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Author: Jason Schroeder

Jason Schroeder is a construction executive, author, and trusted voice on Lean, Takt Planning, and field leadership. As Founder and COO of Elevate Construction, he helps teams build stable systems and strong, people-first cultures.

Reactors vs Preventors

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 21 min

Reactors Versus Preventers (Stop Rewarding Fixers)

I want to comment on our mindset. It’s a very interesting thing that we have to be really dedicated to, and it’s the difference between being a reactor versus a preventer, and you could also say a victim versus a victor.

Here’s the key, and actually this is not a bad analogy that I’m about to give you. I just watched Coach Carter. I love movies like that because Patton, the 1970s movie Patton, and then Coach Carter are examples of the kind of discipline and tenacity you have to have in order to run a project well.

And one of the things I noticed was that a lot of basketball teams will be lax with their pre-preparation, their practice, and then they’ll hope for the best that the players can just magically pull one through the knothole during a game and be able to outplay the other team just as a one-off. And that wish thinking is so destructive.

Let me explain the difference between reactors and preventers.

The Pain of Reactor Victim Mentality

Here’s what happens when you’re a reactor. You don’t prepare. You wait for problems. And when problems happen, you react. You play victim. You blame someone else. You document the delay. You write the cure notice. You file the claim. And you say, “It’s not my fault. It’s the owner’s fault. It’s the designer’s fault. It’s the trade’s fault.” And you never ask: Why didn’t we prevent this?

And there’s so many institutions and systems and universities and schools that teach people to be professional victims. Teach project managers instead of getting out ahead of procurement to be good at documenting and being the victim. Teach legal departments and risk departments, instead of learning how to build the job properly and prevent a court case and be about prevention, actually get good at fighting in arbitration and fighting in an actual court case. Instead of preventing the loss of money through good pre-construction planning and through beefing up your pre-planning systems, the business unit leaders will get good at finding ways to strategically write down their gross profit, write down projects, and somehow make up for profits from other parts of the business.

I could just keep going on and on. Or instead of teaching superintendents how to plan properly out ahead, teaching them to always play the victim and be in a CPM world where we’re always crying poor boy and playing the victim that we didn’t have enough time and we don’t have enough design, always blaming it on somebody else, always passing the buck, always shedding risk, always never being accountable. And I just want to make it very very clear that this is a mindset.

The Reactor Mindset (Victim Examples)

You’ve got to ask yourself if you are reacting to a submittal. Let me even give you a really good analogy. Let’s say your trade partners come out and you’re about to submit a cure notice. Even that is victim mentality. Why did we not get ahead of it? Why did we not have two trades on the line to do this work? Why did we not have a contract clause to where we own the materials in case we did have to supplement? Why did we not interview the trade partner? Why did we not visit their projects ahead of time? Why did we not interview the foreman? Why did we not pre-qualify better? Why are we not grading contractors and only allowing A players to repeat bid our projects?

Even that, something that’s like, “Oh yeah, that’s a normal legal action to take.” Well, it’s a victim behavior. Why did we not get ahead of it? Now if you’ve done everything you can possibly do or had the capacity to do or knew to do and you still have to do it, that’s one thing. But if that’s what you’ve been trained to do and that’s what most of your corporate trainings are about, they’re training you to be the victim instead of the victor.

And the main reason why CPM is still more popular and preferred over systems like Takt is because it fits better with the victim blame somebody else mentality. It’s easier to blame somebody else with CPM. It’s harder to blame it in Takt because Takt requires the right environment and the right rhythm and for the general contractor and trades to all do their job including owners and designers. It is a non-blame system. It is an “oh crap we see immediately” and it’s an accountability system that prevents it. So this is all because of the victim mentality.

The Preventer Mindset (Coach Carter Example)

In the movie Coach Carter with one of my favorite, if not my favorite actor Samuel L. Jackson, he has them run suicides and do push-ups and do disciplined practice, and I think it’s the Richmond Oilers is the team, and he’s like, “When we play, we’re always driving forward, we’re going to play the Richmond Oilers way, we’re not going to play somebody else’s ball, we’re going to play our ball.” And it all comes from preparation so that they’re never having to become a victim.

And that in scene where at the end Coach Carter says, “We’re not going to play their ball, we’re going to play our ball, and we’re going to go out there, and they’re going to be a part of our game because we’re going to be driving the entire time,” that only comes from preparation. And so I thought it was a really neat analogy. If you don’t prepare, the only thing you can do is be a victim.

Here’s what preventers do:

  • They prepare and plan ahead: They get out ahead of procurement, host pull plans effectively, track their risk and opportunity register every week and realize opportunities, and learn constantly instead of reacting to problems after they happen.
  • They create the right environment: They host the pre-construction meeting effectively, do great lookahead and weekly work planning, do daily planning in the afternoon foreman huddle, create work packages with their trades, and have a queued up and well-operating supply chain.
  • They drive forward and make others react to them: When game time comes, they play their ball. They don’t react to the other team. They make the other team react to them. That’s a preventer. That’s a victor.

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

The Value of Preventers Versus Reactors

And so the key is that, and I don’t mean to be negative, I’m just trying to paint a picture. A reactor project manager and superintendent is not worth one penny of their salary. A preventer superintendent PM is worth three times the normal going rate. And I’m not trying to get everybody in trouble. You’re probably not going to be able to go ask for a raise and get it right away. But I’m just saying from a value perspective, that’s what it is.

I don’t care to pay for, I care about the person that may be a victim to this, but I don’t care to pay for or to work with ever under any circumstances a reactor victim wannabe builder. All true builders are preventers. And if you ever have to fix a job, don’t brag about it. If you ever have to go recover a job, don’t brag about it. If you ever have to ask somebody to recover a job, you thank them kindly and say, “This never happened and we’re not doing this again.” We should stop rewarding fixers because we need to start rewarding preventers.

The Ernest Shackleton Story (Why We Praise the Wrong Things)

There’s a really neat story. I once heard a story about Ernest Shackleton. He was an explorer in the Antarctic and he had funding and publicized his event, but Norwegian whalers at different ports on his way told him to turn back. They said, “The ice is worse than it’s ever been. Turn back. You’re not going to make it.” And he ignored it.

And then in the Weddell Sea, his ship, which I believe is called the Endurance, buckled under the pressure of the ice. Like literally the sea turned to ice and he had to work with his men for two years. Think about that. Two years of freezing and struggle and isolation. Two years to keep them alive. Eventually he ordered them onto boats to go out I think to Elephant Island. And they had to stay there, I believe, for at least eight months while he went on lifeboats, like 14-foot lifeboats, and crossed all the way to connect with civilization north of the Antarctic. And they barely survived. They got frostbitten, they had panic, they passed out, and magically he saved all of his men because of his leadership in the crisis.

And so, you know, that’s when you get Hollywood movies and praise and famous stories and everybody’s like, “Oh, Ernest Shackleton, the hero.” But here’s the thing, why are we praising that? Why did he ever put his men in that situation? And then you consider other explorers like Roald Amundsen. He led an expedition, paused when needed, and reached the south pole without any injuries or shipwrecks. We’ve got to stop this nonsense in construction.

Here’s the lesson. We praise Shackleton the fixer. We praise the hero who saved his men from a crisis he created by ignoring the warnings. But we don’t praise Amundsen the preventer. We don’t praise the explorer who planned, prepared, paused when needed, and reached the south pole without any injuries or shipwrecks. That’s the problem. We reward the wrong people.

A Challenge for Builders

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Ask yourself: Am I a reactor or a preventer? Am I playing victim or victor? When problems happen, do I blame someone else? Or do I ask, “Why didn’t we prevent this?” Do I get ahead of procurement? Do I host pull plans effectively? Do I track my risk and opportunity register every week? Do I learn constantly? Do I prepare so I can drive forward instead of react?

Stop being a reactor. Stop playing victim. Stop blaming someone else. Stop waiting for problems and then documenting delays. Start being a preventer. Start planning ahead. Start preparing. Start driving forward. Start playing your ball, not someone else’s ball. As we say at Elevate, reactors play victim and fix problems after they happen. Preventers plan ahead and prevent problems before they start. Stop rewarding fixers. Reward preventers.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between a reactor and a preventer?

Reactors wait for problems, then react, play victim, and blame someone else. Preventers plan ahead, prepare, and prevent problems before they start. Reactors fix jobs. Preventers never need fixing.

Why is submitting a cure notice a victim behavior?

Because it means you didn’t prevent the problem. Why didn’t you have two trades on the line? Why didn’t you pre-qualify better? Why didn’t you interview the foreman? Cure notices are reactive, not preventive.

Why is CPM more popular than Takt?

Because CPM fits the victim mentality. It’s easier to blame someone else with CPM. Takt requires everyone to do their job. It’s a non-blame accountability system that prevents problems instead of documenting delays.

What do preventers do differently?

They get ahead of procurement. They host pull plans effectively. They track risk and opportunity registers weekly. They host great pre-construction meetings. They do lookahead and weekly work planning. They create work packages with trades. They prepare.

Why do we praise Ernest Shackleton instead of Roald Amundsen?

Because we reward fixers instead of preventers. Shackleton ignored warnings, put his men in crisis, then heroically saved them. Amundsen planned, prepared, paused when needed, reached the south pole without injuries. We praise the wrong people.

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

A Lecture to Civil Contractors

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 20 min

How to Run Civil Work on Roads (Stop the Large Batch Waste)

This is probably just a little bit of a rant podcast. You’ll probably hear a condescending tone from me because I’m super annoyed. I just drove from Atlanta, Georgia, all the way to Phoenix and I am horrified, absolutely horrified.

We’ve all heard about the bullet train, the train to nowhere in California that was supposed to be finished in 2020. Now it’s going to be somewhere around 2030. It was originally going to be around $33 billion. Now it’s going to be somewhere upwards of, no, it’s north of $100 billion, probably $130 billion. It’s absolutely out of control. In China, they can do it for a third of the time and a third of the costs.

And I am just out of this world appalled at civil roadwork in the United States. I mean, it’s literally like nobody’s ever been taught how to do this. I’m going to go ahead and do a little bit of a lecture for everybody out there in the civil world so that you know exactly how to build.

The Pain of Large Batch Civil Roadwork

Here’s what I saw. I’m going through, I think it’s Midland. The entire freaking city from side to side is under road construction. Literally, I probably without exaggeration, at least saw 150 miles worth of worthless traffic control, worthless K-rail, worthless open active construction sites not being worked on because of sheer ignorance, laziness, and incompetence.

You have to stop opening up so much roadway. You are wasting so much money on K-rail or what people call Jersey barrier and open earth with your stormwater pollution prevention plans and literally just burning diesel, driving from one end to the other, instead of finishing in segments.

And you’re going to say the exact thing to me, like concrete contractors say, “Oh, well, it’s because of concrete. We have to have large deck sizes. We have to have large batch sizes.” Are you telling me that the batch plant and the asphalt can’t be procured in any other batch size than the whole effing city? Come on.

The Lesson We Learned 100 Years Ago (And Forgot)

Like literally this is like a lesson that was learned like 100 years ago. My grandpa used to tell me stories about his grandpa going down into Los Angeles and recovering civil projects. And they would have miles of trench open for utilities and it would be blocking all these residences, houses, and they’d be complaining. And the soil was bad. It would be caving in and it would rain and they would have to repair it. It would shut down traffic. And it’s just a nightmare.

And my great-great-great, I think it’s three greats grandpa came in and was like, “We need to work in sections. We need to only open up what we need and stop opening up the whole damn section” and literally recovered the project. And they were able to shore it properly. They were able to deal with the soil. And so that’s like a lesson, like 101, you learn this 101 in scheduling and in production.

This is large batch at its worst. Do you know how much money you’re spending on mobilizing that much K-rail? Do you know how much money you’re spending renting it? Do you know how much money you’re spending mass grading and letting it get damaged and having to regrade it? Do you know how much money you are spending burning diesel from one end to the other, because you want these wide open spaces? Do you know how much money you’re spending on SWPPP? Do you know how much money you’re spending on traffic control? Do you know how much of a burden you’re being to the public?

This is out of control and there’s not anything even being done on the roadway. This is ridiculous. And I can’t believe that we’re doing this.

The Right Way: Work in Segments and Finish Before Moving Forward

You work in segments and if you have to build bridges or you have major infrastructure projects, then do those as isolated individual projects and then let the roadway literally intersect with it. There’s no specs, no grading specs, no design requirements that make you leave all of that dirt open for years. There’s nothing that will require you to do that. I would say 70 to 80 percent of what you’re charging the client is absolute waste with batching. It’s absolutely out of this world.

You need to open up, I would even go with you, even if you’re like, “I’m going to open up a mile or two.” Even if you’re like, “I’m going to go open up a mile or two.” I disagree with it. I think you should open up a lot less than that. I think max a quarter of a mile. Even if you said to me, “Jason, I’m going to open up a mile or two of roadway and work in segments.” Okay, you know, whatever. I understand you have a little bit of workable backlog and a buffer.

