Here’s the deal. People ask me what made me care about Lean construction in the first place. It is an interesting question, and the answer is one of my favorite stories. It starts with a frustrated area superintendent, a jobsite that was not clean or safe, and a bathroom.
Short answer: I care about Lean construction because I watched it change a jobsite overnight. On a cancer center project in downtown Phoenix, the trades were not keeping the site clean or safe. Instead of cracking down, we started in the bathroom. We built great restrooms and a lunch area and made a deal with everyone: we take care of you, and you keep the job clean, safe, and organized. It worked, and I got hooked.
Where Did My Lean Construction Story Start?
I was working at Hensel Phelps as an area superintendent on the cancer center in downtown Phoenix. It was an absolutely amazing project. The economy at that time was a little slow, so we were very happy to have it, and it was one of the top projects in the area.
Brad Nelson, who I cannot shout out enough, was the project superintendent. He was an amazing mentor and leader. Blake Christian was the project manager. They both taught me so much, and we had a beautiful team. In fact, a lot of the folks on that project are in very high-level positions now, because the project was a game changer. I am so grateful to have been on it.
I was in charge of the interiors, the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing, and all of the site utilities. Another area superintendent had the exterior and the roof. Around that time, I was introduced to the book 2 Second Lean by Paul Akers, and we were beginning to introduce morning huddles, weekly work planning, and some of the other parts of the Last Planner® System. That was a game changer. We were like, whoa, this is so cool.
The Problem I Could Not Fix by Asking
At the beginning, the trades were not showing up and keeping things clean. I am not being a victim about this, and I am not blaming them either. But I was getting frustrated with saying, hey, please put your safety glasses back on, and hey, there is trash over here. I was really tired of it.
I got home one night, and this was all happening in my head, and I am not very proud of it. I was thinking, we should go to half-size bathrooms. We should have a security guard checking so they do not graffiti the bathrooms. I was getting into a really toxic place.
Then my brain remembered Paul Akers starting in the bathroom.
Start in the Bathroom
The next morning, I came in and said, Brad, I have a really cool idea. None of this is exaggerated. What if we had an all-hands huddle, built custom bathrooms in the building, and had a really nice lunch area? What if we really upped our game, with extra toilet paper and extra cleaning on the restrooms, above and beyond normal industry levels of care? And then we make a deal with everyone. We do all of this, and in exchange, we want the job beautifully safe and beautifully clean. We want to change the whole environment.
Brad said, all right, let’s go.
The Deal at the All-Hands Huddle
I bought a bunch of donuts. I think Brad bought the donuts too, and I do not want to take credit for him. We held the all-hands huddle, and I said, let’s make a deal. Here was the plan:
- We build bathrooms on floors two and four. Brad already approved it.
- We build out floors one and three.
- Once one and three are done, we move all the workers and foremen to the permanent bathrooms, and yes, I trust them to do that.
- Then we build out two and four.
We were going to have a beautiful lunch area and really up our game for human care. This is what the deal looked like:
| What we gave | What we asked for in exchange |
|---|---|
| Custom bathrooms in the building, then the permanent bathrooms | A clean building |
| Extra toilet paper and extra cleaning, beyond normal industry levels | A safe building, with safety glasses on |
| A beautiful lunch area and real care for every person on site | An organized building |
I asked, is everybody willing to make that deal? I was expecting a lot more pushback, but everybody said, I will make the deal. So immediately, we set to work.
What Happened When We Took Care of People?
It changed overnight:
- The cleanliness problem went away.
- The graffiti went away.
- The pee bottles went away.
- People being negligent with safety went away.
It did not change through toxic behavior. It changed through start in the bathroom, take care of people kind of behavior.
There was an insurance carrier representative who would come to the job to check on how well we were doing. We had claimed that everybody on site knew the most important things on the jobsite at the time, and he said, I will find out. He was used to going to jobs where nobody knew. He interviewed about 10 random workers. Eight out of 10 could list all five, and the other two got three. Eight out of 10 is remarkable, and the fact that the other two got three out of five was crazy.
I was walking to the building as Brad was coming back with the representative, and I asked how it was going. He said it was the best job, the cleanest, most safe job he had ever walked on. In fact, because of the team, not me, that project won an ENR Southwest Safety Award, and it finished on time and on budget, the Hensel Phelps way.
Why I Never Stopped
That opened my eyes. There is something to this. Then I got hired to build the Bioscience Research Laboratory in Tucson, and I went all out. I studied and the AGC’s CM-Lean program, read the books, and implemented all of it. It became the cleanest, safest, most remarkable project in Arizona at the time, and I got hooked.
Lean is humanity’s best chance to get where we need to be, from either a religious or non-religious perspective. It has changed every aspect of my life. I cannot get enough, and I will never stop.
So here is the challenge. Look at the restrooms and the lunch area on your project. Raise them above normal industry levels of care, hold an all-hands huddle, and make the deal: we take care of you, and you keep this job clean, safe, and organized.
Bottom line: Start in the bathroom, take care of people, and ask for a clean, safe, and organized job in return.
If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.
On we go.
FAQ
What made Jason care about Lean construction?
On a cancer center project in downtown Phoenix, I watched a jobsite change overnight after we started in the bathroom and took care of people. That opened my eyes, and after my next project in Tucson, I got hooked.
What does “start in the bathroom” mean on a jobsite?
It means showing care for people first, by giving them clean, well-stocked restrooms and a good lunch area. It comes from Paul Akers and his book 2 Second Lean.
What was the deal at the all-hands huddle?
We built custom bathrooms, a beautiful lunch area, and above-normal cleaning and supplies. In exchange, we asked everyone to keep the building clean, safe, and organized.
What results did the project see?
The cleanliness problems, graffiti, and safety negligence went away. An insurance representative called it the cleanest, safest job he had ever walked, and the team won a safety award.
People Also Read:
Lean Heaven feat. Paul Akers
Is Lean Construction Worth It or Is It Just Another Buzzword?
What Is Lean Construction? A Field Builder’s Guide to The Lean Way
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Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction. As the company’s Founder and COO, 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.