Are You Building Boats or Building Trains?

You’re floating on a river. The current takes you where it wants. You react to obstacles appearing suddenly. You can’t control the flow. You hope for the best in the moment. That’s most lean scheduling systems encouraging reactionary planning at the moment. It’s a lot like floating on a river you can’t control. Conversely, creating a railroad, creating a system of control is akin to Takt where you make your own destiny and control the work. So don’t build boats when you can build trains and railways. Takt is a collaborative system where you predict as much of what should take place in your future as possible and prepare for success instead of hoping for the best in the moment. On construction projects today, you need stability rather than reduction of resources. Stability is created when you start tasks on time, build them right, and finish as you go. Just like a train must leave the station on time, drive at the right speed, not have any accidents, and arrive at the destination on time. This stability, these trains, and Takt relies heavily on rhythm. And rhythm is smooth and smooth is fast. Rushing takes longer than going at the right rate.

Here’s what most teams miss. They think the decision is between going fast and finishing early versus going at the right rhythm and finishing later. But that’s wrong. The decision is between going fast and failing versus going at the right rhythm and finishing at the soonest possible moment. The decision is between going fast and finishing late versus going at the right rhythm and finishing on the earliest possible date. Rushing creates chaos preventing flow extending duration. Rhythm creates stability enabling flow reducing duration. The Navy SEALs say slow is smooth and smooth is fast. In Takt we say rhythm is smooth and smooth is fast. Because rhythm determined by capacity is the pace at which you can actually complete work. Faster than capacity fails. At capacity succeeds. And that rhythm is what brings problems to the surface. Takt shows what should be done based on capacity and flow. CPM guesses what will be done based on projections. When work doesn’t meet rhythm, you see deviation immediately and correct it immediately. When work doesn’t meet CPM path, you just make another path, then another, then another until only options remaining result in crash landing.

The challenge is most teams never learned why Takt works. They know CPM. They’ve heard about location-based scheduling. But they don’t understand that Takt is fundamentally different because it’s visual showing everyone the plan enabling them to see as group, know as group, and act as group. If you could get all people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry in any market against any competition at any time. That’s what Takt does. It allows everyone to see the plan making collaboration real instead of theoretical. And it brings problems to surface faster in visible way enabling teams to see and fix problems as they go instead of responding to massive issues when it’s almost too late. Plus it takes about one-twelfth the time to manage a project with Takt as with CPM. The genius is it’s visual and easy to use once understood and created.

The Railroad vs. River Analogy

A railway is intentionally made. A river is based on circumstances at the moment. Think about it. Most lean scheduling systems encourage reactionary planning at the moment, which is a lot like floating on a river you can’t control. Conversely, creating a railroad, creating a system of control is akin to Takt where we may make our own destiny and control the work.

So don’t build boats when you can build trains and railways. It should be noted that Takt has nothing to do with siloed leadership or old-time command-and-control systems. Takt is a collaborative system where we predict as much of what should take place in our future as possible and prepare for success instead of hoping for the best in the moment.

On construction projects today, we need stability rather than the reduction of resources. Stability is created when we start tasks on time, build them right, and finish as we go. Just like a train must leave the station on time, drive at the right speed, not have any accidents, and arrive at the destination on time.

This stability, these trains, and Takt relies heavily on rhythm.

Rhythm Is Smooth and Smooth Is Fast

There’s a famous saying from the US Navy SEALs: slow is smooth and smooth is fast. We would like to repurpose it as rhythm is smooth and smooth is fast.

The point is that rushing takes longer than going at the right rate. The decision is not between going fast and finishing early versus going at the right rhythm and finishing later. The decision is between going fast and failing versus going at the right rhythm and finishing at the soonest possible moment.

The decision is between going fast and finishing late versus going at the right rhythm and finishing on the earliest possible date.

Rhythm is key. It is the pace at which processes work or work is completed within the project. It represents the stagger between the start of Takt trains or sequences per the Takt time. Rhythm is a key consideration to the concept of flow, and that rhythm is determined by capacity.

The rate at which we can complete buildings is determined by the capacity of resources in the local market and how many professional workers are available. It is determined by how many materials can be produced, how many trained workers are available, and how much money an owner will pay for the project. Each of these resources have a capacity.