But you’re opening up tens of like 20, 30, 40, 50 freaking miles of freaking roadway to do improvements that you’re not even working on. Then you reduce the speed limit and then you affect all of the drivers and you are wasting all of that money. And then we’re worried about having a worker shortage and a resource shortage. I know where everybody’s resources are. Everybody’s resources are on a damn road somewhere trying to make repairs across 30 freaking miles. And all of the people are out there mobilizing K-rail and filling up freaking equipment that’s not being used across the 30, 40, 50 mile expanse. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

Here’s how to do it right:

  • Open up a segment – Max a quarter mile, or if you want a mile or two with workable backlog that’s better than 50 miles
  • Grade the thing and get it stabilized – Even if you left it for a couple of months, even if you’re waiting for the rainy season so that it could stabilize, I totally understand that
  • Pave right behind it – Finish all of your hardscape up, make sure your as-builts are done, intersects with bridges and your major infrastructure projects
  • Open that segment of roadway – Move the K-rail and the traffic control forward, don’t utilize so damn much of it that it’s all wasted

Literally what’s happening. The traffic control company wants to rent it all. The K-rail companies want to rent it all. And the superintendents want to be lazy and just have massive areas open. The equipment operators want wide open spaces and everybody just wants to soak the system dry. Meanwhile, the United States infrastructure and all of the people are suffering.

The Disrespect for People on the Road

Do you know how many segments of worthless, non-active traffic improvements I’ve been through with stupid signage? Like literally I’m driving right now between Tucson and Phoenix. There’s been like 30, 55 mile per hour signs near no improvements, no active construction, no absolute reason, no consistency. Everybody’s just blowing through it. What are you doing?

That literally reminds me the other day of a road improvement. They were doing paving. I don’t even know exactly what they were doing. I was appalled at the traffic control. Literally civil contractors are so lazy nowadays. I shouldn’t say lazy. The processes are so lazy and they’re so ill-educated about how to do this that literally they’ll go repave a road or they’ll cap it or they’ll do whatever improvements they’re doing to it. And they won’t even give you temporary guidelines for the lanes. It’s the most dangerous thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

And the traffic control is freaking everywhere, everywhere, literally hitting the mirrors on cars and scratching paint. There’s no respect for a person. There’s no respect for the motorists. There’s no respect for people in this economy trying to go from end to end. There’s no respect for truckers that have to deal with this every day. There’s no even thought. Traffic control not even thinking about the people on the road when most of the injuries, literally millions of deaths happen on the roadway. We’re not even paying attention literally because of bad processes, bad teaching, and nobody being brought up anymore these days. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

A Challenge for Civil Contractors

Here’s what I want you to do this week. Stop opening up 50 miles of roadway. Work in segments. Max a quarter mile. Grade it. Stabilize it. Pave it. Finish it. Open it. Move the K-rail forward. Don’t waste money on renting K-rail for inactive sites. Don’t waste money on traffic control for 50 miles when you’re only working on 2 miles. Don’t burn diesel driving from one end to the other. Don’t leave open earth for years.

The civil industry has completely lost its mind. Airlines, the freeways, civil contractors, you have lost your mind. I can’t even believe I’m seeing what I’m seeing here. Large batch is the dumbest damn thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I’m so sick of this, America. I love you, wake up. You have no idea what you’re doing and you’re going to blame it on everybody else. No, it wasn’t. It’s a lack of good thinking. It’s a lack of education and everybody’s running around proud to not read a book and go to a training or to even get any kind of education and to learn how things are actually done. It’s embarrassing.

As we say at Elevate, civil roadwork wastes money on large batch: miles of K-rail, open earth, traffic control for inactive sites. Work in segments, finish before moving forward. That’s how you respect people and stop wasting money. Civil contractors, step it up. You’re absolutely an embarrassment to the United States. I can’t believe I had to go through this. I want to see us step it up.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is large batch civil roadwork a problem?

Because you’re opening up 50 miles of roadway when you’re only working on 2 miles. You waste money on K-rail rental, traffic control, diesel, SWPPP, regrading damaged earth, and equipment sitting idle across the expanse. It’s 70-80% waste.

How should civil contractors work on roads?

Work in segments. Open max a quarter mile. Grade it, stabilize it, pave it, finish it, open it. Move the K-rail forward. Don’t open 50 miles when you’re only working 2 miles.

Why don’t civil contractors work in smaller segments?

Because traffic control companies want to rent it all, K-rail companies want to rent it all, superintendents want massive areas open, and equipment operators want wide open spaces. Everybody wants to soak the system dry.

What about bridges and major infrastructure projects?

Do those as isolated individual projects and let the roadway intersect with them. There’s no spec that requires leaving all the dirt open for years. Finish segments before moving forward.

Why is this disrespectful to people?

Because you reduce speed limits for 50 miles of inactive construction. You create traffic control that hits mirrors and scratches paint. You don’t provide temporary lane guidelines after repaving. You don’t respect motorists, truckers, or people trying to get from end to end.

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

Project Setup For Field Engineers | Construction Start-Up Checklist (First 30 Days)

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 24 min

Project Setup For Field Engineers (Construction Start-Up Checklist: First 30 Days)

I’m going to talk to you about how a field engineer will approach a new project and literally get everything set up in the first 30 days. Now, I don’t mean the first 30 days of the construction project starting. I mean the first 30 days of the field engineers being there, which means that if you’re going to start in December and you want to have good primary and secondary working control system for December, then you should have those up in November. You should probably have field engineers on site in October. And so that first 30 days is what I’m talking about, which is typically about 2 months before the project starts at least.

If you have a mega project and a lot more lift drawings and you’re doing self-perform concrete, you might want them there even farther ahead. But we use field engineers for self-perform and non-self-performed projects. And it’s remarkable. Having them is not primarily about survey or lift drawings. Having field engineers is about building our future builders. And if we skip this step, we hurt the person and we lose the benefit of the survey, lift drawings, and frontline safety and quality management.

Let me walk you through the startup checklist.

The Pain of Field Engineers Who Don’t Set Up Properly

Here’s what happens when field engineers don’t set up properly in the first 30 days. They don’t have a startup schedule. So, they scramble. They don’t have site logistics mapped. So, the superintendent dumps a conex right on top of their control point. They don’t have utilities mapped. So, they hit a gas line or electrical line. Utility strike. Shutdown. Delay. Danger. They don’t have equipment ordered. So, they can’t do layout. The trades wait. They don’t have an FE bullpen. So, they work in isolation. No collaboration. No visual systems. And they don’t have a testing area. So, their equipment is wrong. Their tribrachs are off. Their levels are off. And the building is out of tolerance.

Field engineers who don’t set up properly hurt the project. They hurt themselves. And they hurt the craft. The first 30 days are critical. Get it right and everything flows. Get it wrong and everything breaks.

Step One: Create Your Startup Schedule

I’ve got a list here to save us time. I’m going to talk to you about each one of these one by one. What I’m talking about here is getting the project ready for the field engineering program. So, number one, your startup schedule. When you grab the macro-level Takt plan or the norm-level Takt plan or the construction schedule, you have that from the project delivery team and the superintendent. Then what you want to do is take these items and literally plan out when you want each of these things up and running so that your primary, secondary, and working control and your first lift drawings and your program are ready to go for your first trades.

Because remember, field engineers enable the foremen and the workers, the crews. Well, let me just say this. The industry is going back to field engineering, but it needs to go faster. And because for a while we didn’t have them because there was this misconception that you only need field engineers for self-perform. What happened is other techniques are popping up, like advanced work packaging, will say you need to have workface planners to plan the work for the foremen and the crews sitting in an office. No, no, no, no, no, no. We do not do that.

Field engineers with superintendent, especially assistant superintendents, do that with control, with lift drawings, helping them with information, providing an open area and working with them shoulder to shoulder. We do not delegate the preparation of work to workface planners in an office. It’s field engineers and assistant superintendents. But the first thing you do is get your startup schedule put together.

Step Two: Create Site Logistics Drawing

The second thing that I want you to do is put together a site logistics drawing. And what this is with the superintendent and the project team is a map showing where your office trailers, your conexes, your staging, your queuing areas, your morning worker huddles, your dojo, your tent power, your tent water, your hoist, your crane, your scrap-outs, your access ways, your craft bathrooms that are custom built. All of these things. This is going to show where everything is going to go.

And in case you’re like, “Jason, why would this be one of the first things that you do?” It’s because we have to design our primary, secondary, and working control around it. There’s no point in putting a point somewhere and then the superintendent just dumping a conex right on the top of it. It’s just not very practical. So eventually you are going to go out there and create a primary control network. Primary control is permanent. It surrounds the building and it enables all other layouts. Secondary control is typically a baseline, intersecting corners, intersecting baselines, intersecting inside baselines, or a box with offsets around your building, but it’s building-specific. And this is called secondary control. It allows you to basically build the building. It’s temporary and it’s building-specific.

Then working control is as if you put grid lines on the slab and then you laid out a column. Those are temporary lines for building components. So you got primary, secondary, and working control. So, you don’t want to put any of these points anywhere where the site logistics are. And that’s why site logistics is the second thing that I recommend you do during startup.

Step Three: Map Utilities (Five-Step Process)

Now the other thing here, utilities. This is crucial, and I need you to pay attention because this could make or break you when it comes to safety. What you need to do is go out and do your blue stake. Once you do your blue stake, you’re going to do a private utility locator. That means they’re going to go out there and, in addition to blue stake, find anything underground. Then you’re going to pothole. Then you are going to either with a surveyor or yourself with your field engineers as-built those intersections and know their depths. Then you’re going to create a drawing for any underground utilities so that you know with real points, real scale, where everything is on the site.

That way, when you go do your dig permits and a trade wants to go dig, you can do blue stake. And then you can also lay out anything else that may not be referenced to blue stake. You can literally be safe and hand dig or do vacuum trucks near the utilities and not have utility strikes. So this is important because additionally, not only do you want to be safe, but if you have different utilities or new utilities in there, you don’t want to put your points there as well. So those are crucial things that you have to do to set up your system. Now, later we’ll get into you actually doing your primary, secondary, working control, but for now, we’re just setting you up. That was number three.

Step Four: Order Equipment (To Spec)

Number four, you’re going to order your equipment. Now, this might seem self-explanatory, and you’re like, “J Money, why are you putting it in a video?” But I’ve got to make sure that you’re ordering the right stuff to spec:

  • Three-second total station or better – Don’t settle for less accurate equipment, you’re controlling the location of the building
  • Automatic level with eighth-of-an-inch error in 100 feet – Prefer 200 feet, and make sure you have really good optics on your automatic levels
  • Survey bags from Home Depot like it’s Black Friday – Get your consumables: lath, hubs, 60-penny nails, whiskers, everything you need
  • Computers powerful enough to run AutoCAD and Revit – Don’t skimp, field engineers need two screens and a nice open desk area with a place for drawings to the left

And so, what I want you to do is go get your survey equipment, get your bags, get your consumables, get your computers, get all decked out so that you have all of the equipment, anything that you need to go do your job. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Step Five: Take Photos (Document Everything)

The other thing that I want you to do is take photos. You need to take photos, not only to document survey, but also to document the condition of the site. This is standard. It was always standard at Hensel Phelps. It should be standard on every job.

Step Six: Set Up FE Bullpen (Open Office Space)

Now, the FE bullpen. Where are you going to take this genius and all this awesomeness? You’re going to do it in an open office space in the trailer. So you’ll have different desks. I prefer that these desks are vertical to where you can stand or sit with drafting table chairs, but you’re going to have an open office space where you have visual schedules. And this is called the FE bullpen.

Now, this FE bullpen is crucial. And you might think to yourself, “Why do we get out in the open in some kind of ratty conditions?” No, no, no. Your whole job site team should be in an open office space. If they’re just getting too arrogant or too stuffy and they ask for their own offices, they’re in an ivory castle now. They’re disconnected. They’re losing trust, and it’s hurting the overall team. You do not want offices. It is a blessing that you’re out in the open. Set up your office so that you have visual communication systems and you have a place to house everything.

Step Seven: Create Equipment Testing Area

Once you have your office, the other thing is let’s say this is your office trailer. I want you to have a testing area. You’ve got to have a testing area so you can test your prism pole inside the office, but you’ve got to have a sidewalk where you can test your chain. You’ve got to have two poles somewhere where you can peg your levels and make sure that they’re good to go. You’ve got to have a different area so that you can test your lasers, your automatic levels, your total stations, your chains, your tapes, and your tribrachs. Tribrachs, half of the time, they come out wrong. You’ve got to have a testing and calibration area for your project site in order for you to make sure this stuff is correct.

Step Eight: Don’t Skimp on Computers and Software

The other thing is don’t skimp out on computers and apps. If somebody’s like, “Oh, you’re just a field engineer, you don’t get a second screen.” Well, you better be careful because these folks are controlling the location of your building and the location of your components. Most of the time, field engineers need a nice open desk area, a place for their drawings to the left, and two screens. And make sure you have a computer that’s powerful enough to run AutoCAD and Revit.

Step Nine: Read the Field Engineering Methods Manual

Now, the last thing that I’ll say is at this point, you need to make sure everybody on your field engineering team has read chapters 1 through 8 in version 3 of the Field Engineering Methods Manual and all of version 4, book one of the fourth update that we’re putting out in the next couple of months so that all of the field engineers have a baseline understanding of what a field engineer does. And if you have these key components, you are ready to go and you’re ready to jam.

A Challenge for Field Engineers

Here’s what I want you to do this week. If you’re starting a new project, work through this checklist. Create your startup schedule. Map site logistics. Map utilities with the five-step process. Order equipment to spec. Take photos. Set up your FE bullpen. Create your testing area. Get powerful computers. And read the Field Engineering Methods Manual. That’s your first 30 days. Get it right and everything flows. As we say at Elevate, field engineer project setup first 30 days: startup schedule, site logistics, utilities mapped, equipment ordered, FE bullpen, testing area. That’s the checklist.

On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should field engineers arrive on a project?

About 2 months before construction starts. If you’re starting construction in December, have field engineers on site in October so you can have primary and secondary control ready in November.

