BONUS – Jake & Jason Lean Series – Introduction

How Respect, Standards, and Lean Thinking Can Transform a Construction Project

There is a moment on every project when you realize something is off. The schedule might still be intact. The budget might not yet be screaming. But when you walk the site, you can feel it. Morale is low. Bathrooms are trashed. Organization is slipping. Safety feels reactive instead of intentional. People show up, do their hours, and leave without pride. That moment is not a small thing. It is a warning sign that culture is drifting and that entropy is quietly winning. I have been there. Jake has been there. Many of you listening or reading this have been there. And the hard truth is that culture does not fix itself. In construction, if you do not actively design and protect the culture on your project, it will default to disorder.

This blog is about what happens when you decide that disorder is not acceptable, that people deserve better, and that leadership means taking responsibility for the environment you create.

The Pain We All Recognize in Construction

Before we ever implemented lean thinking on that hundred million dollar project, the job looked like too many others in our industry. It was messy. Bathrooms were disgusting. Organization was inconsistent. Safety required constant nagging. Morale was low. People did not treat the site like they would treat their own home and that wears on everyone. It wears on craft workers who feel disrespected. It wears on supervision who feel like they are constantly fighting fires. It wears on owners who sense the chaos even if they cannot name it. Over time, that environment beats people down and convinces them that this is just how construction is.

But that belief is wrong.

The Failure Pattern That Keeps Repeating

The common failure pattern is trying to control people instead of caring for them. When conditions are bad, leaders often jump straight to punishment, policing, or more rules. We ask how to stop graffiti, how to enforce cleanup, how to make people care. We look for guards, policies, and consequences before we look at the system.

That mindset misses the root cause. People usually do not misbehave because they are bad. They respond to the environment they are placed in. If we treat people like they do not matter, they will act like they do not matter.

Why This Is Not About Blaming Anyone

This is not an attack on craft workers. It is not an attack on superintendents. It is not an attack on management. The industry has normalized environments that are beneath the dignity of the people working in them. Most workers want to do a good job. Most leaders want to run good projects. But without a clear system and without leadership willing to lean in, everyone adapts to the lowest common denominator. That is where we found ourselves before everything changed.

The Turning Point: Choosing to Win People Over

Halfway through a previous job, Jake and I were introduced to lean thinking through the book Two Second Lean. That book did not give us a checklist. It gave us a mindset shift. Instead of asking how to control people, we asked how to win them over. We decided to make a deal with the workforce. We committed to building indoor bathrooms, cleaning them daily, providing supplies, creating a real lunch area, and treating people like professionals. In return, we asked for basic standards. No graffiti. Clean work areas. Proper PPE. Respect for the site and for each other. We stood in front of hundreds of people and laid it out plainly. Then we asked if anyone had a problem with it. No one raised their hand. What followed felt almost magical, but it was not magic. It was leadership.

What Respect Looks Like in Practice

We did not stop at words. We followed through. The bathrooms were clean. Supplies were stocked. The site improved rapidly. We even leaned into humor and humanity. Videos were made. Signs went up. Chuck Norris jokes appeared. It sounds small, but it mattered. It showed that management cared, that we were present, and that we were not above the work. People noticed. Someone said something that has stuck with me ever since. When you do not treat people like animals, they do not act like animals. That sentence captures the heart of this entire lesson.

Why Lean Sometimes Has to Be Forced at First

There is a misconception that lean principles are voluntarily adopted from day one. That has not been my experience. Change feels uncomfortable, especially for people who have been doing things the same way for decades. For a period of time, leadership must hold the line. Standards must be enforced consistently. Expectations must be non negotiable. After a month or two, something shifts. The culture takes hold. What once felt forced becomes normal.

One plumber on our site thought we were completely crazy at first. Two months later, he was picking up trash without being asked. Things that never bothered him before now stood out. That is culture change.

Standards Plus Care Create Real Safety

After winning people over, we implemented a zero tolerance policy for safety. The difference was dramatic. Before, we were correcting dozens of unsafe behaviors every day. Afterward, only a small number of people had to be sent home over several months. The environment had changed. People believed the standards were real and that they were rooted in respect, not control.

This balance matters. Care without standards leads to chaos. Standards without care lead to resentment. Together, they create pride.

•  Treating people with dignity raises the baseline of behavior
• Consistent standards allow people to rise to the occasion

What Happens When Culture Takes Hold

Once the foundation was set, everything else became possible. Morning huddles worked. Parts of the Last Planner System took root. Cleanliness and organization became the norm instead of the exception. Safety deepened beyond surface level issues. People started bringing ideas forward.

Craft workers began suggesting improvements. Safety ideas, process changes, even morale building activities came from the field. The site became a place people wanted to be.

People left to work on other projects and came back, telling us this site was different. They felt listened to. They felt respected.

The owners noticed too. We were awarded additional work. Schedules were met without crash landings. The project finished steady, clean, and controlled.

Why This Matters to Elevate Construction

This is exactly why Elevate Construction exists. We believe remarkable projects are built by intentional systems that respect people, create flow, and sustain standards. LeanTakt, leadership development, and superintendent coaching all point back to this truth.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

The Real Lesson Learned

The biggest lesson from that project was not about bathrooms or jokes or even lean tools. It was about leadership courage. Someone has to go first. Someone has to decide that dirty, unsafe, demoralizing sites are unacceptable. Someone has to be willing to hold the line long enough for culture to form. When you do that, people respond. They always do.

As W. Edwards Deming reminded us, a bad system will beat a good person every time. Change the system, and you change the outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can culture really change on a construction project?
Yes, but only if leadership is willing to design, enforce, and sustain it consistently.

Does lean mean being soft on standards?
No. Lean requires high standards paired with deep respect for people.

How long does it take for culture to stick?
Typically one to two months of consistent enforcement before behaviors become habitual.

What if some people never buy in?
A small percentage may not. Clear standards and zero tolerance policies address that reality.

How does Elevate Construction help with culture change?
Through coaching, lean systems like LeanTakt, and leadership development that focuses on people, flow, and sustainability.