Advancing vs. Pushing

Posted on August 14, 2025August 15, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 5 min

The Critical Difference in Construction Leadership

There’s a massive difference between advancing a project and simply pushing people and the distinction can make or break a job.

Advancing is about strategy, foresight, and intelligent planning. Pushing is about forcing people forward without preparation, often creating chaos and burnout.

What Advancing Looks Like

Think of Jim Collins’ analogy, Get the right people on the bus, in the right seats, and then figure out where to drive the bus. Advancing is about driving that bus effectively leading the team in a coordinated, thoughtful way.

On the Lean Belt project, for example, we looked ahead to spot potential delays in switch gear and roof trusses. Instead of waiting for the full design to bid and start procurement, we initiated early releases for these long-lead items.

We also rethought the typical grading process. Instead of grading the entire site before starting the structure, we modeled the water lines, cleared the first pad, and planned to start building weeks earlier than the standard schedule would allow.

That’s advancing using strategy to create opportunities and remove roadblocks before they happen.

What Pushing Looks Like

Pushers don’t strategize. They don’t plan ahead. Instead, they pressure people and trades without solving the underlying problems.

It’s like an airport security checkpoint. A pusher crams more bags and people onto the belt without thinking about the bottleneck on the other side, piling luggage on top of itself and slowing everything down.

An advancer, on the other hand, focuses on clearing the bottleneck adding tables for repacking, assigning more agents to inspections, and increasing space for passengers to gather their belongings. They create flow instead of chaos.

Why It Matters

Advancing leaders:

Identify long lead items early and act on them
Use visuals, models, and sequencing to plan the work
Focus on logistics, access, and preparation
Create even flow and prevent problems before they happen

Pushing leaders:

Demand speed without preparation
Use toxic pressure as a management tool
React to problems instead of preventing them
Burn out teams and create avoidable delays

If I had to choose, I’d pay an advancing superintendent whatever they asked they save time, money, and morale. Pushers? They need retraining before they set foot on a job again.

Key Takeaway:

Great construction leaders don’t push they advance. Strategic advancement means anticipating problems, planning with precision, and creating flow for the team. Pushing without preparation only creates chaos, delays, and burnout.

If you want to learn more we have:

-Takt Virtual Training: (Click here)
-Check out our YouTube channel for more info: (Click here)
-Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: (Click here)
-Check out our training programs and certifications: (Click here)
-The Takt Book: (Click here)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction IST. As the company’s owner and principal consultant, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.

On we go

The Process of Achievement

Posted on August 14, 2025August 15, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 5 min

The Seven Step Pattern That Works Every Time

Over the years, I’ve noticed something, despite being a deeply flawed human (and I mean really flawed), I’ve never truly failed at anything I’ve set my mind to. It’s not because I’m naturally talented or special it’s because I follow a consistent approach that works every single time.

I first learned this pattern while reading the Field Engineering Methods Manual early in my career, and I’ve refined it over the years. No matter what I take on whether starting a business, running a project, or writing a book this six step method delivers results.

The 7-Step Process for Guaranteed Success

Make a Plan
Don’t just wing it. Think through what you want to accomplish at a high level.
Create a Timeline
Put your plan into a sequence with deadlines. Even if you never look at it again, your brain will remember and work on it subconsciously.
Get a Mentor
Find someone who has already done what you’re trying to do. Learn from their experience.
Gather Resources
Identify and secure the tools, people, money, and opportunities you need.
Establish Processes
These are the repeatable steps that will help you execute consistently.
Make It Visual
Dashboards, boards, charts anything that makes your plan visible so it’s always in front of you.
Double-Check and Maintain
Keep reviewing to ensure you’re still on track and not drifting away from your best practices.

An Example: Starting a Business

Let’s say you want to launch a construction company.

Plan: Define the type of projects you’ll take on, your target clients, and your overall strategy.
Timeline: Determine when you’ll secure a license, line up funding, and begin operations.
Mentor: Connect with experienced business owners who can guide you through challenges.
Resources: Secure financing, licenses, insurance, and key relationships with developers.
Processes: Develop systems for bidding, project management, and client communication.
Visuals: Create dashboards to track leads, finances, and project performance.