Why do you need field engineers on non-self-perform projects?

Because having field engineers is about building future builders. You still need concrete layout, mason inspections, overhead and in-wall inspections, and future superintendents to train. The myth that you only need field engineers for self-perform is hurting us.

What’s the five-step process for mapping utilities?

Blue stake, private utility locator, pothole, as-built the intersections with depths, create a drawing with real points and real scale. That way you can hand dig or use vacuum trucks near utilities and avoid strikes.

Why do field engineers need an open office space instead of private offices?

Because private offices create disconnection and loss of trust. Open office space with visual communication systems creates collaboration. If people ask for private offices, they’re in an ivory castle now.

What equipment specs do field engineers need?

Three-second total station or better, automatic level with eighth-of-an-inch error in 100 feet (prefer 200 feet), two screens, computers powerful enough to run AutoCAD and Revit, and a testing area for calibration.

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

It Is Time – Sign up for Personal Organization Training

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 24 min

The Superintendent Who Had No Time for Anything

There is a superintendent who works 70 hours a week. He arrives at 5 AM and leaves at 7 PM. He skips lunch. He answers emails at midnight. He misses his kid’s soccer games. And when you ask him how he is doing, he says I am drowning. I have no time for anything. No time to train people. No time to mentor. No time to think. No time to plan. No time for family. And when you look at what he is actually doing all day, the answer becomes clear. He has no personal organization system. He keeps everything in his head. He reacts to whatever screams loudest. He says yes to everything. And he spends 70 hours a week being busy without ever being effective. Meanwhile, there is another superintendent on a different project who works 50 hours a week, goes home on time, has lunch with his team, mentors young engineers, and still delivers better results. The difference is not talent. The difference is personal organization. One superintendent manages tasks. The other lets tasks manage him.

Here is what happens when leaders have no personal organization system. A project manager starts his day checking email. An urgent message pulls him into a fire drill. He spends two hours solving a problem that could have been prevented with ten minutes of planning yesterday. By the time he surfaces, it is 10 AM and he has not touched the three critical tasks that actually matter. So he tells himself he will do them after lunch. But lunch turns into more firefighting. And by 5 PM he realizes he spent the entire day reacting to other people’s priorities instead of executing his own. So he stays late. He works through dinner. And he goes home exhausted having accomplished nothing that moves the project forward. This happens every single day. And he wonders why he never gets promoted, why his team is always behind, and why he feels like he is running in place.

The real pain is the waste. Waste of time. Waste of energy. Waste of potential. Leaders who have no personal organization system waste hours every day on tasks that do not matter. They attend meetings that could have been emails. They answer questions that should have been delegated. They redo work that was done incorrectly because they did not take time to explain it properly the first time. And they stay late to finish the work they should have done during the day if they had not been interrupted constantly. This is not a work problem. This is a system problem. And it affects everything. It affects their health because they never exercise. It affects their marriage because they never come home. It affects their kids because they miss every event. And it affects their career because leaders who are always busy but never effective do not get promoted.

The failure pattern is predictable. Someone becomes a superintendent or project manager without learning personal organization. They rely on memory instead of systems. They keep to-do lists in their head instead of on paper. They say yes to everything because they do not know how to prioritize. And they spend every day reacting to chaos instead of creating order. Eventually they burn out. Or they plateau. Or they get passed over for promotion because executives see someone who works hard but does not produce results. The system failed them by never teaching them that busyness is not productivity. That motion is not progress. And that working 70 hours a week without a system is less effective than working 50 hours with one.

I learned this lesson from a superintendent who carried a voice recorder. Every time he thought of something that needed to be done, he recorded it. Then at the end of the day, he transcribed those notes into a to-do list. He triaged them by priority. And he time-blocked them into his calendar for the next day. That system allowed him to go home on time every single night while delivering better results than superintendents who worked twice as many hours. Later I learned about Leader Standard Work from lean construction. The concept is simple. Your most important work gets scheduled first. Family time. Exercise. Strategic thinking. Mentoring. Planning. All of it goes on the calendar before the chaos. And then the chaos fills the gaps instead of consuming the entire day. When I implemented that system, my life changed. I went from working 65 hours a week and feeling overwhelmed to working 50 hours and going home with energy left for my family.

This matters because construction cannot afford to lose good people to burnout. And that is exactly what happens when leaders have no personal organization system. They work themselves into the ground. They sacrifice their health, their marriage, and their kids. And eventually they quit or plateau because they cannot sustain the pace. This affects projects because disorganized leaders create chaos. It affects teams because people cannot execute when their leader is constantly changing priorities. It affects retention because good people leave when they see their boss working 70 hours a week and realize that is the only path to advancement. And it affects families because workers go home to spouses and kids who never see them. Personal organization is not a productivity hack. It is the foundation of everything. And leaders who refuse to build that foundation are guaranteeing mediocrity.

Signs You Need a Personal Organization System

Watch for these patterns that signal you are operating without the system you need:

  • You work 60-plus hours a week but feel like you accomplish nothing that actually matters
  • You keep to-do lists in your head and forget critical tasks because there is no external system
  • You say yes to everything because you do not know how to evaluate what deserves your time
  • You spend entire days reacting to emails and interruptions instead of executing strategic work
  • You miss family events because you are always at work but cannot point to what you accomplished
  • You feel constantly overwhelmed and cannot remember the last time you had margin to think

These are not character flaws. These are system gaps. And system gaps get fixed with systems, not harder work.

How Personal Organization Actually Works

Personal organization starts with clarity. You cannot organize your time if you do not know what you are trying to accomplish. So the first step is answering three questions. What is my mission in life? What is my vision for what that looks like? And what are my values? Once you know those answers, you can identify what is most important right now. Not in five years. Not eventually. But in the next three to six months. What specific goals would move you toward your mission? Once you know what is most important right now, you can build a system that ensures those goals actually happen instead of getting buried under chaos.

The system has five components. First, a to-do list. Everything that needs to be done gets written down immediately. Voice notes work. Paper works. Apps work. But it has to leave your head and go somewhere external. Because your brain is terrible at remembering tasks. It is designed to think, not to store information. So capture everything. Then clarify what each task actually requires. Is it a two-minute task you can do now? Is it something to delegate? Is it something to schedule? Organize tasks into buckets. Some go on your calendar. Some go on meeting agendas. Some get sent as delegation. And then reflect constantly. Look at your to-do list multiple times per day. If you can remember what you need to do without looking at the list, you are not using it enough.

Second, Leader Standard Work. This is your weekly calendar that time-blocks the most important work first. Family time goes on the calendar first. Not last. Exercise goes on the calendar. Strategic planning time goes on the calendar. Mentoring time goes on the calendar. One-on-one meetings with your team go on the calendar. All of it gets scheduled before the chaos. Then meetings and firefighting fill the gaps. This ensures the important work actually happens instead of getting pushed aside by urgent-but-unimportant tasks. If something is not on your calendar, it will not happen. So put the important work on the calendar and protect that time like your career depends on it. Because it does. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Third, morning routine. How you start the day determines whether you win or lose. Successful leaders do not check email first thing. They review their to-do list. They look at their Leader Standard Work. They identify the three most important tasks for the day. And they time-block those tasks into the first three hours of the morning before meetings and chaos consume the day. This creates momentum. When you accomplish important work early, the rest of the day flows. When you start with email and firefighting, you spend the entire day reacting and never get to the work that actually matters.

Fourth, elimination. Most leaders waste time on tasks that do not need to be done. Meetings that should be emails. Reports that nobody reads. Approvals that should be delegated. Questions that could be answered with better training. The key to personal organization is not doing faster. It is doing less better. So go on an elimination diet. Every task on your to-do list gets evaluated. Does this actually need to happen? Can someone else do it? Can it be automated? Can it be eliminated entirely? Ruthlessly cut tasks that do not serve your mission or your goals. Because every task you eliminate creates space for the work that actually matters.

Fifth, discipline. Systems only work if you use them. So commit to the system for 60 days. Use your to-do list every single day. Time-block your calendar every single week. Protect your Leader Standard Work. And review your personal clarity document monthly to ensure your daily work aligns with your long-term mission. This takes discipline. But discipline is a muscle. And the more you use it, the stronger it gets. After 60 days, the system becomes habit. And once it becomes habit, you stop fighting chaos and start creating order.

What Success Actually Looks Like

Leaders with personal organization systems operate differently. They are calm in chaos. They have margin to think. They mentor instead of micromanage. They go home on time. And they produce better results than leaders who work twice as many hours:

  • They work 45-55 hours per week and rarely stay late because their days are planned and protected
  • They have time to mentor, think strategically, and solve problems before they become emergencies
  • They say no to tasks that do not align with their mission without guilt or hesitation
  • They delegate effectively because they planned time to train people properly the first time
  • They go home with energy left for their families instead of collapsing exhausted every night

This is not luck. This is system. And any leader can build it if they commit to the process.

The Challenge

Stop telling yourself you are too busy to get organized. That is like saying you are too busy driving on square wheels to switch to round ones. The chaos you are drowning in is caused by lack of organization. And the only way out is to stop, build the system, and commit to using it. Take a personal organization course. Read Getting Things Done by David Allen. Work through the Personal Organization Mastery course. Or hire a coach. But do something. Because you cannot keep working 70 hours a week and wondering why nothing changes. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. Your kids deserve better. Your spouse deserves better. Your health deserves better. And your career deserves better. So invest the time and money to build the system that will give you all of it back.

As David Allen said, “You can do anything, but not everything.” Stop trying to do everything. Start organizing the things that actually matter. Eliminate the rest. And watch what happens when you trade busyness for effectiveness. Your mission in life is not to work yourself into the ground. Your mission is to build things and people that last. And you cannot do that if you are constantly drowning in chaos. Build the system. Commit to the discipline. And take your life back. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I need a to-do list if I can remember what needs to be done?

Your brain is designed to think, not store information. Keeping tasks in your head wastes mental energy and causes you to forget critical work under stress.

What is Leader Standard Work and why does it matter?

Leader Standard Work is your weekly calendar where you time-block important tasks first before chaos fills your day, ensuring strategic work actually happens instead of getting buried.

How long does it take to build a personal organization system?

Commit to using the system daily for 60 days. After that, it becomes habit and you stop fighting the system and start using it automatically.

What should I do first thing in the morning?

Review your to-do list and Leader Standard Work, identify the three most important tasks for the day, and time-block them into your morning before meetings consume your schedule.

How do I know what tasks to eliminate?

Ask if the task serves your mission or goals. If it does not, delegate it, automate it, or eliminate it entirely to create space for work that actually matters.

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

Construction Surveying & Layout, Feat. Professor Crawford

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 25 min

The Field Engineer Who Could Not Work When the Battery Died

There is a field engineer who shows up to the jobsite with the latest GPS equipment. He sets up. He calibrates. He locates points faster than anyone with a total station ever could. And everyone is impressed. Until the GPS loses signal. The satellite connection drops. And suddenly this field engineer who was productive five minutes ago is useless. He cannot locate anything. He cannot set points. He cannot verify elevation. Because he never learned how to use a tape measure and a level. He only learned how to push buttons. So when the technology fails, he fails. And the crew loses an entire day of production because one person never bothered to learn the basics.

Here is what happens when teams rely entirely on technology without understanding fundamentals. A superintendent assigns layout work to a field engineer. The engineer sets up the robotic total station. He imports the points from the model. He starts locating column lines. Everything is perfect until the battery dies and nobody brought a spare. Or the Wi-Fi drops and the connection to the model is lost. Or the instrument gets bumped and loses calibration. And suddenly nobody can work. The concrete crew is waiting. The steel erectors are waiting. The MEP trades are waiting. And the entire schedule slips because one person with a dead battery cannot figure out how to pull a three-four-five triangle with a tape measure to square a corner. This happens on jobsites every single week. And it costs projects thousands of dollars in lost productivity.

The real pain is the false confidence. Field engineers think they know what they are doing because the technology makes them productive. But they do not actually understand the principles. They do not know how to check their work. They do not know how to verify accuracy. They do not know how to solve problems when the technology fails. So when something goes wrong, they are stuck. And the entire project pays the price because one person was trained to push buttons instead of trained to think. This is not the field engineer’s fault. This is a training failure. Companies prioritized speed over knowledge. They taught people how to use tools without teaching them why those tools work. And now they have teams full of button-pushers who cannot function when the buttons stop working.

The failure pattern is predictable. A company invests in expensive technology. They train people how to use it. And they skip the fundamentals because teaching basics takes time and technology seems faster. So field engineers learn how to operate GPS and robotic total stations and 3D scanning equipment. But they never learn how to run levels. They never learn how to pull tape. They never learn how to turn angles manually. And everything works great until the technology fails. Then the project stops. Because nobody knows how to do the work without the machines. The system failed them by teaching tools instead of principles. And the company pays for it every time a battery dies or a signal drops or an instrument needs calibration.

Professor Wes Crawford spent 40 years teaching construction surveying at Purdue University and working with Hensel Phelps to develop field engineers who actually understand what they are doing. He wrote Construction, Surveying, and Layout because he saw this exact problem. Field engineers who could push buttons but could not think. So he created a manual full of illustrations and step-by-step instructions that teach the basics. How to measure with a tape. How to run levels. How to pull three-four-five triangles. How to verify work. How to organize field books. How to think like a builder. And when companies use that book to train their people, mistakes drop dramatically. Not because the technology got better. But because the people got better. They understand the principles. They can check their work. They can solve problems. And they do not quit for the day when the GPS loses signal because they know how to pull a tape measure.