It is critical to understand that capacity and adjust the Takt time, rhythm, and throughput time and incorporate it into the overall plan. There’s little merit to just making a plan to fit the stipulated end date when there’s no capacity to do it.

Four Considerations for Flow

We increase our capacity and capability on a project within resource constraints when we increase consistency. All four of these considerations are important for flow:

• Rhythm: The pace at which processes work or work is completed. The stagger between start of Takt trains per Takt time.
• Capacity: The rate at which resources can perform determined by local market, materials production, trained workers, and owner budget.
• Consistency: The leveling of materials, information distribution, crew counts, equipment needs, and other resource needs throughout system and throughput time. Enables consistent and standardized work without overburdening of context switching, increased communication complexity, overproduction.
• Continuity: The flow of work within a sequence in uninterrupted flow without efficiency gaps. When work is done on rhythm consistently with stable crew sizes and inventory levels, team is able to fully support flow.

These four stabilize work and allow processes to flow through construction. They also answer the question: why does Takt bring problems to the surface?

Why Takt Brings Problems to the Surface

Takt brings problems to the surface because stable rhythms, capacities, consistent workflows, and workflows with continuity occur. It shows what should be done (Takt) and stops trying to project or guess what will be done (CPM).

If you want to know you are off course, you have to know the correct course. If you simply compare your course with another possible course, then it becomes a matter of opinion. Only Takt maps out a scientific flow for the project through simulation. It shows the most ideal synchronous flow for all sequences working together.

When a work step within a work package does not meet that production rhythm, the team sees it as a deviation immediately and is able to correct it immediately with the smallest amount of latency or time delay.

When problems show up in CPM, it is seen as a deviation to the current path only. Therefore teams simply make another path by adjusting logic in a silo, then another one, and another one, and another one until the only remaining options result in a crash landing.

To see a problem you need the following things:

• Know the target.
• See the deviation where it is.
• See the deviation in what it affects.
• See the deviation within five to 48 hours of occurrence.

Only Takt does the following:

• You can see the target clearly on a single page schedule.
• Each Takt wagon with its work packages and work steps are tracked daily so you can see any deviations.
• The Takt trains move with the deviation so you can see what happens to the system to maintain flow.
• You are able to see this real time without waiting two weeks to update a schedule and hit F9 or run the forward and backward pass in CPM.

The Two Genius Elements of Takt

Here’s the genius of Takt:

First genius: It is visual and other scheduling systems are not yet in the long term. Takt is a great communication tool for the project team to see what needs to be done and when. If we can all see that, we can make decisions and collaborate with common knowledge and therefore act or head in the same direction together.

As Patrick Lencioni quoted in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: “If you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry in any market against any competition at any time.”

This is what Takt planning does for us. Takt, along with Scrum and Last Planner, help us to move in the same direction by allowing us to see as a group, know as a group, and act as a group. Seeing the plan is powerful. This is the main reason Takt is better for the team.

The fact that Takt planning and Takt control brings problems to the surface faster in a visible way is the very reason it is better for the team. The team is able to see and fix problems as they go instead of responding to massive issues when it is or is almost too late.

This increases capacity by reducing the load on the team dealing with massive issues too late. Additionally, it improves morale. When the team feels helpless in overcoming or getting ahead of issues, the enjoyment and fulfillment is reduced on the project which decreases the productivity of the team.

Second genius: Takt planning and Takt control are easier systems to manage. It takes about one-twelfth of the time to manage a project with Takt as with CPM.

You can always tell the difference between a non-Takt project weekly work planning meeting and daily huddle meeting and a Takt-centered meeting system. In the non-Takt system, the team will be focused on when things should be happening and coordinating trades together within the week or day. In a Takt-centered system, the team already knows when things should be happening and then they focus on making work ready and removing roadblocks.

And the more work is made ready, the fewer problems there are to deal with. The truth is when project teams use CPM impaired with Last Planner, the team spends most of the time managing the schedule instead of making work ready. And when projects exceed sixty million dollars, the complexity of creating weekly work plans from scratch becomes too burdensome for the entire team and the system breaks down and causes more harm than good.

The only real way to create increased capacity for the team with scheduling is to implement Takt planning and Takt control and manage the deviations, not just the schedule.

The bottom line is that project teams must be balanced. They cannot be spending increased amounts of time managing a schedule and they need to have the capacity to prevent problems that will further reduce their capacity. This is the second major genius of the system. Once understood and created, it is easy to use.