Follow this process and you’ll dramatically increase your chances of success no matter the endeavor.

Key Takeaway:

Success isn’t about talent, luck, or personality it’s about breaking big goals into clear, repeatable steps. Make a plan, set a timeline, find a mentor, gather resources, establish processes, and keep everything visual. Follow this proven process consistently, and you can turn overwhelming dreams into predictable wins.

If you want to learn more we have:

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

On we go

First Planner System™️ – Introduction

Posted on August 14, 2025August 14, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 6 min

Elevating Pre-construction Planning, The First Planner System

Today, I’m diving into the book Elevating Pre-construction Planning, originally known as The First Planner System book and I couldn’t be more excited. This is the third in a series where I’ve already covered Takt Planning and Takt Steering and Control. Now, it’s time to explore the system that ensures we design the right processes before a single shovel hits the dirt.

First, a big shout-out to Darryl and Joel, whose contributions helped shape this work.

The Integrated Production Control System (IPCS) is made up of three core components:

First Planner System – planning the project and designing the right system in pre-construction.
Takt Production System – creating a production rhythm that aligns supply and demand.
Last Planner System – engaging frontline leaders to coordinate short-term plans that align labor, materials, information, and permissions.

Each system works independently but also connects seamlessly to the others. When unified, they reduce variation, control workflow, and make project success predictable.

The Last Planner System is all about engaging project leaders in the planning cycle, connecting early decision-makers with the people doing the work. But here’s the key: you can’t have a Last Planner without a First Planner. The First Planner System ensures that the foundation, the system design, the trade partner onboarding process, and the accountability metrics is in place before execution begins.

The Takt Production System gives us the pace and structure to deliver efficiently. Think of it as the heartbeat of a lean project, keeping zones and logistics in sync to eliminate waste and maintain steady progress.

In creating the First Planner System, we pulled from everywhere: theory of constraints, lean thinking, Toyota Way, DBIA, IPD frameworks, even military doctrine. The result is a unified system that sets projects up for success by focusing on people first.

Here’s the truth: respect is non-negotiable. Healthy, balanced teams perform better. When people win at work, they can win at home and that’s how we break the cycle of burnout and frustration in construction. Foremen, superintendents, and trades are the unsung heroes; our job as general contractors is to give them the systems, materials, information, and respect they need to succeed.

If a project is struggling, it’s not about blaming the foreman, it’s about fixing the system. That’s what IPCS is designed to do: provide clarity, stability, and flow so every stakeholder can perform at their best.

This is just the start. In future entries, I’ll walk you step-by-step through the First Planner System as part of the IPCS so we can finally empower our Last Planners to thrive.

On we go.

Key Takeaway:

Great projects don’t happen by chance, they’re built on systems designed with people in mind. The First Planner System ensures the right structure is in place from day one, so foremen and trades can do their best work without chaos or wasted effort.

If you want to learn more we have:

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

On we go

First Planner System™️ – Introduction – 2

Posted on August 14, 2025August 14, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 8 min

Playing the Hand You’re Dealt in Pre-construction

Welcome, everyone. In this blog, I’m continuing our deep dive into Elevating Pre-construction Planning and the First Planner System. Today, we’re talking about a truth we all have to face in construction: sometimes, the deck is stacked against us and we have to play the hand we’re dealt.

The Hard Truth About Owners and Systems

Let me say this upfront: I’m not against owners. But the reality is that owners (and sometimes designers) can make it extremely difficult, if not impossible to implement lean systems successfully.

I believe in protecting workers and foremen with lean practices. But to do that, we must acknowledge the obstacles early and develop a strategy to offset them.

Here are four areas I evaluate right away:

Paradigms – Do stakeholders respect people, support stability, and encourage flow? Or are they pushing people and cutting costs at the expense of the team?
Mindset – Is “respect for people” a top priority? If leaders are quick to add overtime, weekends, or more crews instead of solving root problems, morale and safety will suffer.
Goals of the System – Is the goal to finish on time with a happy team, or is it about ego, politics, and old-school firefighting?
Structure & Rules – Is the delivery method set up for lean success? Or are outdated requirements—like mandatory CPM schedules, setting the team up to fail?