This matters because construction cannot afford to lose entire days of productivity because one person does not know how to measure without technology. The basics are not optional. They are foundational. And field engineers who never learn them are liabilities disguised as assets. This affects schedules because lost day’s compound. It affects quality because people who cannot check their work make mistakes that get built in. It affects safety because crews working from bad layout create dangerous conditions. And it affects retention because superintendents get tired of babysitting field engineers who cannot function independently. Learning the basics is not about going backwards. It is about building capability that works regardless of whether the technology is functioning.

Why Basics Matter More Than Buttons

Technology is a tool. And tools fail. Batteries die. Signals drop. Software crashes. Instruments get bumped. And when that happens, the people who only know how to push buttons are stuck. But the people who learned the basics keep working. They pull tape. They set up a level. They turn angles. They verify elevations. And they keep the project moving while everyone else is waiting for IT support or a spare battery or a technician to recalibrate the equipment. That is the difference between someone who understands construction surveying and someone who just knows how to operate equipment.

The principles do not change. A three-four-five triangle has been square for thousands of years. Level means level whether you are using a $50 hand level or a $15,000 robotic total station. Baseline offsets work the same way regardless of whether you are pulling tape or using GPS. And field engineers who understand these principles can adapt to any situation. They can verify the technology is working correctly. They can catch mistakes before they get built. And they can solve problems when equipment fails because they know how the math works and how the measurements work and how to check accuracy manually.

Professor Crawford taught students that you can tell people how to do something over and over, but the light bulb only turns on when they start thinking for themselves. When they understand why a process works instead of just memorizing the steps. And that is what separates field engineers who can only push buttons from field engineers who can actually build things. The ones who understand the principles do not need the technology to work. They use it because it is faster. But when it fails, they keep going. And that capability is worth more than any piece of equipment.

How to Build Field Engineers Who Actually Understand

Start by teaching the basics first. Before anyone touches a GPS or a robotic total station, they should know how to pull tape, run levels, and turn angles manually. They should understand how to pull three-four-five triangles to check square. They should know how to use baseline offsets. They should practice setting up instruments and checking benchmarks and verifying elevations. This takes time. It is slower than just showing someone which buttons to push. But it builds understanding. And understanding creates capability that lasts.

Next, teach them how to check their work. Field engineers who only know how to push buttons never learn to verify accuracy because the machine tells them they are right. But machines lie. Software has bugs. Equipment gets knocked out of calibration. And if you do not know how to check your work manually, you will build mistakes into the project. So teach field engineers to always verify. Pull tape to confirm dimensions. Run levels to check elevations. Turn angles to verify bearings. And never trust the technology without confirming it makes sense. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Then teach them how to organize. Personal organization is the foundation of good field engineering. Keeping clean field books. Maintaining to-do lists. Tracking benchmarks and control points. Documenting measurements. And staying on top of details. Field engineers who are disorganized make mistakes even when the technology works perfectly. So before you teach them how to use equipment, teach them how to organize their work. Give them systems. Show them how to use field books properly. And hold them accountable to maintaining those systems.

Finally, teach them how to think. Field engineering is not just about taking measurements. It is about understanding how buildings go together. How to visualize components in three dimensions. How to sequence work. How to identify conflicts before they happen. And how to solve problems when things do not go as planned. This requires experience. So give field engineers real responsibility. Let them make decisions. Let them solve problems. And let them learn from mistakes in safe environments where failure teaches instead of destroys.

Signs Your Field Engineers Only Know How to Push Buttons

Watch for these patterns that signal your team relies too heavily on technology without understanding basics:

  • Work stops completely when equipment fails instead of shifting to manual methods
  • Field engineers cannot verify their own work without running the equipment again
  • Mistakes show up late in construction because nobody checked measurements manually
  • Young engineers do not know how to pull tape or run levels without assistance
  • The team treats technology failures as project-stopping events instead of minor delays
  • Nobody can explain why a measurement method works, only which buttons to push

These are not technology problems. These are training gaps. And they cost projects time and money every time something goes wrong.

What Companies Get Wrong About Field Engineering

Most companies think field engineering is about operating equipment. So they hire people, show them which buttons to push, and send them to the field. And for a while, everything seems fine. The work gets done. The technology makes them productive. But then something breaks. And the entire system collapses because nobody knows how to function without it. That is the cost of skipping fundamentals. You create dependencies instead of capabilities. And dependencies are liabilities.

The companies that build great field engineers do it differently. They invest in training that teaches principles before tools. They use books like Construction, Surveying, and Layout to build foundational knowledge. They send people to boot camps where they practice basics until they understand why methods work instead of just memorizing steps. And they create cultures where checking your work manually is expected, not optional. These companies do not lose days of productivity when batteries die. Because their people know how to keep working regardless of whether the technology is functioning.

Another mistake companies make is treating field engineers as temporary positions. They hire young people, train them just enough to be useful, and then promote them before they master the fundamentals. So superintendents never learn how to visualize buildings in three dimensions. Project managers never learn how to verify accuracy. And directors never learn how to organize complex work. These gaps compound over time. And companies wonder why their leaders struggle with details when they never learned the basics that teach you how to think like a builder.

The Legacy of Fundamentals

Professor Crawford’s vision for his book is simple. He wants it to still be relevant in 10, 20, 30 years. Not because the technology will be the same. But because the principles will be. Three-four-five triangles will still be square. Level will still mean level. And people will still need to verify accuracy manually when equipment fails. The basics do not change. Only the tools change. And people who understand the basics can adapt to any tool. But people who only know how to use current tools become obsolete the moment the technology changes.

The challenge Professor Crawford gives is this. Be your best. Stop wasting time on things you cannot control. Take responsibility for your own learning. Because nobody else can change your life except you. You can read books. You can take courses. You can practice basics. You can ask questions. And you can build capability that lasts. Or you can keep pushing buttons and hoping the technology never fails. The choice is yours. But the consequences affect everyone around you. Because the crew cannot work when you cannot measure. And the project cannot finish when the crew cannot work.

So here is the challenge. Pick up a copy of Construction, Surveying, and Layout. Learn the basics. Practice pulling tape. Practice running levels. Practice verifying measurements manually. And stop treating technology as a replacement for knowledge. Use it as a tool that makes you faster. But build the capability to work without it. Because the day the GPS fails, you will either keep the project moving or shut it down. And the difference is whether you learned how to push buttons or whether you learned how to think. As Professor Crawford said, “There’s only one person in life that can change your life, and that’s you.” Take control. Learn the fundamentals. And become the field engineer who can work regardless of whether the battery is charged. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do field engineers need to learn basics if technology does the work faster?

Because technology fails, and when it does, field engineers who only know buttons cannot keep the project moving while those who know basics can work through any failure.

What happens when GPS or robotic equipment stops working on site?

Projects lose entire days of productivity if nobody knows how to measure with tape, run levels manually, or verify elevations without equipment.

How do you build field engineers who understand principles instead of just tools?

Teach basics first before introducing technology, require manual verification of all measurements, and create systems for personal organization and field books.

Why does personal organization matter for field engineers?

Disorganized field engineers make mistakes even with perfect technology because they lose track of benchmarks, control points, and documentation needed to verify accuracy.

What is the three-four-five triangle and why does it matter?

A right triangle with sides of 3, 4, and 5 units always creates a perfect 90-degree angle, making it reliable for checking square when technology fails.

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

Executive Level Leadership Development

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 23 min

The CEO Who Trained Everyone except the Leaders

There is a CEO who invests heavily in training. Field engineers get boot camps. Project managers get seminars. Superintendents get coaching. Foremen get workshops. But when someone proposes training for the executive leadership team, the answer is always no. Not because of cost. Not because of time. But because of fear. Fear that executives will get offended. Fear that they will resist. Fear that they will quit if pushed out of their comfort zones. So the CEO protects them. Keeps them comfortable. And watches the entire company suffer because the people at the top are dysfunctional, siloed, and blocking progress. The workers get developed. But the leaders who need it most get nothing. And the company pays the price every single day.

Here is what happens when executives stay in their comfort zones. Project directors operate in silos. They compete for resources instead of collaborating. They protect their turf instead of serving the mission. They avoid hard conversations because conflict feels uncomfortable. And they create cultures where politics matter more than performance. Meanwhile, the teams below them struggle. Superintendents cannot execute because executives are bottlenecks. Project managers waste energy navigating turf wars instead of managing projects. And workers suffer because dysfunctional leadership at the top cascades down through every level of the organization. The CEO sees the symptoms. Low morale. High turnover. Mediocre performance. But refuses to address the root cause because training executives feels too risky.

The real pain is the waste of potential. Most executive teams are full of talented people who care deeply about the company. But they have never been taught how to function as a team. They have never learned how to have healthy conflict. They have never practiced giving each other candid feedback. They have never been pushed past the blocks that prevent them from leading effectively. So they operate at half capacity. They make safe decisions instead of innovative ones. They stay quiet instead of speaking up. They play savior instead of empowering others. And the company never reaches its potential because the leadership team at the top is stuck in their comfort zones afraid to take the risks that create growth.

The failure pattern is predictable. A CEO invests in training for everyone except the executive team. The lower levels improve. They learn new skills. They adopt better systems. But nothing changes at the organizational level because the executives at the top are still dysfunctional. They still operate in silos. They still avoid hard conversations. They still play politics. And the improvements at lower levels get blocked by dysfunction at the top. The CEO wonders why the training is not producing results. The answer is simple. You trained the wrong people. Or more accurately, you trained everyone except the people who control whether the rest of the organization can execute. The system failed them by protecting executives from the very discomfort that creates growth.

I once worked with a client who needed executive leadership development. We had already done successful training for field engineers, project managers, and superintendents. The feedback was outstanding. But when I proposed training for the executive team, the proposal was denied. When I dug deeper, the answer was stunning. The CEO said I do not want to push them too hard. I am afraid they will quit. So the company was willing to invest in developing everyone except the leaders who controlled whether those investments would pay off. That is not protection. That is sabotage. Because protecting executives from discomfort guarantees they will never grow. And leaders who do not grow cannot lead organizations that do.

This matters because executive dysfunction destroys companies. When the leadership team at the top is dysfunctional, everything below them suffers. Teams operate in silos instead of collaborating. Resources get wasted on politics instead of performance. Decisions get delayed because executives avoid conflict. And high-performers leave because they are tired of working in environments where dysfunction is tolerated and excellence is punished. This affects projects because dysfunctional leadership creates chaos. It affects retention because good people do not stay in toxic cultures. It affects profitability because wasted energy costs money. And it affects families because workers go home exhausted from navigating politics instead of building things. Executive development is not optional. It is foundational. And companies that refuse to invest in it are guaranteeing mediocrity.

Why Comfort Zones Kill Leadership

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Helen Keller said that. And she was right. But most executives operate from a comfort zone. They feel safe and in control. And that feeling prevents them from growing. Because growth requires discomfort. Growth requires risk. Growth requires pushing past fear into learning and then into the growth zone where purpose gets found and dreams get lived. But executives who stay comfortable never get there. They make safe decisions. They avoid conflict. They protect their positions. And they lead organizations that reflect their own limitations.

The four zones are comfort, fear, learning, and growth. In the comfort zone, you feel safe and in control. In the fear zone, you lack self-confidence, find excuses, and get affected by others’ opinions. In the learning zone, you deal with challenges, acquire new skills, and extend your comfort zone. In the growth zone, you find purpose, live your dreams, set new goals, and conquer objectives. Most executives live in the comfort zone. They have stopped learning. They have stopped growing. And they have stopped pushing themselves past fear. So they lead from a place of safety instead of courage. And that limits everyone around them.

The blocks to leadership are real and predictable. Executives want to be liked so they avoid hard conversations. They are closed-minded so they reject new ideas. They play savior so they create dependency instead of capability. They fear risk so they make safe decisions. They are indecisive so progress stalls. They have low expectations of others so they accept mediocrity. They are controlling so they bottleneck execution. They have low self-worth so they need validation. They focus on problems instead of opportunities. They lack purpose so they drift. They fear embarrassment so they avoid vulnerability. They fear rejection so they do not speak up. They need to be perfect so they delay decisions. And they stay busy with low-value work instead of leading. These blocks are programmed into people through childhood, culture, and career. And they will not go away without intentional effort to overcome them.

What High-Functioning Executive Teams Actually Do

Patrick Lencioni teaches that the executive leadership team must be Team One. It must be the highest-functioning team in the organization. Because if Team One is dysfunctional, every team below it will be dysfunctional too. Team One must build trust, engage in healthy conflict, commit to decisions, hold each other accountable, and focus on results. But most executive teams skip trust and conflict and go straight to compliance. The CEO decides. The executives execute. And nobody holds anyone accountable because accountability requires safety. And safety requires trust. And trust requires vulnerability. And vulnerability requires pushing past the fear of being judged. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

High-functioning executive teams know their purpose, their vision, their values, and their goals. They have clarity on where the organization is headed. They communicate that clarity constantly. And they reinforce it through systems and accountability. But clarity without capability is useless. So high-functioning teams also develop the capability to execute. They push past blocks to leadership. They practice hard conversations. They give each other candid feedback. They challenge assumptions. And they hold each other accountable to standards instead of making excuses. This does not happen naturally. It happens through intentional development. Through training that pushes people past comfort into fear, through fear into learning, and through learning into growth.

