The Critical Path with Mary and Jason

As we gear up to roll out our Foreman Basic Training Program next month, we’re talking about the phenomena that prompted us to create that program – promotion without preparation. It’s a major factor in the conversation about psychological safety, and a problem that we see on a daily basis in this industry.

We talk about:

• The pressure that a promotion can bring

• The gravity of escaping the financial pain point

• Promotion from field to field lead to office management

• What kind of support currently is the industry norm

• Some ways that your company can support these leaders through the transition

The post Episode 69 – Sink or Swim appeared first on Arcade Construction Academy.

It’s been 19 years today since the September 11 attacks. That date is engraved in our minds for a reason – many things about our world changed on that fateful day. In a recent conversation with this week’s special guest, Brian Polis, Director of Health, Safety and Environment at Graham, we talked about implosion demolition as a practice, how it might look different today from how it looked in 2000 when the King Dome was demolished, and how we learned a lot, as an industry, from the effects that the aftermath of September 11th had on the people living in the area.

Join us and learn more!

The post Episode 68 – The Impact of 9-11 on Safety with Special Guest Brian Polis from Graham appeared first on Arcade Construction Academy.

We’ve had a busy couple of weeks, and lots of guests on The Critical Path lately. It felt like it was time to just settle in with an audio only episode and talk some serious construction (but also get silly with some nerdy movie references.) So, we present to you – Bidding in Construction – Is It a Xenomorph? in which we discuss how the bidding process can look a little like the Alien movies (mostly the first one, though you can’t talk about Alien without some reference to the franchise!)

We talk about:

• Understanding the work

• Building a ‘Missing Information’ List and what to do with it

• Understanding the Risks

• Assumptions

• Exclusions

• Submitting the bid

The post Episode 67 – Bidding – Is It A Xenomorph? appeared first on Arcade Construction Academy.

As COVID has changed our world from the highly localized Seattle community to a more global perspective, we’ve been talking with a lot of people who are further away than before. As we found ourselves having more distant conversations, and building those communities up, we have been talking a lot with people affiliated with the school we both attended – Purdue University! From conversations with recent grads to professionals working with Purdue to rethink the construction program, we had a series of interesting discussions that ultimately led us to talk with Mark Zimpfer, Assistant Professor of Practice about how Purdue has been changing up their approach to construction education, and within 5 minutes of starting the call, we knew that we wanted to talk with Mark on the podcast! This is a great episode about what construction education should be, what it can be, and what we can expect to start seeing in the grads of the future.

You can listen in the usual way, or check out the video episode here!

Don’t miss it!

The post Episode 66 – Reimagining Construction Education with Mark Zimpfer appeared first on Arcade Construction Academy.

It seems like every day we see some new tool or software solution that is the ‘next big thing’ in construction. It’s true that there are a lot of new advances that can go a long way to saving us from injuries and unnecessary mistakes in the construction industry, but it’s important that we think new tech through just like any other business decision. This week, we’re talking with Trevor Lunde, who sees a lot of new technology move through the vetting system at GLY, and we’re talking about how to get to the bottom of whether a new technology tool is actually going to bring value to the jobsite (especially by *reducing steps* rather than adding them. We’re also talking about the importance of thinking about the people who will be using the technology, and how we can actually use it to collaborate better, rather than drifting further apart.

We talk about:

• The technology of learning to livestream (which led Mary to miss the first 11 minutes of Trevor’s audio in the original livestream video – Thanks to longtime Arcade friend Jim Schmidt for letting us know!)

• The process for vetting new technology

• Onboarding project partners who haven’t used your tech before

• The future of Augmented Reality in construction

• Geolocation and how it might be the most useful near future technology

• The future of the foreman position

• Jetpacks in construction!

Don’t miss it!

The post Episode 65 – Value vs Cool in Construction Tech with Trevor Lunde appeared first on Arcade Construction Academy.