Owning the Problem

I hear it all the time:

“No one wants to work anymore.”
“This new generation is lazy.”
“Subs are horrible.”

Even if these things were true (and I don’t believe they are), saying them doesn’t help. If we keep blaming others, we become helpless victims in our own projects.

Here’s the reality:

Workers and foremen are the ones finishing our projects, in spite of our poor planning and systems.

We, as managers, designers, and owners, are often the problem. Accepting that fact is the first step toward becoming the solution.

Extreme Ownership

Jocko Willink says it best:

“Leaders must own everything in their world. There is no one else to blame.”

So instead of blaming workers, I ask:

Who can fix this? (Managers, designers, owners, learning centers, government)
Who will suffer if we don’t? (Everyone, workers, foremen, managers, designers)

When we take full ownership, we can finally make the changes needed for success.

The Cake Analogy

In the book, I use a baking analogy to explain the First Planner System:

What to make – The production system.
Who it’s for – The trade partners and team.
How to make it – Preconstruction planning.

I’m a huge fan of The Great British Baking Show. I love the creativity, the dedication, and yes, the failures. The cake analogy works because, just like baking, construction requires following a recipe, using the right ingredients, and preparing in the right order.

An Ounce of Prevention

We often start preconstruction just before the notice to proceed and then we’re surprised when we miss deadlines.

The solution?

Start earlier.
Use a one-third, two-thirds ratio, spend one-third of the total project time planning, and two-thirds executing.

I’ve even said: however long your project is, divide it in half that’s how much time you should have planned.

The Cost of Poor Planning: A Tale of Two Projects

From How Big Things Get Done:

California Bullet Train – Due to poor planning, it will be 10+ years late, cost $67 billion more than planned, and cover only half the intended route.
Empire State Building – Finished early, under budget, and world-famous because the team planned well, understood the build, and maintained flow.

What changed? Not technology. Not complexity. Just where the emphasis was placed, on planning first.

Think Slow, Act Fast

Our industry too often:

Plans poorly
Builds reactively
Finishes “okay”

We need to flip that:

Plan First – Reference past projects, assess risks, iterate, and include the builders.
Build Right – Follow the plan, monitor costs/schedule, collaborate with trades.
Finish As You Go – Meet quality expectations, commission systems, and demobilize cleanly.

Key Takeaway:

Pre-construction isn’t a formality, it’s where over 60% of your project’s success is determined. Play the hand you’re dealt, but plan so well that the house doesn’t always win.

If you want to learn more we have:

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

On we go

First Planner System™️ – Introduction – 3

Posted on August 14, 2025August 14, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

Why You Actually Need the First Planner System in Preconstruction

Welcome, everyone. In this blog, I’m continuing the “Why Cake” section from Elevating Preconstruction Planning, where I explain why the First Planner System is essential in preconstruction.

The “Window of Doom”

Every project has problems, whether we like it or not. Planning is how we prevent them before they become expensive disasters.

One concept I love from How Big Things Get Done is the idea of neutralizing the “window of doom.”

Here’s how it works:

Every project will encounter a certain number of problems.
If you skip planning, you’ll discover those problems in the field where they cost time, money, and morale.
This keeps the project’s “window” open longer, leaving more opportunities for black swan events and severe risks.

When you find problems during construction, you bleed time and cash. But if you find them in preconstruction, the worst-case scenario is erasing a whiteboard or reprinting PDFs.

The Reality Check from 16,000 Projects

Data from over 16,000 projects worldwide shows:

Only 47.9% finished on budget.
Only 8.5% finished on budget and on time.
Just 0.5% finished on budget, on time, and as planned.

Over half ran 65% over budget, and 90% missed their deadlines—by an average of 58 days. The message is clear:

Projects don’t go wrong, they start wrong.

Four Dangerous Fallacies in Construction

From my own experience and How Big Things Get Done, here are the fallacies we must eliminate:

The Need for Speed – Rushing kills preparation, lowers quality, and reduces safety. The only way to move fast safely is to create flow.
Pushing Makes Haste – Forcing milestones early creates chaos, poor decisions, blame, and lower productivity.
The Commitment Fallacy – Starting without proper planning doesn’t motivate—it just scales the mess.
Strategic Misrepresentation – Misrepresenting scope or conditions to shift risk is unethical and sets the project up to fail.

