- Real Life Lean
- Posts
- Real Life Lean 044
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 - Leadership Lessons from The Lean Builder: 4 Simple Rules to Help You Be a Better Lean Builder
Lean Podcast - The Focus Of A Project Superintendent
Lean Event — Takt Production System - FREE Training
Real Life Lean - Lean Stack
Lean Article
The Lean Builder is known to be a starting point for one’s lean journey. The story about a seasoned superintendent mentoring a young superintended in the Last Planner System gives a framework for readers on how to start their own lean implementation. In the article below, Frank Coln shares some other lessons from The Lean Builder. Lessons around mentorship and a framework for coaching teams and individuals.
Takeaway - I have often looked at The Lean Builder as a Last Planner System book, but this article helped me look at the book from a different perspective. It goes to show that The Lean Builder is a great read for lean practitioners at all points of their lean journey.
Lean Podcast
What is the role of a project superintendent? On many project sites this role is synonymous with a firefighter. They spend their days running from one emergency to another, just hoping to get through the day alive. In the podcast episode below, Jason shares what a project superintendent SHOULD be doing - planning and preparing the site.
Takeaway - It is hard to break out of the firefighting cycle as a superintendent. It is hard to change this in the middle of a project, so I encourage you to set yourself up for success from the beginning and ensure your project is staffed correctly so you can have field engineers and area superintendents available to oversee the work, and keep the project superintendent with progress in each area. This gives the project superintendent the time and brain capacity to be looking out 6 weeks ahead to ensure the site is ready for the work to come.
Lean Event
What is Takt Planning? What value does the Takt Production System bring to construction projects? In this FREE 2 hour Takt Production System training, Jason Schroeder will break down these questions and more.
Takeaway - I have attended one of these FREE Takt Production System trainings in the past with Elevate Construction and it does not disappoint. The team is not trying to sell you something, they are not trying to get you to sign up for something else - they are provide tremendous value that will help you get better. This is a great starting point for Takt implementation.
Real Life Lean - Lean practices in the real world
What is a stack? In different context, it has different meanings. In exercise, it is the supplements one takes pre and post workout to help achieve their goals. In business, it may be the books, podcasts and classes someone takes to meet their goals. I wanted to share my Lean Construction Stack that can be used by anyone from beginner to expert. With that in mind, here is my Lean Construction Stack - I'd love to hear what you think I am missing!
Books
Podcasts
Newsletters
Real Life Lean
Courses
If you were to stack all of these resources together, build from there, and implement what you learn - your career in construction would SKYROCKET!
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].