Signs Your Executive Team Needs Development

Watch for these patterns that signal your executive leadership team is stuck in their comfort zones:

  • Executives operate in silos and compete for resources instead of collaborating toward shared goals
  • Hard conversations get avoided and conflict gets swept under the rug instead of resolved
  • Decisions get delayed because executives fear making the wrong choice or upsetting someone
  • Politics and turf wars dominate meetings while mission and results get ignored
  • High-performers leave because they are tired of dysfunction at the top preventing progress
  • The CEO has to resolve conflicts between executives instead of executives resolving them directly

These are not personality conflicts. These are development gaps. And the fix is not more time or better systems. The fix is pushing executives past their comfort zones into growth.

How to Develop Executive Teams That Actually Function

Start by creating clarity. The executive team must know the company’s purpose, vision, values, and goals. They must agree on where the organization is headed and how it will get there. This requires facilitated sessions where executives build shared understanding instead of protecting individual agendas. Clarity does not happen in PowerPoint presentations. It happens through conversation, debate, and alignment. Once clarity exists, communicate it constantly. And reinforce it through systems that hold people accountable to the vision instead of their own preferences.

Next, push executives past their blocks to leadership. This requires experiential training that forces them out of comfort zones. Sitting in conference rooms listening to lectures does not change behavior. Practicing hard conversations in front of peers does. Giving extemporaneous speeches does. Receiving candid feedback does. Failing at tasks and learning from failure does. The discomfort is the point. Because discomfort is what breaks old patterns and builds new ones. Executives who have practiced vulnerability in controlled environments can practice it in real ones. Executives who have navigated conflict in training can navigate it on teams. And executives who have been pushed past fear into learning carry that capability into their leadership.

Then build accountability systems. High-functioning teams hold each other accountable. They do not wait for the CEO to police behavior. They call each other out when someone is not showing up fully. They give feedback directly instead of complaining in hallways. And they prioritize results over relationships. This requires trust. And trust requires time and repetition. So create rhythms where executives practice accountability. Weekly check-ins where they report on commitments. Monthly reviews where they assess team health. Quarterly offsites where they reset vision and address dysfunction. These rhythms create muscle memory. And muscle memory creates culture.

Finally, invest in ongoing development. One training session does not fix years of dysfunction. Development is a journey, not an event. So commit to it. Send executives to programs like Rapport Leadership International or Tony Robbins events. Hire coaches who specialize in executive team development. Create peer groups where executives challenge each other. And make development a non-negotiable part of the role. Because executives who stop growing stop leading. And companies led by people who have stopped growing stop winning.

The Challenge

Walk into your next executive team meeting and ask one question. Are we a high-functioning team or are we stuck in our comfort zones. If the answer is stuck, do something about it. Invest in training. Hire facilitators. Push past the fear of offending people. Because protecting executives from discomfort is not kindness. It is sabotage. And companies that tolerate dysfunctional leadership at the top will never achieve their potential at any level. As Helen Keller said, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Stop settling for nothing. Build Team One. Push past comfort into growth. And watch what happens when the people at the top finally start leading like the organization depends on it. Because it does. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do companies train lower-level employees but not executives?

Fear. Leaders worry that pushing executives will offend them and cause them to quit, so they protect comfort zones instead of developing capability.

What are the 16 blocks to leadership?

Wanting to be liked, closed-mindedness, playing savior, fearing risk, indecisiveness, low expectations, excessive criticism, controlling behavior, low self-worth, problem-focus, and lack of purpose, fear of embarrassment, fear of rejection, perfectionism, and busyness.

What does it mean for the executive team to be Team One?

The executive leadership team must be the highest-functioning team in the organization because dysfunction at the top cascades down through every level below.

How do you push executives past their comfort zones?

Through experiential training that creates discomfort practicing hard conversations, giving speeches, receiving candid feedback, and failing in controlled environments builds capability for real ones.

What happens when executives stay in comfort zones?

They make safe decisions instead of innovative ones, avoid conflict instead of resolving it, operate in silos instead of collaborating, and limit organizational growth through their own limitations.

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

Technology Feat. Hugh Seaton

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 23 min

The Superintendent Drowning in Technology That Does Not Work

There is a superintendent who has six different apps on his phone. One for daily reports. One for safety observations. One for drawings. One for RFIs. One for schedules. One for photos. And every single one of them requires 23 clicks to do something that should take three. Every single one of them was designed by someone who has never stood in the wind at 6 AM trying to type with frozen fingers. Every single one of them optimizes the office while the field suffers. And the superintendent is drowning. Not because technology is bad. But because the technology was built for the wrong people. It was built for executives who see dollar signs. It was built for IT departments who want centralized control. But it was not built for the people who actually make the money. The workers screwing in drywall. The foreman coordinating trades. The superintendent managing flow. And those are the only people who matter.

Here is what happens when technology ignores the field. A software company launches a new daily reporting tool. They demo it to the executives. Everyone loves it. The interface is beautiful. The dashboards are impressive. The data integration is seamless. So the company buys it. They roll it out to the projects. And within two weeks, the field teams hate it. Because it takes ten minutes to complete a report that used to take two. Because it crashes when you lose cell signal. Because it requires you to type long narratives instead of taking photos of handwritten notes. And because nobody asked the field what they actually needed before building the tool. The executives see adoption metrics and think it is working. But the field is suffering. And the project is paying the price in wasted time and frustration.

The real pain is the disconnect. Office-based technology has been optimized for years. Project management software works beautifully for PMs sitting at desks. Accounting systems are efficient for finance teams. Document control is seamless for administrators. But field technology is still clunky. Still slow. Still designed by people who do not understand what it is like to work in the wind and the cold with gloves on and limited time. And the result is field teams’ waste hours every week fighting technology instead of using it. They fill out the same information three times in three different systems. They lose connectivity and lose data. They spend more time managing the tools than managing the work. And everyone wonders why productivity has not improved despite billions of dollars invested in construction technology.

The failure pattern is predictable. A software company builds a tool without talking to the field. They optimize it for office use because that is where the decision makers sit. They launch it. The field hates it. But the contracts are signed and the money is spent so everyone has to use it anyway. And nothing changes because nobody created a feedback loop between the people building the technology and the people using it in the dirt. The system failed them by prioritizing flashy features over reliable functionality. By optimizing for executives instead of workers. And by treating technology adoption as a top-down mandate instead of a bottom-up collaboration.

But things are changing. Software developers are finally starting to listen. Companies like Procore and Autodesk and others are reaching out to field teams asking what you actually need. How can we make this easier for you? What features matter and what features are just noise. And that shift is creating an opportunity. An opportunity for field teams to speak up and demand technology that actually serves them. Technology that is reliable. That works when you need it. That makes your life easier instead of harder. And that focuses on the people who actually make the money instead of the people who sit in offices.

Hugh Seaton wrote the Construction Technology Handbook to help bridge this gap. To give field professionals the language and confidence to engage with technology companies. To help them understand what software is, what it can do, and what it cannot do. And to empower them to be smart consumers who can say this tool works and this tool does not and here is why. Because the best technology decisions happen when the people using the tools have a voice in building them. And right now, software companies are dying to hear from the field. They want feedback. They want collaboration. They want to know what is working and what is not. But field teams have to speak up. And they have to demand better.

What Reliable Technology Actually Looks Like

Forget addiction. Forget flashy interfaces. What construction needs is reliability. You need technology that works like a tool you trust. A drill that starts every time. A level that never lies. A tape measure that does not stretch. That is what software should be. Something you reach for because you know it will work. Not something you dread because it wastes your time. Reliability means it does not crash when you lose signal. It does not require 23 clicks to do something simple. It does not force you to enter the same information multiple times. And it does not optimize the office at the expense of the field.

The key insight is this. Every time you pull out your phone to use a construction app, ask yourself does this make my life easier or harder. If it makes your life harder, that is a signal the technology is broken. And you need to tell the people who built it. Because they want to know. They are listening. But they cannot fix problems they do not know exist. So when daily reports take too long, tell them. When safety observations require too many steps, tell them. When drawing markup tools are clunky, tell them. The companies that listen will improve. And the companies that do not will lose market share to competitors who build better tools.

Data is another critical piece. A lot of companies say they want more data. But data without standardization is useless. If every project manager enters information differently, you cannot analyze trends. You cannot make better decisions. You cannot improve. So before you collect data, standardize how it gets entered. Make sure everyone logs hours the same way. Make sure everyone tracks progress the same way. Make sure everyone describes issues the same way. This takes time. It might take 18 months to get everyone aligned. But once you do, the data becomes powerful. You can compare projects. You can predict problems. You can allocate resources smarter. And you can make decisions based on facts instead of guesses. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

The other truth is technology will never replace human intuition. Software is smart. But it is not human. It cannot read a room. It cannot sense when something feels wrong. It cannot draw on 20 years of experience to solve a new problem. So the goal of technology is not to replace people. The goal is to handle the repetitive tasks so people can focus on the things that require judgment. Let software track tools. Let software manage schedules. Let software coordinate submittals. And let people focus on problem-solving, relationship-building, and keeping workers safe. That is the division of labor that wins. Humans doing what humans do best. And technology doing what technology does best.

Signs Your Technology Is Not Serving the Field

Watch for these signals that your software prioritizes the office over the people doing the actual work:

  • Field teams complain that entering data takes longer than the work itself
  • Apps crash or lose functionality when cell signal drops or workers move between areas
  • The same information has to be entered into three different systems because nothing talks to each other
  • Training focuses on office workflows but ignores how field teams actually use the tools in real conditions
  • Workers avoid using the technology and revert to paper because it is faster and more reliable
  • Executives see beautiful dashboards while superintendents waste hours fighting broken interfaces

These are not user errors. These are design failures. And they cost projects time, money, and morale every single day.

The Prefabrication Connection

Technology also enables better working conditions through prefabrication. Think about where you would rather have workers assembling components. Stick-building 150 feet up the side of a building in the wind? Or in a climate-controlled shop with proper lighting, ergonomic workstations, good restrooms, and comfortable break rooms? The answer is obvious. Prefabrication moves work from unpredictable chaotic environments into stable controlled ones. And technology makes that possible. Building Information Modeling coordinates components before they reach the site. Digital fabrication tools print wall panels and structural elements with precision. Logistics software tracks assemblies from shop to field. And installation becomes faster, safer, and more predictable because the hard work happened in a better environment.

This is not just about efficiency. This is about dignity. Workers deserve stable environments. They deserve predictable schedules. They deserve to go home on time instead of working 60-hour weeks because the project is chaotic. And technology that enables prefabrication makes that possible. So when you evaluate new tools, ask how does this support prefabrication? How does this help us move work from the field into the shop. How does this create better conditions for the people building our projects? Because technology that optimizes worker conditions is technology worth adopting.

What Software Developers Need to Hear From You

Most developers are dying for feedback from field teams but they do not know how to reach you. So here is what they need to hear:

  • Daily reports should allow voice recording or photo capture instead of forcing typed narratives
  • Safety observations need to work offline and sync automatically when signal returns
  • Drawing markup tools must be fast and intuitive with gloves on in cold weather
  • Every app should require three clicks maximum to complete common tasks or it is too slow
  • Integration between tools is not optional anymore, everything must talk to everything
  • Field workflows are different from office workflows and both need equal optimization

If you see a tool that could be better, reach out. Comment on LinkedIn. Request a demo and give feedback. Join user groups. Participate in beta testing. Because the companies that listen will build tools you actually want to use. And the companies that do not will fail.

The Real Value Creators

Here is a truth that gets forgotten. The only person in construction who actually makes money is the worker installing that piece of drywall or bolting that steel beam. Everything else is necessary scaffolding. Project managers coordinate. Superintendents schedule. Engineers design. Accountants track costs. But none of that generates revenue until a worker puts something in place. So technology should optimize the worker’s environment first. Not the office. Not the executives. The field. Because that is where the value gets created. And if technology makes the field more efficient, the whole project benefits. But if technology only optimizes the office, you have just made paperwork faster while workers still suffer.

So here is the challenge. Walk into your next technology meeting armed with questions. Does this make the field’s life easier? Does this work in the wind and the cold? Does this require fewer clicks than what we use now? Can workers use this with gloves on? Does this respect the people who actually make our money? And if the answer to any of those questions is no, push back. Demand better. Because reliable beats flashy every single time. And field teams deserve tools that work as hard as they do. As Hugh Seaton said, “Technology should be there like any other tool. A drill doesn’t run itself. Someone has to be there making decisions.” Technology is a tool. Not a replacement for people. And the best tools are the ones that make good people even better. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the biggest problem with construction technology today?

Most software optimizes office workflows while ignoring field needs, forcing workers to waste time on clunky interfaces designed by people who have never worked on site.

How can field teams influence software development?

Request demos, give honest feedback, join user groups, participate in beta testing, and reach out to companies directly, developers are desperate to hear from the field.

Why does data collection often fail to produce useful insights?

Because teams enter information inconsistently. Standardizing how data gets logged across all projects is essential before analysis can produce actionable insights.

What should construction teams prioritize when evaluating new technology?

Reliability over flashiness. Ask if it works offline, requires minimal clicks, functions with gloves on, and makes field teams’ lives easier instead of harder.

How does technology enable better working conditions?

By supporting prefabrication, which moves work from chaotic field environments into stable climate-controlled shops with proper facilities, better schedules, and safer conditions.

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

Energy!

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 23 min

The Superintendent Who Let Energy Vampires Kill His Team

There is a superintendent who runs a decent project. The work gets done. The schedule mostly holds. But something is wrong. Meetings drag. People show up but do not engage. Ideas die before they leave people’s mouths. And the superintendent cannot figure out why his team feels heavy and slow when other teams seem to move with momentum and excitement. The answer is sitting in the back of every meeting. Silent. Disengaged. Draining energy from everyone around them. Energy vampires. And the superintendent has been tolerating them for so long that he does not even notice the damage anymore. The team knows. They feel it every single day. And the best people are starting to leave because high-energy people cannot survive in low-energy cultures.