The “Idiotic Ideas” List

I’ve heard them all:

“We just need to get started somewhere.”
“Cut corners wherever you can.”
“Ignore safety to meet the deadline.”
“Overtime will fix it.”

If you hear these, hold the line. Don’t sacrifice planning, safety, or quality for the illusion of speed.

Push vs. Flow: The Arizona Study

I tracked projects in Arizona over several years. Here’s what I found:

CPM + Pushing – Plans were 20% too aggressive, with overruns of 5–15% (or more).
Takt Planning – Projects consistently finished 1–5% early, financially whole, and without burning out the team.

The difference? Planning enough time and refusing to push past safe limits.

What Pixar Can Teach Us About Construction

Pixar films go through up to nine iterations before final production. Why? Because rework on paper is cheap, rework in production is costly.

We need to treat construction the same way:

Plan, iterate, and test ideas before breaking ground.
Start with conceptual design and develop a maximum virtual product.
Get buy-in from both first and last planners.

My Non-Negotiables Before Construction Starts

Before Notice to Proceed, I expect:

Takt plans and zone maps
Procurement logs
Logistics plans
Trailer and signage designs
Org/accountability charts
Risk and opportunity register
Established budget
An experienced team ready to execute

It’s unethical to hold a team accountable for a project they didn’t plan.

Key Takeaway

Most project disasters are baked in before the first shovel hits the ground. Plan deeply in pre-construction to find problems on paper, where fixing them costs nothing.

If you want to learn more we have:

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

On we go

First Planner System™️ – Introduction – 4 – Building the Team

Posted on August 14, 2025August 14, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

Building a Project Team That Actually Performs

In this blog, I’m diving into one of the most important and most overlooked components of project success: building a healthy, high-functioning project team.

You can have the perfect plan, the best resources, and all the right systems in place… and still fail miserably if your team isn’t operating at its full potential. I’ve seen it happen on projects big and small, and the root cause almost always comes down to team dynamics.

Why Planning Alone Won’t Save You

Planning a project before you start is essential. Systems like the First Planner System and Takt Planning give you the tools to set up a flawless production plan. But even the best plan will crumble if the team executing it isn’t aligned, healthy, and motivated.

I once worked on a $280 million tower project in downtown Salt Lake City. We had top talent, great resources, a realistic timeline, and the right systems. Still, within months, we were already three months behind schedule.

The problem wasn’t the plan, it was the people dynamic. Internal conflicts, disengaged leadership, and a lack of alignment stalled progress.

The Three Non-Negotiables for a High-Performing Project Team

Through that experience (and many others), I’ve identified three critical needs every project team must have to succeed:

1. A Multiplier Leader

A great leader doesn’t just manage, they multiply the team’s capabilities. A multiplier leader:

Builds and develops the team
Has hard but necessary conversations
Holds remarkable, productive meetings
Coaches, mentors, and invests in people without micromanaging
Scales communication and clarity across the project

Without this kind of leader, teams drift, silos form, and potential goes untapped.

2. A Cohesive Team

Strong leadership is only part of the equation. The team must also engage in the right behaviors:

Get to know each other personally
Build trust
Engage in healthy conflict
Set and commit to goals together
Hold one another accountable
Deliver results

These behaviors, outlined in Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, form the backbone of high performance. Skip any step, and the chain breaks.

3. A Strenuous Performance Goal

Even with the right leader and healthy team behaviors, you still need a unifying, ambitious target to rally around.

This could be a milestone, a “rally cry,” or a challenging deadline.
It pushes the team to lean in, collaborate, and give their best.

On that $280 million project, once we set a bold but realistic performance goal, the team’s energy shifted. We identified weak links in leadership, made necessary changes, and performance skyrocketed, eventually finishing under budget.

Multipliers vs. Diminishers

Liz Wiseman’s Multipliers makes it clear:

Multipliers are talent magnets, liberators, challengers, debate makers, and investors.
Diminishers are empire builders, tyrants, know-it-alls, micromanagers, and bottlenecks.

