I’m still in Paris, about to do a job walk and continuing our discussions with our Timote partners. I’m learning a whole lot from Fabien at Timote. I’ve learned he’s one of the main characters in the lean world here in France, and probably in Europe. I asked him to come on the podcast, and he said maybe he’s not ready yet. He speaks wonderful, clear English. I’ve been writing down lots of nuggets from him, and this one is an amazing mental paradigm: we don’t pay for deadlines, we pay for speed.
Short answer: We pay for speed, not deadlines. That means we pay for a crew’s even, consistent speed, flow, and one-piece flow through the zones, not for a contractor who waits and then rushes in at the last minute to hit an end date. Rushing leads to rework and chaos and puts the crews going the right speed at risk. It’s easy to be good. It’s hard to be good together.
What’s Wrong With “It Matters When I Finish”?
Here’s the problem. Nobody is evil for doing this, but it’s definitely not the right paradigm. Contractors say, I was scheduled to start on Tuesday, but my end date is Monday morning, so let me come in Sunday and knock it all out. Or, let me come in Saturday with my guys. Or, it doesn’t matter when I start. It matters when I finish.
What Would Ideal Scheduling Software Show?
We’re here talking about software, and I was mapping out what the ideal scheduling software would look like. I’m not doing it in a silo. It’s my idea so I can collaborate with the industry. Flow is trades going the same or the right direction, in the same or the right sequence, with leveled trades in leveled zones, going the same or the right speed, the same or the right distance apart.
If a software, with daily updates from the foremen, could show the speed of contractors and their distance apart, you could really determine flow. Are they halfway through their zone, near the end, or just beginning? Is their speed slowing down or speeding up? We really want that even speed. Let me say that again. We really want that even speed. See Zone Control: How to Manage the Speed of the Train.
Why Is It Hard to Be Good Together?
Here’s another nugget. Fabien said it’s easy to be good. It’s hard to be good together. Translate that to speed: it’s easy to go at a certain speed. It’s hard to go the same speed as a group of people in construction. Remember the Men in Black line: a person is smart, but people are stupid. It’s really hard to be good together.
What Does a Deadline Focus Ignore?
When one contractor says, it’s not a big deal, I’ll be done when I’m done, that ignores a lot:
| A deadline focus ignores | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| One-piece, one-process flow | Work moves steadily through each zone |
| Quality at the source | Rushed work gets installed wrong |
| Buffers | There’s no room left for a potential problem or issue |
| Space between crews | Trades need room from the crew ahead and behind |
| Communication on site | Crews need time to talk with the other trade partners |
| Worker safety and an even pace | Workers get overextended and overburdened |
The focus on a deadline instead of a general speed through a project can be so mentally detrimental, because it pulls us off what’s important and onto what isn’t. Thinking that way starts to self-incentivize us, or foremen, lead hands, and workers, to do the wrong thing and rush. Once we start rushing, we install work wrong, then we rework it, and it descends into chaos, putting the people who are going the right speed at risk.
So What Are We Paying For?
By speed, I mean an even, consistent speed. We’re paying for the speed of your crew. The flow of your crew. The consistency of your crew. The one-piece flow of your crew. We’re not paying for a deadline where you think you can procrastinate as long as you want and magically show up and finish. That’s not what we’re paying for.
I thought that was a genius concept, because to flow in construction you have to be going the same or the right direction, the same or the right sequence, with leveled crews and leveled zones, the same or the right speed, and the same or the right distance apart from the other trade partners. There’s no other way to flow. If you want to flow, that’s how you do it.
- We pay for: crews going a consistent speed, the same speed as others when necessary or the right speed, the right distance apart, in one-piece flow with quality at the source, without overburdening their workers, done the right, ethical, and moral way.
- We do not pay for: a lack of buffers, rushing, procrastination, people coming in at the last minute, or someone at high risk of interrupting the overall flow.
Remember, it’s easy to be good, but it’s hard to be good together. We are paying for contractors to be good together. We’re not paying to optimize the individual contractor. We are paying to optimize the whole. Read Stop Optimizing Yourself – Optimize the Whole and Speed Comes from Stability.
What About a $5 Million Project With No Schedule?
A listener I’ve always appreciated, for the way he carried himself and treated me, was just promoted to operations manager for a nearly $100 million utility contractor, with the intention of moving to COO in six months. They already use Miro and start meetings with a safety moment. But they run $5 million projects that take 60 to 90 days with no schedule, and he has younger PMs who would totally buy in. He also just had a baby in January, his third boy. Congratulations.
So here is the challenge. On your next look-ahead, stop asking each trade when they’ll finish. Ask what speed they’ll hold through each zone, and how far apart they’ll be from the trade ahead of them.
Bottom line: We don’t pay for deadlines. We pay for an even, consistent speed, so contractors can be good together.
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 does we pay for speed, not deadlines mean?
It means owners and builders are paying for a crew’s even, consistent speed and flow through the zones, not for a finish date that lets a contractor procrastinate and then rush in on a Saturday or Sunday to knock it out. The idea comes from Fabien at Timote in France.
What does a focus on deadlines ignore?
One-piece flow, quality at the source, buffers for problems, the space needed between crews, communication with other trade partners on site, and keeping workers safe at an even pace without overburdening them.
What does flow in construction require?
Trades going the same or the right direction, in the same or the right sequence, with leveled crews in leveled zones, going the same or the right speed, the same or the right distance apart from the other trade partners.
People Also Read:
Multi-Train Takt Planning: How Trains of Trades Flow Through a Phase
Flow Efficiency
Lean Onboarding Series – One Process Flow
Estimating Deadlines
If you want to learn more we have:
-Takt Virtual Training: (Takt Virtual Training)
-Check out our YouTube channel for more info: (Elevate Construction on YouTube)
-Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: (Elevate Construction Podcast)
-Check out our training programs and certifications: (Training Programs and Certifications)
-The Takt Book: (The Takt Book on Amazon)
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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.