Here is what happens when energy vampires infect a team. A project manager walks into a planning meeting excited about a new approach. She presents the idea. And before she finishes, someone in the corner rolls their eyes. Someone else sighs. Another person stays silent but radiates negativity so thick you could cut it with a knife. And the energy drains out of the room. The project manager finishes her presentation. Nobody says anything. The superintendent asks for feedback. Silence. He asks again. More silence. And the meeting ends with nothing decided and everyone feeling worse than when they walked in. This happens every single week. And the superintendent wonders why his team cannot execute. The answer is the energy vampires are killing every idea before it has a chance to breathe.

The real pain is the waste of potential. Every person on that team has skills, experience, and ideas that could improve the project. But the energy vampires create an environment where contributing feels pointless. Why speak up when someone will shoot it down? Why bring energy when it will get sucked away? Why try when mediocrity is tolerated and excellence is exhausting? So people stop trying. They show up physically but check out mentally. And the project limps along at half speed because the culture rewards energy vampires and punishes people who care.

The failure pattern is predictable. A leader tolerates low-energy people because they are technically competent or because firing them feels mean or because they have seniority. And those energy vampires spread their negativity like cancer. They complain. They resist change. They stay silent in meetings and criticize in hallways. They suck enthusiasm out of conversations. And they make high-energy people miserable. Eventually the high-energy people leave. They find teams that value contribution instead of tolerating mediocrity. And the leader is left with a team of energy vampires wondering why turnover is high and performance is low. The system failed them by never teaching leaders that tolerating energy vampires is not kindness. It is cruelty to everyone else on the team.

I learned this lesson the hard way when I started implementing high-energy boot camps. I went to a Tony Robbins event called Unleash the Power Within. And it changed everything. The energy at that event was euphoric. People danced. They moved. They did uncomfortable exercises. They walked on fire. And the energy was so high that I felt like I could accomplish anything. So I came back and decided to bring that energy to field engineer boot camps. I prepared music. I practiced dance moves in my hotel room. And then I walked into a room with 45 grown men who had no idea what was about to happen. The energy in that room was dead. People sat quietly. They radiated fear and discomfort. And I had to force myself to push through it. I put my shoulders back. I made a fist. I did my power move. And I started the music. It was the most awkward horrible thing I have ever done. But I got all 45 of those men to stand up and dance. And it completely changed the boot camps. The energy shifted. People engaged. And the learning stuck because we created an environment where energy was high and people felt alive.

This matters because energy fuels everything. You cannot motivate people with low energy. You cannot create innovation with low energy. You cannot build high-performing teams with low energy. Energy is the difference between teams that execute and teams that drag. And leaders who do not understand this are destroying their teams by tolerating energy vampires. This affects projects because low-energy teams move slower, think smaller, and quit easier. It affects retention because high-energy people leave low-energy cultures. It affects safety because exhausted disengaged workers make mistakes. And it affects families because people who spend their days in energy-draining environments go home empty with nothing left to give. Energy is not soft. Energy is foundational. And leaders who refuse to protect it are failing their teams.

The Energy Bus Principles

The Energy Bus is a book that teaches a simple truth. You are the driver of your bus. And you get to decide who gets on and who gets off. Your team is your bus. Your project is your bus. Your life is your bus. And if you let energy vampires on board, they will drain everyone else until the bus stops moving. So the first principle is you are responsible for your own life, your team, and your culture. Do not get trapped in the notion that someone else controls your circumstances. You are the driver. And drivers decide who rides.

The second principle is desire, vision, and focus move your bus in the right direction. Every team needs desire to improve. Every team needs vision for where they are going. Every team needs focus on what matters most. And once you define those things, you visualize them like you have already achieved them. You make sure everyone knows where the bus is headed. Because energy is good but directionless energy is chaos. You need to channel that energy toward a clear destination. And that destination is your vision. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

The third principle is fuel your ride with positive energy. The whole universe is made of energy. And people are made of energy too. Some people expand your energy. They make you feel more powerful and confident. And some people suck your energy away. They drain you. They exhaust you. They make you feel smaller. So surround yourself with people who expand your energy. And remove people who drain it. This is not about personality types or introversion versus extroversion. This is about contribution. Are you adding energy or taking it? And if you are taking it without adding anything back, you are an energy vampire. And energy vampires do not belong on high-performing teams.

The fourth principle is invite people on your bus and share your vision for the road ahead. Nothing can be accomplished individually. You need people by your side. But you need the right people. You need people who want to be there. People who share your vision. People who bring energy instead of draining it. So when you form a team, make sure you have the right people on the bus. Get the wrong people off. And get people into the right seats. This is not mean. This is strategic. Because driving a bus full of energy vampires will never get you where you want to go.

Signs You Have Energy Vampires on Your Team

Watch for these patterns that signal energy vampires are infecting your culture:

  • Meetings feel heavy and slow with long silences and minimal engagement from the same people every time
  • Ideas die before they get traction because certain people always resist or criticize without offering alternatives
  • High-energy people leave the team while low-energy people stay and complain about everything
  • The same people never speak up in meetings but criticize decisions in hallways afterward
  • Team morale drops whenever certain people are present and rises when they are absent
  • People stop bringing new ideas because they know energy vampires will shoot them down

These are not personality differences. These are culture killers. And tolerating them is destroying your team.

How to Build a High-Energy Culture

Start by posting a sign that says no energy vampires allowed. This does not mean you discriminate against introverts or quiet people. This means you do not tolerate people who drain energy without contributing. You can be quiet and still bring energy through your work ethic, your attitude, and your support. But if you are silent, negative, resistant, and disengaged, you are an energy vampire. And you need to change or leave. Make this clear. Set the expectation. And enforce it.

Next, do not waste energy on people who do not get on your bus. There will be times when people do not want to join your team or your vision. When that happens, do not waste energy trying to convince them. Focus on the people who are already on board. Invest in them. Recognize them. Serve them. And bring out the best in them. The people who do not want to be there will either change or leave. Either way, you win.

Then love your passengers. The people who are on your bus with you deserve your investment. Love is not something to be afraid of saying at work. Love your people. Show them you care. Invest in their growth. Celebrate their wins. And create an environment where they feel valued. Because people who feel loved give their whole heart. And people who give their whole heart create extraordinary results.

Finally, drive with purpose and have fun. Energy buses run on fuel. And that fuel is purpose. What are you trying to accomplish? Why does it matter? Who does it serve? Answer those questions clearly. And make sure everyone on the bus knows the answers. Then have fun. Enjoy the ride. Do not make it serious and grumpy all the time. High-energy cultures are fun. People want to be there. And fun creates loyalty, engagement, and performance.

The Hard Truth about Energy Vampires

Some people will say this is harsh. Why are you being so mean? But tolerating energy vampires is not kindness. It is cruelty to everyone else on the team. Because every energy vampire you keep is telling high-energy people that their contribution does not matter. You are telling them that mediocrity is acceptable. You are telling them that effort is optional. And they will leave. They will find teams that value energy and contribution. And you will be left with a bus full of energy vampires wondering why nobody wants to ride with you.

Here is the truth. Somewhere out there, energy vampires might succeed. It just is not here. Not on this team. Not in this culture. So they can be who they are somewhere else. But not here. Because this bus is reserved for people who bring energy, who contribute, who care, and who want to win. If you are halfway bought in, change or leave. If you are stuck in fear, get help or leave. If you are comfortable with mediocrity, find a place that rewards mediocrity. But do not drain the energy from people who are trying to change the world. They deserve better. And you owe them a culture that protects their energy instead of tolerating people who steal it.

So here is the challenge. Make people choose. Get on or get off. Fuel your ride with positive energy. Remove the energy vampires. Invest in the people who contribute. And watch what happens when you stop tolerating low energy and start building a culture where enthusiasm, contribution, and excellence are the standard. As Jon Gordon wrote in The Energy Bus, “You’re the driver of your bus. You decide who gets on, who gets off, and where you’re going.” Stop letting energy vampires hijack your bus. Take back control. Set the standard. And build a team that moves with energy instead of dragging through mediocrity. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an energy vampire?

Someone who drains energy from the team without contributing back through negativity, resistance, silence, or disengagement that makes high-energy people exhausted and demotivated.

How do you remove energy vampires without being mean?

Set clear expectations that contribution and energy are required, give people a chance to change with coaching and feedback, then remove those who choose not to meet the standard.

Can introverts bring high energy to teams?

Yes. Energy is not about extroversion. It is about contribution, attitude, and engagement. Introverts can bring energy through work ethic, thoughtful input, and positive presence.

What are The Energy Bus principles?

You are the driver, desire and vision move the bus, fuel with positive energy, invite right people, remove wrong people, love your passengers, drive with purpose, have fun.

How do you build a high-energy culture?

Post a no energy vampires sign, invest in people who contribute, remove those who drain, love your team, define clear purpose, and create an environment where fun and excellence coexist.

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

Calumet “K” – Chapter 5, Part 2

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 23 min

The Superintendent Who Fought Back and Lost Everything

There is a superintendent who gets challenged by a walking delegate. The delegate shows up on site and starts making demands. And the superintendent has had enough. He is tired of union interference. He is tired of people questioning his authority. He is tired of being pushed around. So he pushes back. He argues. He gets in the delegate’s face. He tells him to get off the site. And within an hour, the entire crew walks off. The project stops. The owner is furious. And the superintendent loses his job. Not because he was wrong about the facts. But because he fought a battle he could never win. He let his emotions override his strategy. And he destroyed the project to prove a point that nobody cared about.

Here is what happens when leaders fight back instead of thinking strategically. A union representative shows up and demands changes to crew sizes or work hours or pay. The superintendent knows the demands are unreasonable. So he refuses. He digs in. He makes it personal. And the delegate responds by calling the crew off the job. Work stops. Materials sit on the ground. Trains get blocked. And the project falls behind because the superintendent treated a chess match like a fistfight. He won the argument and lost the war. And the entire team paid the price for his ego.

The real pain is the chain reaction. One person’s bad behavior creates a domino effect that cascades through the entire project. Peterson gets angry at the delegate and tries to prove a point by carrying a massive timber alone. The delegate gets offended and calls the crew off. The tracks get blocked with abandoned materials. A train gets stopped. The railroad gets angry and revokes track access. And now the entire project is paralyzed because one person could not control his temper. This is not just a setback. This is a complete breakdown of the system. And it started with one emotional reaction that turned a small problem into a project-killing crisis.

The failure pattern is predictable. Someone challenges your authority. You take it personally. You fight back to prove you are in control. The situation escalates. Other people get involved. The problem multiplies. And what started as a small dispute becomes a war that nobody can win. The superintendent who started the fight feels justified because he was defending his project. But justification does not matter when the project is stopped and the owner is demanding answers. The system failed them by never teaching leaders that some battles are not worth fighting and that winning wars requires losing battles strategically.

In Calumet K, Bannon faces exactly this situation. A walking delegate named Grady shows up on site and starts making demands. He wants more men on the heavy timbers. He wants crews relieved every two hours. And when Bannon’s foreman Peterson tries to prove the demands are unreasonable by carrying a massive timber with just one other man, Grady calls the entire crew off the job. Materials block the tracks. A train gets stopped. And the railroad threatens to revoke access. Bannon has every reason to fight back. He could argue. He could punch the delegate. He could throw his hard hat and start cussing. But he does none of those things. Because Bannon knows that fighting back would make everything worse. So instead he stays calm. He agrees to the delegate’s demands. He clears the tracks. He gets the train moving. And then he finds a creative solution to keep working despite the restrictions. He does not win the argument. But he wins the war. Because he understands that the goal is not to prove he is right. The goal is to finish the project. And finishing the project requires strategic thinking, not emotional fighting.

This matters because construction is full of situations where fighting back feels right but destroys everything. Difficult owners. Unreasonable inspectors. Aggressive trade partners. Hostile union representatives. Incompetent designers. And every time, the superintendent has a choice. Fight back and prove a point. Or stay calm and win the war. The superintendents who succeed are the ones who can swallow their pride, stay strategic, and focus on the mission instead of the battle. The superintendents who fail are the ones who let ego override strategy and burn the project down to prove they were right.

Why Fighting Back Always Loses

Fighting back feels powerful. It feels like leadership. It feels like standing up for yourself and your team. But fighting back is the opposite of leadership. Leadership is staying calm when everyone else is losing their minds. Leadership is thinking ten moves ahead while others are reacting emotionally. Leadership is winning wars by losing battles. And the leaders who understand this are the ones who succeed. Because they know that most battles are not worth fighting. And the ones that are worth fighting require strategy, not emotion.

Here is what happens when you fight back. The other person escalates. They call in reinforcements. They make it personal. They use every tool at their disposal to win. And suddenly you are not fighting about crew sizes or work hours anymore. You are fighting about power and control and ego. And those fights never end well. Because even if you win the argument, you lose the relationship. You lose trust. You lose cooperation. And you create an enemy who will look for every opportunity to sabotage you moving forward. That is the cost of fighting back. You win the battle and lose the war.

Bannon understood this perfectly. When Grady demanded ten men on the heavy timbers instead of eight, Bannon did not argue. He did not present data showing that eight men was sufficient. He did not challenge Grady’s authority. He just said alright. That simple agreement defused the entire situation. Grady expected a fight. He was ready for one. And when Bannon refused to give it to him, Grady had nothing to push against. The tension deflated. And Bannon got what he actually needed, which was to keep the project moving. He gave up crew sizes. But he kept momentum. And momentum is what finishes projects, not being right about crew sizes.