This week, we’re talking about all the time you spend doing things that aren’t your strongest or best skills, and why you should do less of that!

We talk about:

• Aleister Crowley (and Ozzy Osbourne)

• The risk of being a little good at a lot of things

• The role you are ‘built’ to play at work

• The pain point of wasted time

• An exercise to help determine what you’re made to do

• Hiring based on what kind of people the organization needs, rather than to a job description

The post Episode 64 – Unleashing Your Superpower appeared first on Arcade Construction Academy.

This week, we’re talking about a subject that is on a lot of minds right now – looking for work. As everyone tries to sort out the best way to respond to the economic uncertainty of the COVID crisis, many people who are great team members with valuable skills are finding themselves looking for a new team to join. We’ve been having lots of great conversations with people, talking through how to take next steps, and we thought it would be a good time to talk about it on the podcast.

In other news, we have also been talking with ABC Western Washington about ways to keep the Builder Chat peer group up to date and on everyone’s minds, and the conversation about live streaming came up. Since we’ve never done it, we thought it might be a good time to learn a new skill. If you’re interesting in seeing the video of this episode as we recorded it, you can check here. Watch for announcements for future live streams!

In this episode, we talk about:

• Step one of the job search process (it’s not your resume!)

• Writing a great resume (hint: it’s not about fonts!)

• Why you *really do* need a cover letter

• How to use metrics on your resume

• LinkedIn and your job search

• Prospecting to find the *right* new home

The post Episode 63 – Looking for Work appeared first on Arcade Construction Academy.

This week, we’re catching up with Nigel Chiddick, who has been running a series of LinkedIn stories about his experiences with racism in his history in the construction industry, the importance of mentors and relationships, and what it’s like to share your own, very personal life stories with the world on a social media platform.

We talk about:

• How the industry looked when Nigel was starting his career in the 1990s for people of color

• The impact that several meaningful mentors have had on Nigel’s life and career

• How the industry has and has not changed over the years, with regards to opportunities for black and brown people

• Some changes that construction companies can take to help move the conversation forward

The post Episode 62 – True Stories with Nigel Chiddick appeared first on Arcade Construction Academy.

A question we hear all the time is, “How do I get my team motivated?” A related question that not enough leaders ask is, “How can I keep from demotivating my team?” Keeping people engaged, coming to work and being excited about getting things done is one of the most common concerns of leaders. This week, we’re talking about how motivation works – get your psych textbooks out and let’s dive in!

We talk about:

• The five levels of motivation (and why most companies spend most of their time working on the 4th and 5th levels)

• Why settings goals is the top tool in your motivation toolbox, and how to help set good ones!

• Stretch goals and how and when to use them

• Building cooperative games vs. competitive games

• The science of reinforcement

• The use of ‘coercive’ power (and when NOT to use it!)

• Expectancy Theory and motivation (The three factors that *have to* be in place to motivate a team!)

The post Episode 61 – How Can I Motivate People? appeared first on Arcade Construction Academy.

Downsizing. No one wants to talk about it. No one wants to have to do it. It’s not exactly a fun topic.

In the era of COVID though, it’s more important than ever that we think carefully about downsizing decisions and then handle the implementation of those decisions in the right way. So, this week, we’re talking about downsizing.

We talk about:

• Survivor’s Syndrome: The effect that significant downsizing has on the remaining team

• The impacts of Survivor’s Syndrome

• Steps you can take to minimize the negative effects of Survivor’s Syndrome, so that your team has its best chance of recovering and moving forward to keep from any more downsizing in the future!

In this episode, we talked about a book we read with the Jetpack Leadership Cohort called Then We Came to the End, by Joshus Ferris. It’s a story about a company where layoffs keep happening, and the team is caught in a downward spiral. It’s an interesting look at what happens when team morale starts to take a hit, and leads to some interesting conversations about what leadership can do to help steady the ship.

The post Episode 60 – Downsizing and Survivor’s Syndrome appeared first on Arcade Construction Academy.