Real Life Lean 043

Happy Monday lean construction family and welcome to another edition of Real Life Lean. This newsletter is intended to give construction professionals worldwide 4 quick and easy resources to grow and continue on your lean journey.

Today's Summary:

• Lean Article - What Kind Of Sponge Are You?

• Lean Podcast - Being Present With Yourself

• Lean Event - 5S In Lean Construction

• Real Life Lean - Lean In Action With Leandris Weeden

Lean Article

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right? This old adage is heard day in and day out on construction site (and everywhere else in the world). In the LinkedIn Article below Chris Neely shares a fictional story of two construction companies, one that lives by this old adage and one that is looking for innovation and progression.

Takeaway- Chris closes the article out with a analogy that was new to me - comparing ourselves to sponges. I really liked this analogy because it is such a good representation of the construction industry. Is you sponge filled with dirt and oil, unable to soak up and new or different ideas? Or is your sponge clean, and ready for any new substance that comes your way? As Chris states, we all probably have a bit of oil and dirt in our sponges, but it is important to recognize that we can clean them out and absorb new and innovative ideas. How? By doing things that challenge our way of thinking such as attending a new event, reading a new book or listening to a new podcast. By expanding our view and understanding we are opening ourselves up to have a clean sponge.

Lean Podcast

In this episode of Hoots on the Ground, Adam interviews Matt Ohley, who shares about his experience growing up in construction. If you don’t follow Matt on LinkedIn, I recommend you head over there right now and give him a follow. Matt shares stories of his experience coming up through the trades and gives real examples of the mindset and thoughts of a blue collar worker. Matt is raw, he is real and he is vulnerable. In this episode he and Hoot’s talk about the need to be present with yourself and the way that Matt goes about doing so.

Takeaway - One of the biggest takeaways that I had from this interview was the power of our thoughts and how YOU have control over what you think. Matt talks through how he realized this and how it has changed the progression of his life. Our thoughts are some of the most powerful things we have and we need to be careful with what we tell ourselves. Matt walks us through his daily routine and gives concrete examples of how to navigate our self talk.

Lean Event

In the 5S In Lean Construction event below from LCI, attendees with hear real examples from construction professionals about how to implement a 5S program and the benefits it has on their jobsite. Attendees of this webinar will walk away with ideas for 5S implementation and know how to apply it to their jobsite.

Takeaway - I love 5S as a starting point for lean implementation with field teams because it just make sense. Having an organized and clean work area makes work flow smoother, safer and more efficiently. Attending a webinar like the one below may be the catalyst to a lean revolution on your jobsite.

Real Life Lean - Lean practices in the real world

I was blessed to end 2023 with an interview with my friend Leandris Weeden. Leandris is a lean advocate, building scientist and overall fantastic human being that is passionate about changing the construction industry. In the interview below, he and I discuss how he found himself on his lean journey, how he is helping the industry move forward with a lean mindset and what he see’s as the future for construction. He shares stories and examples of his own challenges in construction and ways that he has overcome these challenges.

We spend a portion of the conversation talking about Production vs Productivity, which I find to be fascinating. Leandris uses this subtle difference in language to differentiate how people see a jobsite. From a labor management standpoint (and without a lean lens on) you may see productivity as a great thing - a crew has installed 100 sheets of drywall and met their productivity goal for the day. But how does that drywall install impact the production of the project? Do other crews need to go back and have that drywall cut out to complete their scope? Is this true production for the job? When you zoom out on your lens you see how the productivity of your crew impacts the production of the team.

Takt University Special Offer

I have partnered with Spencer Easton from Takt University to share a great offer for Real Life Lean subscribers. Purchase Spencer’s Introduction Course at the link here and enter “reallifelean2023” for 50% off your purchase!

Have a Real Life Lean story you think would be a great feature in an upcoming newsletter? Send me an email at [email protected].