The difference between the two can make or break a project.

The Reflection

The team is the apparatus through which every other system operates. If your team is healthy, enjoys coming to work, engages in healthy conflict, and works together to create flow, you’ll deliver consistent value. If not, misalignment, low morale, and inefficiency will drain your project’s momentum.

Key Takeaway

A high-performing project team needs three things: a multiplier leader, a cohesive culture, and a unifying, challenging goal. Miss any one of them, and even the best-laid project plan can fail.

If you want to learn more we have:

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

On we go

First Planner System™️- 5 – Balancing the Team

Posted on August 14, 2025August 14, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 6 min

Balancing the Project Team for Long-Term Success

In this blog, I’m continuing my reading from Elevating Pre-Construction Planning and diving into a critical topic, team balance.

Once you’ve built a functional team with the right leader, clear goals, and healthy behaviors, the real challenge begins: maintaining that balance over the long haul. When a project team is pushed past its capacity, cycle times increase, throughput slows, and errors become more frequent.

Overburden can sneak in from many directions, excessive administration, pointless meetings, unnecessary approvals, constant changes without extra help, or owner-driven variation. As a leader, my top priority is preventing this waste of valuable time and energy by keeping my team balanced and healthy.

Three Key Metrics for Evaluating Balance

1. People & Positions

Ask yourself: Do I have the right people on the team, and are they in the right roles? Having too few people doing too many jobs or misaligned roles, creates burnout. And yes, sometimes you have to remove “high-performing assholes” because the damage they do to morale outweighs their contributions.

2. Personal Organization & Schedule

A balanced team follows leader standard work, has personal organization systems, and protects the blend between work and home life. As a leader, it’s my job to protect their time, not exploit it. That means making schedules and organization systems visible so I can step in when someone’s workload becomes unsustainable.

Instead of asking, How can I get more out of people? I ask, How can I get people home on time?

3. Project Conditions

Even a well-staffed, well-organized team can be thrown off balance by project conditions such as:

Design changes & change orders – Isolate changes and don’t overload the team without additional resources.
Constant variation – Standardize meetings, agendas, and processes wherever possible.
Lack of support – Hire, borrow, or outsource help when needed.
Too many or too few people – Right-size the team to keep communication smooth.
Waste & inefficiency – Remove waste like a hawk with “Paul Akers goggles.”
Unhealthy conflict – Address and resolve toxic dynamics fast.

The Monthly Team Scorecard

I use a monthly scorecard to measure areas like:

Proper roles and workload balance
Healthy work-life blend
Physical and emotional health of the team
Stability, focus, and alignment
Healthy conflict and chemistry
Labor quality and quantity
Design and engineering cooperation

Aggregating these scores across the team provides an early-warning system for imbalance, so we can fix problems before they snowball.

The Reflection

Balancing a project team is about more than just keeping schedules and tasks in check, it’s about preserving morale, focus, and energy. Owners, reps, designers, trades, and even corporate demands can throw your team into a downward spiral if you’re not actively protecting their balance.

Once the energy required to keep the project under control exceeds the total energy your team can give, things will collapse. My job is to make sure that never happens.

Key Takeaway

A balanced team is a productive team. Protecting your people’s capacity and morale is the single most effective way to keep projects on track and profitable.

If you want to learn more we have:

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

On we go

First Planner System™️- 6 – Individual Balance

Posted on August 14, 2025August 14, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

Balancing the Individual for a Stronger Team

In this blog, I’m diving into the team component of Individual Balance, one of the most overlooked yet powerful aspects of building a high-performing construction team.

We’ve touched on this before when talking about overall team health, but here’s where leadership must become deeply personal and intentional. A true work-life balance exists when work doesn’t drain the best parts of who we are. When we’re emotionally exhausted at work, we have less to give at home and that imbalance doesn’t just happen because of long hours.