Watch for These Escalation Triggers

Pay attention to situations that tempt you to fight back when strategy would serve you better:

  • Someone challenges your authority in front of your team and your instinct is to assert dominance
  • A union representative makes demands you know are unreasonable but enforcing them is cheaper than fighting
  • An inspector writes up violations that feel personal and you want to argue instead of fixing them
  • A trade partner blames you for their mistakes and you want to prove it was their fault
  • An owner changes scope without acknowledging cost and you want to force them to admit they are wrong
  • A designer makes errors that create rework and you want them to take responsibility publicly

These are all moments where fighting back feels justified. But justified does not mean effective. And effective is what wins.

How to Win Wars without Fighting Battles

Start by separating ego from outcome. Ask yourself what I am actually trying to accomplish here. Am I trying to prove I am right? Or am I trying to finish the project? Because those are different goals. And most of the time, proving you are right costs more than it is worth. The project does not care if you were right. The project cares if you finished on time and on budget. So let go of being right and focus on being effective. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Next, give ground strategically. When someone makes a demand, ask yourself what does this actually cost me? If the cost is minor, give it to them. If a union delegate wants ten men on a timber instead of eight, put ten men on it. The cost is two workers for a few hours. The benefit is keeping the entire crew working. That is a trade worth making. But most superintendents cannot make that trade because their ego gets in the way. They need to prove the delegate is wrong. And that need costs them the project.

Then find creative solutions within the constraints. Bannon could not use the tracks after the railroad revoked access. So he rigged a cable system to move materials over the tracks instead. He did not fight the constraint. He worked within it. And he kept the project moving. That is strategic thinking. Most leaders spend their energy fighting constraints instead of solving problems within them. And that energy is wasted because constraints do not care about your arguments. Constraints just exist. So accept them and find solutions.

Finally, play chess not checkers. Think ten moves ahead. When Grady called the crew off, Bannon could have fought back. But he knew that fighting back would turn Grady into a permanent enemy. And Grady had the power to shut down the project anytime he wanted. So Bannon stayed calm. He gave Grady what he wanted in the moment. And he preserved the relationship for later. That is chess. You sacrifice a pawn to protect the king. You lose a battle to win the war. And you focus on the endgame instead of the current move.

Signs You Are Fighting When You Should Be Strategizing

Watch for these patterns that signal you are letting emotion override strategy:

  • You feel the need to prove you are right even when winning the argument costs more than conceding
  • You make decisions based on how they make you feel instead of what outcome they produce
  • You escalate conflicts to assert dominance instead of defusing them to preserve momentum
  • You refuse to compromise on small things because you see it as weakness instead of strategy
  • You burn bridges with people who have power over your project because you cannot swallow your pride
  • You spend more time fighting battles than solving problems

These are not signs of strength. These are signs of ego. And ego kills projects.

The Cost of One Bad Reaction

Peterson tried to prove the delegate wrong by carrying a massive timber with just one other man. It was a display of strength. It was meant to show that the delegate’s demands were unreasonable. And it worked. Peterson proved his point. But the cost was catastrophic. The delegate got offended. He called the crew off. Materials blocked the tracks. A train stopped. The railroad revoked access. And the entire project nearly collapsed. All because Peterson needed to prove he was strong. That is the cost of one bad reaction. One emotional decision. One moment of ego. And it creates a chain reaction that destroys everything.

The lesson is simple. Control your reactions or your reactions will control the project. Peterson could not control his. And Bannon spent the rest of the night fixing the damage. He had to negotiate with the delegate. Clear the tracks. Move the train. Rig a cable system. And work through the night to recover the lost time. All of that could have been avoided if Peterson had stayed calm. But Peterson fought back. And the entire team paid the price.

So here is the challenge. The next time someone challenges your authority, take a breath. Ask yourself what I am actually trying to accomplish here. And choose strategy over emotion. Give ground where it costs little. Find creative solutions within constraints. And play the long game instead of reacting to the current moment. As Bannon demonstrated, you do not need to win every battle to win the war. You just need to stay calm, think strategically, and keep the project moving. That is leadership. Not fighting back. Not proving you are right. But focusing on the mission and letting everything else go. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is fighting back a bad strategy even when you are right?

Because being right does not matter if fighting destroys the project, relationships, or momentum. Strategic concessions keep things moving while fighting creates enemies and delays.

How do you know when to fight and when to concede?

Ask what the actual cost is. If conceding costs little but fighting risks major delays or damage, concede strategically and focus energy on solving problems instead.

What if giving in makes you look weak to your team?

True strength is staying calm under pressure and thinking strategically. Teams respect leaders who finish projects, not leaders who win pointless arguments and lose wars.

How did Bannon handle the delegate situation strategically?

He agreed to demands instead of arguing, cleared the tracks to move the train, then found creative solutions to work within new constraints without fighting the restrictions.

What is the domino effect Peterson created?

His emotional reaction angered the delegate, who called the crew off, which blocked tracks, stopped a train, angered the railroad, and nearly collapsed the project.

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

Dealing with Emotional People

Posted on by Jason Schroeder
Read 21 min

Why Logic Loses When Someone Is Emotional

There is a superintendent who runs a tight ship. He is logical. He is organized. He solves problems with data and facts. And when someone on his team gets emotional, he does what seems obvious. He explains the situation. He presents the facts. He appeals to reason. And the person gets more upset. The conversation escalates. Voices rise. And the superintendent walks away frustrated because he did everything right and it made everything worse. The problem is not what he said. The problem is he fought emotion with logic. And logic cannot win that fight.

Here is what happens when someone brings an emotional problem to a logical person. A foreman walks into the trailer visibly upset. He says I feel like nobody on this team respects me. The superintendent responds with facts. You got the promotion. You run the best crew. Everyone says good things about you. The foreman hears those words and feels worse. Because the superintendent just told him his feelings are invalid. He just said your emotions do not match reality so your emotions are wrong. And the foreman shuts down. He leaves feeling unheard. And the problem that caused the emotion never gets addressed because the superintendent was so busy proving the emotion was illogical that he never stopped to understand what caused it.

The real pain is the missed connection. That foreman was not asking for data. He was asking to be heard. He was asking for validation. He was asking for someone to say I hear you and I understand why you feel that way. And instead he got a lecture about why his feelings do not make sense. And now he feels worse than before because not only does he feel disrespected, he also feels stupid for having those feelings in the first place. This destroys trust. It damages relationships. And it creates distance between leaders and teams because people learn that bringing emotional problems to logical leaders is pointless.

The failure pattern is predictable. Someone gets emotional. A leader responds with logic. The emotional person gets more upset because they feel unheard. The leader gets frustrated because the facts are not working. The conversation escalates. And both people walk away angry because they were speaking different languages the entire time. One person was speaking emotion. The other was speaking logic. And neither understood that fighting emotion with logic is like bringing a hammer to fix a computer. Wrong tool. Wrong approach. And guaranteed to make things worse. The system failed them by never teaching leaders that emotional problems require emotional solutions, not logical ones.

I have been the emotional person. My wife Katie has lived through years of me getting upset about something and her responding with logic and me getting more upset because she was not listening. And the cycle repeated. I would feel hurt. She would explain the reality of the situation. I would say you are not listening to me. She would say I am explaining what happened. And we would escalate because she was using logic and I was using emotion and neither of us realized we were speaking different languages. And it only stopped when one of us finally said I hear you and I understand why you feel that way. That validation was the key. Once I felt heard, the emotion deflated. And then we could talk about solutions. But not before.

This matters because construction teams are full of emotional people. And most leaders have no idea how to handle them. So they fight emotion with logic. They dismiss feelings as illogical. They shame people for being too sensitive. And they create cultures where people stop bringing problems forward because they know they will not be heard. This affects projects because unresolved emotional issues turn into conflict. Conflict turns into poor communication. Poor communication turns into mistakes. And mistakes cost time, money, and safety. Knowing how to handle emotional people is not soft. It is essential. And leaders who refuse to learn this skill are limiting their own effectiveness and damaging their teams.

How Emotional People Actually Work

The first thing to understand is that the demons are not real. When someone is emotional, the fears they are expressing do not make logical sense. A foreman says nobody respects me when everyone clearly respects him. A project manager says I am going to get fired when his performance is excellent. A worker says the team hates me when everyone likes him. These statements are not rational. They are emotional. And trying to fight them with logic is pointless because emotion does not operate on logic. Emotion operates on fear, insecurity, and past trauma. And those things do not respond to data.

The second thing to understand is that 80 percent of the demons go away when spoken out loud. The act of verbalizing the fear starts to defuse it. But only if the person on the receiving end responds with empathy instead of logic. When someone says I feel like nobody respects me, they are not asking you to prove them wrong. They are asking you to go there with them emotionally. They are asking you to say I hear you and I can see why you would feel that way. That validation is what allows the emotion to deflate. And once the emotion deflates, clarity can enter. But if you respond with logic, you block the healing process. You tell the person their feelings are invalid. And the emotion intensifies instead of deflating.

The third thing to understand is that emotional people need empathy, not solutions. When someone is upset, the first response should not be here is how to fix this. The first response should be I hear you. I understand. That is hard. Once the person feels heard, they can start to think clearly. And once they can think clearly, they can solve the problem themselves. But if you jump straight to solutions, you skip the validation step. And without validation, the person cannot move forward because they are still stuck in the emotional loop trying to be heard. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Signs Someone Needs Empathy Not Logic

Watch for these signals that someone is operating from emotion and needs empathy instead of logic:

  • They repeat the same concern even after you have explained the facts multiple times
  • Their words do not match reality but they insist their feelings are valid anyway
  • They escalate when you present logical explanations instead of calming down
  • They say things like you are not listening or you do not understand what I am saying
  • The problem they describe seems illogical or disproportionate to the actual situation
  • They seem more upset after you have tried to help than they were before

These are not signs of irrationality. These are signs that the person needs emotional validation before they can process logical information.

How to Actually Help Emotional People

Start by listening without fixing. When someone brings an emotional problem, resist the urge to solve it immediately. Just listen. Let them talk. Let them get it out. And do not interrupt with logic or solutions. The act of speaking the fear out loud starts to heal it. But only if you let them finish. If you cut them off with logic, you stop the healing process before it can start. So listen first. Fix later.

Next, validate their feelings without agreeing with their conclusions. You can say I hear you and I understand why you would feel that way without saying you are right about the facts. Validation does not mean agreement. It means acknowledgment. It means I see that you are hurting and I take that seriously. That validation is what allows the person to move from emotion to clarity. Once they feel heard, they can start thinking clearly. And once they can think clearly, they can see the situation more accurately.

Then help them get clarity. Once the emotion has deflated through validation, you can start asking questions that help them see the situation differently. What do you think caused that feeling? Is there evidence that supports or contradicts it? What would help you feel better about this? These questions guide them toward clarity without telling them their feelings are wrong. And clarity is the key. Once they have clarity, the fear loses power. And the problem becomes solvable.

Finally, do not shame them for being emotional. If you respond with frustration or dismissiveness, you teach them that bringing emotional problems to you is unsafe. And they will stop. They will start hiding problems. They will internalize emotions instead of processing them. And those unresolved emotions will show up later as conflict, disengagement, or turnover. So treat emotional problems with the same seriousness you treat technical problems. Because they are just as real and just as damaging when ignored.

What Happens When You Get It Wrong

When you fight emotion with logic, you make the person feel worse. They start thinking I am just crazy. I do not deserve understanding. I am a burden. We are not compatible. I do not fit on this team. Nobody cares that I am here. I am not making progress. I am not good enough. I am ashamed for being emotional. And those thoughts create a spiral that is harder to escape than the original problem. You do not just fail to solve the problem. You create new problems by making the person feel broken and unworthy.

I used to keep a list called the CDAA list. Cannot Do Anything About. I would write things like I am worthless, I cannot do my job, the owner is disappointed in me, I am going to tank this project. These were fear-based garbage thoughts. And a mentor said if you are going to have a list like that, reframe it to get clarity. So I started writing I felt worthless today because of this, but here is the reality. And eventually the CDAA list went away because I stopped reinforcing those neural pathways with garbage stories. But that only happened because someone taught me how to get clarity instead of shaming me for being emotional.

The Challenge

Walk into your next interaction with an emotional person armed with empathy instead of logic. Listen first. Validate their feelings. Help them get clarity. And watch what happens when you stop fighting emotion with logic and start meeting people where they are. Most emotional people are not broken beyond repair. They are just stuck in fear. And fear loses power when it is spoken out loud and met with empathy. As the song says, “I know you are choking on your fears. I already told you I am right here.” Be the person who stays. Be the person who listens. And be the person who helps them find clarity instead of telling them their feelings are wrong. That is leadership. On we go.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does fighting emotion with logic make things worse?

Logic tells emotional people their feelings are invalid, which makes them feel unheard and intensifies the emotion instead of deflating it.

What should you do when someone brings an emotional problem?

Listen without fixing, validate their feelings without agreeing with conclusions, and then help them get clarity through questions once the emotion has deflated.

How do you validate feelings without agreeing with false conclusions?

Say I hear you and I understand why you would feel that way, which acknowledges their pain without confirming inaccurate beliefs about reality.

What happens if you shame someone for being emotional?

They learn bringing emotional problems to you is unsafe, so they hide issues, internalize emotions, and create bigger problems that show up as conflict or disengagement.

How do you know if someone needs empathy instead of logic?

They repeat concerns after you explain facts, their words do not match reality but they insist feelings are valid, or they escalate when you present logical explanations.

