With lean, holding is smooth and smooth is fast. When the assistant super kept pushing the schedule instead of holding the Takt start dates, it caused friction with trade foremen. After three weeks of coaching, they transferred him to a different project. Within two weeks the entire site was in sync. Six weeks after implementing Takt, Jeff sees an entirely new job site. Clean bathrooms, air-conditioned lunch area, less workers on site due to flow efficiency, clean areas that crews control, foremen spending time with workers instead of tracking down procurement. Early pilot projects are seeing 20 percent time savings. Here is where we leave the characters behind and you become the main character of the book.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why foremen have been distracted making weekly work plans from scratch, tracking misaligned procurement, and orienting influx of different workers every week
• How Takt enables safety by giving foremen the environment and capacity to control the site and protect their workers
• Why one assistant super was transferred off the project for pushing instead of holding (Takt is a holding system not a push system)
• The transformation Jeff sees six weeks later: clean, organized, fewer workers, stable procurement, workers who are happy
• How Olivia scales Takt across all Evergreen projects with standardized systems: fresh eyes meetings, lean contracts, prefabrication as default, worker conditions, orientations

When you can get flow, you can get safety.

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

Brad and David build the entire Takt plan in just one week. Even if they cannot fully achieve what they worked through, having the full schedule on one page has Brad sold on the new format. The work steps within each Takt wagon transfer directly into weekly work plans for Last Planner or sprint backlogs for Scrum. Make ready work steps go three weeks ahead of the work. Execution work steps go in the current week. The FreshEyes meeting is where the team puts on risk glasses and finds what could possibly go wrong before it actually happens. No compliments allowed. No sympathy voting. Just find all the reasons why the plan will not work. Then brainstorm solutions. Assign action items. By the end, everyone has input, knows the plan together, and feels bought in.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• How Takt work steps transfer directly to Last Planner weekly work plans and Scrum sprint backlogs
• Why make ready work steps are scheduled three Takt times ahead and execution work steps are scheduled in the current Takt time
• The FreshEyes meeting structure: overview, risk glasses time, brainstorming, solutions, action items and assignments
• Critical questions the team asks: procurement leveling, mockups, field measurements, owner-provided items, specialty rooms, climate control, commissioning
• Why zero dollar change orders contract the trades to the new plan before presenting to the owner

The only stupid idea is the one that no one brings 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

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Brad resists the Takt plan because it feels like scrapping everything they built together for seven years just to cater to a few bad foremen. Olivia counters that the foremen are not bad. The team keeps putting them into impossible situations. The stakes are clear. Evergreen will not be shortlisted for future work until they fix the problems permanently. Brad's real fear is that David will be a seagull, a leader who flies in when there is a problem, makes quick decisions about stuff he does not understand, then leaves the crappy mess for someone else to clean up. Olivia promises she is all in and will not leave Brad alone with the mess. The team commits.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why Brad feels like changing to Takt means throwing away seven years of work and catering to bad foremen
• The seagull leader definition: flies in during problems, makes quick decisions without understanding, leaves the mess for others to clean up
• David's core message: flow where you can, pull when you can't, and stop pushing (right now we're pushing all the time)
• Why recognizing you are losing a battle and changing your defense is what winning looks like
• How the team commits to the Takt plan before the meeting even starts because they know it's the right thing

Construction is full of impossible situations, but we need to give foremen a fighting chance at success instead of pushing all the time.

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

Cleanliness is always a key indicator of project success. When David walks One Care, he sees dirty porta-potties with graffiti, rushed and frustrated workers, and an uncoordinated frenzy. The water bottle demonstration proves the point. Pouring straight takes 10 seconds because air (roadblocks) keeps stopping the flow. Creating a vortex takes 5 seconds because the water flows in one direction and leaves space for air to rise. This is not a people problem. This is a flow problem. Last Planner and Scrum cannot succeed when the goal changes every day and the supply chain is unstable. The train analogy works better than the river. Takt trains flow through the building with a cow catcher clearing roadblocks ahead, moving at the right speed on level tracks toward the next station at a consistent rate.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why dirty porta-potties with graffiti are a clear signal that project workers are not happy and the project has fundamental issues
• How the water bottle vortex demonstration proves that flow and pace allow roadblocks to surface faster than pushing everything at once
• Why masterfully implemented Last Planner and Scrum cannot win when the goal changes every day and supply chains are unstable
• The train analogy: Takt trains with freight cars, cow catchers for roadblock removal, tracks as operations, rails as prefabrication
• Why CPM creates frenzied chaotic rush and Takt creates predictable supply chains that allow short interval planning to succeed

No matter how proficient the team is, they cannot thrive when the target is always moving.

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 traditional lean analogy about lowering the water level to see rocks is wrong, and it gives lean a bad name. Lowering the water level leads to slash and burn management. The real problem is not that you need fewer resources. The problem is that the water is moving too fast and the chaos prevents you from seeing the rocks even when they are right in front of you. What you need is stability and the right pace so the water is calm and clear. That is what Takt planning does. It schedules the right flow and pace into the project so the team can actually see and remove roadblocks instead of being addicted to the rush of chaos.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why the rafting analogy reveals the flaw in traditional lean thinking about reducing resources
• How going too fast creates chaos that prevents you from seeing roadblocks even when they are protruding
• Why teams get addicted to the rush of feeling busy, productive, needed, and important even though it is all waste
• The difference between lowering the water level (slash and burn) versus stabilizing flow and adjusting pace
• How Takt planning creates rhythm and stability that allows teams to see rocks and go around them

The rush comes from being near the danger, but ultimately it is all waste.

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 opens the fable section of Elevating Construction Takt Planning with a personal story about a Southwest Airlines crew going out of their way for his kids, a reminder of what great culture looks like. Then he dives into the story of Olivia, a rising director at Evergreen Construction juggling eight projects, a struggling $150M hospital build, and a high-stakes interview for a $185M mega-project. As deadlines slip, safety reports stack up, and an interview unravels in real time, Olivia is left with the pieces of a puzzle she can't quite fit together — and a chance conversation that might hold the key.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why even highly skilled teams with Last Planner and Scrum in place can still unravel

• How stretched leadership and poor stability show up first as safety incidents and slipped deadlines

• Why blaming people misses the real system-level problem behind the chaos

• The subtle connection between traffic flow and construction flow that sparks Olivia's curiosity

• How a single disrupted setup can cost a team the room before they ever present

When every individual on the team is capable, what is it about the system that still lets them down?

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