Often, the imbalance is triggered by the stress hormones we experience while working. Chronic stress, driven by elevated cortisol levels, can lead to anxiety, depression, and poor physical health. My role as a leader is to reduce that stress by controlling the environment and conditions my team works in. I can’t and shouldn’t try to control emotions, but I can remove unnecessary stressors, set realistic expectations, and create a workplace where people feel safe and supported.

The Four Pillars of Individual Balance

1. Mindset

There’s no such thing as a completely fixed or growth mindset, everyone has both. The goal is to spot where resistance to change exists and help shift perceptions. That might mean providing resources, having open conversations, or simply walking alongside a team member through change until they’re ready to embrace it.

When we introduced takt planning, for example, some saw it as a threat to the “old ways” of building. I learned that empathy first, change second, is the only way forward.

2. Aspirations

Humans need to aspire to something greater, whether that’s career growth, skill development, or personal fulfillment. As a leader, I take responsibility for helping my team set realistic goals, see opportunities, and connect them to the resources or people that will help them get there.

One tool I recommend is the Clarity Action Influence Exercise, where we work backward from life purpose to 5-10 year goals, milestones, and short-term “inch stones.”

Take Steve Rogers (our fictional super) as an example:

Purpose: Become a general superintendent and develop training programs.
BHAG: Master senior superintendent skills and project scheduling in five years.
Next Milestone: Become proficient in scheduling in 10 months.
Defining Goals: Take a takt course, actively manage schedules, shadow a mentor, reflect on outcomes, and learn pull planning.

When people have this clarity, they’re far more engaged and motivated.

3. Capability & Capacity

Skill without capacity leads to burnout. That’s why I encourage every team member to build strong personal organization systems, visible, intuitive, and consistent.

I recommend time-blocking in this order:

You (health, wellness, personal goals)
Family
Leader Standard Work
Meetings and project needs

This sequence creates a win-win-win: the person, their family, and the project all benefit. Reverse it, and it’s a lose-lose-lose.

4. Personal Organization Systems

Chaos is the enemy of capacity. I make sure my team uses:

Prioritized to-do lists
Weekly work plans
Daily execution plans with buffers
Focused work sessions free from unnecessary distractions

This approach routinely saves 1–4 hours per day and gives my team back control over their time.

The Reflection Test

If your team’s balance score is under 80%, it’s time to act. Ask yourself:

Do they know about fixed vs. growth mindset?
Do they have a clarity document?
Do they have a personal organization system?
Do they have a solid morning routine?
Are they time-blocking their days with buffers?

A healthy project requires healthy people. When we protect our team’s balance, productivity and morale soar.

Key Takeaway

A great project can’t come at the expense of the people building it. Individual balance isn’t a “nice to have” it’s a leadership responsibility and a business advantage.

If you want to learn more we have:

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

On we go

The 4 Periods Of Superintendent Growth You Must Master

Posted on August 13, 2025August 13, 2025 by Danny Jiménez⁩

Read 7 min

The Four Periods of Superintendent Growth You Must Master

There are four distinct periods in a superintendent’s growth journey, each with specific lessons, skills, and experiences that can shape the rest of your career. In this blog, I’ll Walk you through these four periods, how to leverage each one, and the resources that can help you at every stage.

Learning Phase:

When you’re coming up through the field, your career may progress through positions, surveyor, field engineer, carpenter, etc. but no matter where you start, there’s a horizontal journey happening: the learning phase.

This is your time to gather as many tools as possible for your professional tool belt.

I recommend two main entry points into this phase:

Carpenter.
Field Engineer. (my personal preference, though both paths work)

The key is not the title it’s the experiences you gain:

Creating and reading lift drawings.
Performing survey and layout work to understand coordinate geometry and spatial awareness.
Conducting frontline quality control (QC) and safety checks.
Connecting with the craft and truly respecting field teams.

If you take the carpenter route, ensure you’re still getting exposure to layout, QC, safety, and direct field experience.

This is also the time to check essential boxes:

Learn project management terms and skills.
Understand planning and scheduling.
Build a strong foundation in safety basics.
Learn the QC process.

Mastery Phase:

Once you’ve built your foundation, it’s time to move into mastery.

Here, action is everything. As Tony Robbins puts it:

“Knowledge is not power. Knowledge and action are power.”