The System Failed You

Let’s be clear. When teams don’t understand why Takt works, it’s not entirely their fault. The system failed by teaching CPM as standard without explaining that it guesses what will be done based on projections instead of showing what should be done based on capacity. Nobody showed that when problems show up in CPM, teams just make another path, then another, then another until only options remaining result in crash landing. Nobody explained that to see problems you need to know target, see deviation where it is, see what it affects, and see it within five to 48 hours. Only Takt does all four. The system taught react to problems when actually prevent problems beats react every time.

The system also failed by not teaching the railroad vs. river analogy. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow. Rivers are reactionary planning you can’t control. Railroads are systems you create controlling your destiny. Don’t build boats when you can build trains. Takt is collaborative system predicting future and preparing for success instead of hoping for best in moment. But teams taught to react wonder why they’re always behind when the answer is they’re floating on rivers instead of building railroads.

The system fails by not teaching that rhythm is smooth and smooth is fast. Rushing takes longer than going at right rate. Decision isn’t between fast and early vs. rhythm and late. Decision is between fast and failing vs. rhythm and finishing soonest. Rushing creates chaos preventing flow extending duration. Rhythm creates stability enabling flow reducing duration. But teams taught to push wonder why pushing makes things worse when the answer is rhythm determined by capacity beats rushing beyond capacity every time.

The Challenge

Here’s your assignment. Stop building boats floating on rivers you can’t control. Start building trains and railways creating systems controlling your destiny.

Understand the decision. Not between going fast and finishing early vs. going at rhythm and finishing later. Between going fast and failing vs. going at right rhythm and finishing at soonest possible moment. Between going fast and finishing late vs. going at right rhythm and finishing on earliest possible date. Rhythm beats rushing.

Create the four considerations for flow. Rhythm (pace at which work completes). Capacity (rate at which resources can perform). Consistency (leveling of materials, information, crew counts, equipment). Continuity (flow without interruption). These stabilize work allowing processes to flow.

Bring problems to surface. Know the target (single page schedule showing it clearly). See deviations where they are (work packages tracked daily). See what deviations affect (trains move with deviation showing system impact). See deviations within five to 48 hours (real time not waiting two weeks to update). Only Takt does all four.

Use the two genius elements. First: visual enabling everyone to see as group, know as group, act as group. If you could get all people rowing in same direction, you could dominate any industry. Second: easy to use taking one-twelfth time to manage vs. CPM. Team focuses on making work ready and removing roadblocks instead of managing schedule.

Implement Takt creating collaborative system where you predict what should take place in future and prepare for success instead of hoping for best in moment. Create stability starting tasks on time, building right, finishing as you go. Just like train leaving station on time, driving right speed, having no accidents, arriving on time.

Rhythm is smooth and smooth is fast. Stop rushing. Start creating rhythm determined by capacity enabling flow.

On we go.

FAQ

What’s the railroad vs. river analogy?

River: reactionary planning you can’t control (most lean scheduling systems). Railroad: system you create controlling your destiny (Takt). Don’t build boats when you can build trains. Takt is collaborative system predicting future and preparing for success instead of hoping for best in moment.

What does “rhythm is smooth and smooth is fast” mean?

Rushing takes longer than going at right rate. Decision is between going fast and failing vs. going at right rhythm and finishing soonest. Rushing creates chaos preventing flow extending duration. Rhythm creates stability enabling flow reducing duration. Rhythm determined by capacity beats rushing beyond capacity.

What are the four considerations for flow?

Rhythm (pace at which work completes), capacity (rate resources can perform determined by local market), consistency (leveling of materials, information, crew counts, equipment), and continuity (flow without interruption). These stabilize work allowing processes to flow through construction.

Why does Takt bring problems to surface faster than CPM?

To see problem: know target, see deviation where it is, see what it affects, see within 5-48 hours. Takt does all four: single page showing target, work packages tracked daily, trains move with deviation showing impact, see real-time not waiting two weeks. CPM only shows deviation to current path, so teams make another path until crash landing.

What are the two genius elements of Takt?

First: visual enabling everyone to see as group, know as group, act as group. Gets all people rowing same direction. Second: easy to use taking 1/12 time to manage vs. CPM. Team focuses on making work ready and removing roadblocks instead of managing schedule.