The mastery phase is about implementing what you’ve learned, messy or not:

If you’ve learned planning, plan a job.
If you’ve learned the QC process, run meetings and manage quality on a project.

Yes, it will be imperfect. Yes, you’ll fail at times. But that’s the path, failing forward is how every great superintendent, project manager, and leader has grown.

Leading Phase:

After learning and implementing, you transition to teaching and leading.

You might now oversee others who directly manage projects. True leadership is when a leader you’ve trained goes on to create another leader, this is where your influence scales.

Apply principles like Jocko Willink’s Extreme Ownership:

Build the team.
Simplify the mission.
Prioritize.
Decentralize command, let others create the plan, then review and support it, so they’re empowered to lead.

Legacy Phase:

Finally, you reach the legacy stage.

Some superintendents continue building projects with increasing excellence. Others develop training programs, write books, or create something lasting for their family or industry.

But there’s a crucial point here: Many people hit a stage of stagnation, frustrated with industry issues like poor scheduling or lack of respect for people. This is where you must push through, find your passion again, and move into expansion.

Think of it like breaking out of an old shell to grow into something better. Frustration often means you’re on the verge of a breakthrough.

Where Are You Now?

Ask yourself:

Which phase am I in – Learning, Mastery, Leading, or Legacy?
What skills or experiences do I still need to gain?
How can I start building toward my next stage today?

Key Takeaway:

Superintendent growth happens in four phases, Learning, Mastery, Leading, and Legacy. Each stage demands a different focus, from building foundational skills to implementing them, developing others, and leaving a lasting impact. Knowing which phase you’re in and intentionally preparing for the next is the fastest path to career excellence.

If you want to learn more we have:

-Takt Virtual Training: (Click here)
-Check out our Youtube channel for more info: (Click here)
-Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: (Click here)
-Check out our training programs and certifications: (Click here)
-The Takt Book: (Click here)

Discover Jason’s Expertise:

On we go

The 7-Step Process for Guaranteed Success

Elevating Pre-construction Planning, The First Planner System

Key Takeaway:

Playing the Hand You’re Dealt in Pre-construction

The Hard Truth About Owners and Systems

Owning the Problem

Extreme Ownership

The Cake Analogy

An Ounce of Prevention

The Cost of Poor Planning: A Tale of Two Projects

Think Slow, Act Fast

Key Takeaway:

Why You Actually Need the First Planner System in Preconstruction

The “Window of Doom”

The Reality Check from 16,000 Projects

Four Dangerous Fallacies in Construction

The “Idiotic Ideas” List

Push vs. Flow: The Arizona Study

What Pixar Can Teach Us About Construction

My Non-Negotiables Before Construction Starts

Key Takeaway

Building a Project Team That Actually Performs

Why Planning Alone Won’t Save You

The Three Non-Negotiables for a High-Performing Project Team

1. A Multiplier Leader

2. A Cohesive Team

3. A Strenuous Performance Goal

Multipliers vs. Diminishers

The Reflection

Key Takeaway

Balancing the Project Team for Long-Term Success

Three Key Metrics for Evaluating Balance

1. People & Positions

2. Personal Organization & Schedule

3. Project Conditions

The Monthly Team Scorecard

The Reflection

Key Takeaway

Balancing the Individual for a Stronger Team

The Four Pillars of Individual Balance

1. Mindset

2. Aspirations

3. Capability & Capacity

4. Personal Organization Systems

The Reflection Test

Key Takeaway

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General Training Overview

Superintendent / PM Boot Camp

Takt Production System® Virtual Training

Onsite Takt Simulation

Foreman & Field Engineer Training

Testimonials

Testimonials

agenda

Day 1

Foundations & Macro Planning

day2

Norm Planning & Flow Optimization

day3

Advanced Tools & Comparisons

day4

Buffers, Controls & Finalization

day5

Control Systems & Presentations

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UNDERSTANDING THE TRAINING

VALUE AND RESULTS

PLANNING AND SCHEDULING TOPICS

APPLICATION & TEAM ADOPTION

VIRTUAL FORMAT & ACCESSIBILITY

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GENERAL FAQS

CURRICULUM & OUTCOMES