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

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    faq

    General Training Overview

    What construction leadership training programs does LeanTakt offer?
    LeanTakt offers Superintendent/PM Boot Camps, Virtual Takt Production System® Training, Onsite Takt Simulations, and Foreman & Field Engineer Training. Each program is tailored to different leadership levels in construction.
    Who should attend LeanTakt’s training programs?
    Superintendents, Project Managers, Foremen, Field Engineers, and trade partners who want to improve planning, communication, and execution on projects.
    How do these training programs improve project performance?
    They provide proven Lean and Takt systems that reduce chaos, improve reliability, strengthen collaboration, and accelerate project delivery.
    What makes LeanTakt’s training different from other construction courses?
    Our programs are hands-on, field-tested, and focused on practical application—not just classroom theory.
    Do I need prior Lean or takt planning experience to attend?
    No. Our programs cover foundational principles before moving into advanced applications.
    How quickly can I apply what I learn on real projects?
    Most participants begin applying new skills immediately, often the same week they complete the program.
    Are these trainings designed for both office and field leaders?
    Yes. We equip both project managers and superintendents with tools that connect field and office operations.
    What industries benefit most from LeanTakt training?
    Commercial, multifamily, residential, industrial, and infrastructure projects all benefit from flow-based planning.
    Do participants receive certificates after completing training?
    Yes. Every participant receives a LeanTakt Certificate of Completion.
    Is LeanTakt training recognized in the construction industry?
    Yes. Our programs are widely respected among leading GCs, subcontractors, and construction professionals.

    Superintendent / PM Boot Camp

    What is the Superintendent & Project Manager Boot Camp?
    It’s a 5-day immersive training for superintendents and PMs to master Lean leadership, takt planning, and project flow.
    How long does the Superintendent/PM Boot Camp last?
    Five full days of hands-on training.
    What topics are covered in the Boot Camp curriculum?
    Lean leadership, Takt Planning, logistics, daily planning, field-office communication, and team health.
    How does the Boot Camp improve leadership and scheduling skills?
    Yes. You’ll learn how to run day huddles, team meetings, worker huddles, and Lean coordination processes.
    Who is the Boot Camp best suited for?
    Construction leaders responsible for delivering projects, including Superintendents, PMs, and Field Leaders.
    What real-world challenges are simulated during the Boot Camp?
    Schedule breakdowns, trade conflicts, logistics issues, and communication gaps.
    Will I learn Takt Planning at the Boot Camp?
    Yes. Takt Planning is a core focus of the Boot Camp.
    How does this Boot Camp compare to traditional PM certification?
    It’s practical and execution-based rather than exam-based. You learn by doing, not just studying theory.
    Can my entire project team attend the Boot Camp together?
    Yes. Teams attending together often see the greatest results.
    What kind of real-world challenges do we simulate?
    Improved project flow, fewer delays, better team communication, and stronger leadership confidence.

    Takt Production System® Virtual Training

    What is the Virtual Takt Production System® Training?
    It’s an expert-led online program that teaches Lean construction teams how to implement takt planning.
    How does virtual takt training work?
    Delivered online via live sessions, interactive discussions, and digital tools.
    What are the benefits of online takt planning training?
    Convenience, global accessibility, real-time learning, and immediate application.
    Can I access the virtual training from anywhere?
    Yes. It’s fully web-based and accessible worldwide.
    Can I access the virtual training from anywhere?
    Yes. It’s fully web-based and accessible worldwide.
    What skills will I gain from the Virtual TPS® Training?
    Macro and micro Takt planning, weekly updates, flow management, and CPM integration.
    How long does the virtual training program take?
    The program is typically completed in multiple live sessions across several days.
    Can I watch recordings if I miss a session?
    Yes. Recordings are available to all participants.
    Do you offer group access or company licenses for the virtual training?
    Yes. Teams and companies can enroll together at discounted rates.
    How does the Virtual TPS® Training integrate with CPM tools?
    We show how to align Takt with CPM schedules like Primavera P6 or MS Project.

    Onsite Takt Simulation

    What is a Takt Simulation in construction training?
    It’s a live, interactive workshop that demonstrates takt planning on-site.
    How does the Takt Simulation workshop work?
    Teams participate in hands-on exercises to learn the flow and rhythm of a Takt-based project.
    Can I choose between a 1-day or 2-day Takt Simulation?
    Yes. We offer flexible formats to fit your team’s schedule and needs.
    Who should participate in the Takt Simulation workshop?
    Superintendents, PMs, site supervisors, contractors, and engineers.
    How does a Takt Simulation improve project planning?
    It shows teams how to structure zones, manage flow, and coordinate trades in real time.
    What will my team learn from the onsite simulation?
    How to build and maintain takt plans, manage buffers, and align trade partners.
    Is the simulation tailored to my specific project type?
    Yes. Scenarios can be customized to match your project.
    How do Takt Simulations improve trade partner coordination?
    They strengthen collaboration by making handoffs visible and predictable.
    What results can I expect from an onsite Takt Simulation?
    Improved schedule reliability, better trade collaboration, and reduced rework.
    How many people can join a Takt Simulation session?
    Group sizes are flexible, but typically 15–30 participants per session.

    Foreman & Field Engineer Training

    What is Foreman & Field Engineer Training?
    It’s an on-demand, practical program that equips foremen and engineers with leadership and planning skills.
    How does this training prepare emerging leaders?
    By teaching communication, crew management, and execution strategies.
    Is the training on-demand or scheduled?
    On-demand, tailored to your team’s timing and needs.
    What skills do foremen and engineers gain from this training?
    Planning, safety leadership, coordination, and communication.
    How does the training improve communication between field and office?
    It builds shared systems that align superintendents, engineers, and managers.
    Can the training be customized for my team’s needs?
    Yes. Programs are tailored for your project or company.
    What makes this program different from generic leadership courses?
    It’s construction-specific, field-tested, and focused on real project application.
    How do foremen and field engineers apply this training immediately?
    They can use new systems for planning, coordination, and daily crew management right away.
    Is the training suitable for small construction companies?
    Yes. Small and large teams alike benefit from building flow-based leadership skills.

    Testimonials

    Testimonials

    "The bootcamp I was apart of was amazing. Its was great while it was happening but also had a very profound long-term motivation that is still pushing me to do more, be more. It sounds a little strange to say that a construction bootcamp changed my life, but it has. It has opened my eyes to many possibilities on how a project can be successfully run. It’s also provided some very positive ideas on how people can and should be treated in construction.

    I am a hungry person by nature, so it doesn’t take a lot to get to participate. I loved the way it was not just about participating, it was also about doing it with conviction, passion, humility and if it wasn’t portrayed that way you had to do it again."

    "It's great to be a part of a company that has similar values to my own, especially regarding how we treat our trade partners. The idea of "you gotta make them feel worse to make them do better" has been preached at me for years. I struggled with this as you will not find a single psychology textbook stating these beliefs. In fact it is quite the opposite, and causing conflict is a recipe for disaster. I'm still honestly in shock I have found a company that has based its values on scientific facts based on human nature. That along with the Takt scheduling system makes everything even better. I am happy to be a part of a change that has been long overdue in our industry!"

    "Wicked team building, so valuable for the forehumans of the sub trades to know the how and why. Great tools and resources. Even though I am involved and use the tools every day, I feel like everything is fresh and at the forefront to use"

    "Jason and his team did an incredible job passing on the overall theory of what they do. After 3 days of running through the course I cannot see any holes in their concept. It works. it's proven to work and I am on board!"

    "Loved the pull planning, Takt planning, and logistic model planning. Well thought out and professional"

    "The Super/PM Boot Camp was an excellent experience that furthered my understanding of Lean Practices. The collaboration, group involvement, passion about real project site experiences, and POSITIVE ENERGY. There are no dull moments when you head into this training. Jason and Mr. Montero were always on point and available to help in the break outs sessions. Easily approachable to talk too during breaks and YES, it was fun. I recommend this training for any PM or Superintendent that wants to further their career."

    agenda

    Day 1

    Foundations & Macro Planning

    • Introduction to Takt Production System® principles
    • CPM vs TAKT comparison
    • Macro planning, zoning, and density analysis
    • Quantities and production rates
    • Hands-on application to participants’ projects with LeanTakt PM experts

    day2

    Norm Planning & Flow Optimization

    • Review and refinement of Day 1 work
    • Pull planning and sequence optimization
    • Work packaging for balanced flow
    • Project integration session with LeanTakt PM coaching

    day3

    Advanced Tools & Comparisons

    • Macro work packaging and example walkthrough
    • Calculator Norm for production optimization
    • Stacking comparison to avoid trade conflicts
    • Hands-on application to participants’ own schedules

    day4

    Buffers, Controls & Finalization

    • Review of Day 3 implementation
    • Buffer management strategies and placement
    • Takt control principles and steering methods
    • Project plan finalization with expert guidance

    day5

    Control Systems & Presentations

    • Takt steering, control systems, and real project examples
    • Participant project presentations with LeanTakt PM feedback
    • Wrap-up, feedback, and action planning for post-training implementation

    faq

    UNDERSTANDING THE TRAINING

    What is the Virtual Takt Production System® Training by LeanTakt?
    It’s an expert-led online program designed to teach construction professionals how to implement Takt Planning to create flow, eliminate chaos, and align teams across the project lifecycle.
    Who should take the LeanTakt virtual training?
    This training is ideal for Superintendents, Project Managers, Engineers, Schedulers, Trade Partners, and Lean Champions looking to improve planning and execution.
    What topics are covered in the online Takt Production System® course?
    The course covers macro and micro Takt planning, zone creation, buffers, weekly updates, flow management, trade coordination, and integration with CPM tools.
    What makes LeanTakt’s virtual training different from other Lean construction courses?
    Unlike theory-based courses, this training is hands-on, practical, field-tested, and includes live coaching tailored to your actual projects.
    Do I get a certificate after completing the online training?
    Yes. Upon successful completion, participants receive a LeanTakt Certificate of Completion, which validates your knowledge and readiness to implement Takt.

    VALUE AND RESULTS

    What are the benefits of Takt Production System® training for my team?
    It helps teams eliminate bottlenecks, improve planning reliability, align trades, and reduce the chaos typically seen in traditional construction schedules.
    How much time and money can I save with Takt Planning?
    Many projects using Takt see 15–30% reductions in time and cost due to better coordination, fewer delays, and increased team accountability.
    What’s the ROI of virtual Takt training for construction teams?
    The ROI comes from faster project delivery, reduced rework, improved communication, and better resource utilization — often 10x the investment.
    Will this training reduce project delays or rework?
    Yes. By visualizing flow and aligning trades, Takt Planning reduces miscommunication and late handoffs — major causes of delay and rework.
    How soon can I expect to see results on my projects?
    Most teams report seeing improvement in coordination and productivity within the first 2–4 weeks of implementation.

    PLANNING AND SCHEDULING TOPICS

    What is Takt Planning and how is it used in construction?
    Takt Planning is a Lean scheduling method that creates flow by aligning work with time and space, using rhythm-based planning to coordinate teams and reduce waste.
    What’s the difference between macro and micro Takt plans?
    Macro Takt plans focus on the overall project flow and phase durations, while micro Takt plans break down detailed weekly tasks by zone and crew.
    Will I learn how to build a complete Takt plan from scratch?
    Yes. The training teaches you how to build both macro and micro Takt plans tailored to your project, including workflows, buffers, and sequencing.
    How do I update and maintain a Takt schedule each week?
    You’ll learn how to conduct weekly updates using lookaheads, trade feedback, zone progress, and digital tools to maintain schedule reliability.
    Can I integrate Takt Planning with CPM or Primavera P6?
    Yes. The training includes guidance on aligning Takt plans with CPM logic, showing how both systems can work together effectively.
    Will I have access to the instructors during the training?
    Yes. You’ll have opportunities to ask questions, share challenges, and get real-time feedback from LeanTakt coaches.
    Can I ask questions specific to my current project?
    Absolutely. In fact, we encourage it — the training is designed to help you apply Takt to your active jobs.
    Is support available after the training ends?
    Yes. You can access follow-up support, coaching, and community forums to help reinforce implementation.
    Can your tools be customized to my project or team?
    Yes. We offer customizable templates and implementation options to fit different project types, teams, and tech stacks.
    When is the best time in a project lifecycle to take this training?
    Ideally before or during preconstruction, but teams have seen success implementing it mid-project as well.

    APPLICATION & TEAM ADOPTION

    What changes does my team need to adopt Takt Planning?
    Teams must shift from reactive scheduling to proactive, flow-based planning with clear commitments, reliable handoffs, and a visual management mindset.
    Do I need any prior Lean or scheduling experience?
    No prior Lean experience is required. The course is structured to take you from foundational principles to advanced application.
    How long does it take for teams to adapt to Takt Planning?
    Most teams adapt within 2–6 weeks, depending on project size and how fully the system is adopted across roles.
    Can this training work for smaller companies or projects?
    Absolutely. Takt is scalable and especially powerful for small teams seeking better structure and predictability.
    What role do trade partners play in using Takt successfully?
    Trade partners are key collaborators. They help shape realistic flow, manage buffers, and provide feedback during weekly updates.

    VIRTUAL FORMAT & ACCESSIBILITY

    Can I access the virtual training from anywhere?
    Yes. The training is fully accessible online, making it ideal for distributed teams across regions or countries.
    Is this training available internationally?
    Yes. LeanTakt trains teams around the world and supports global implementations.
    Can I watch recordings if I miss a session?
    Yes. All sessions are recorded and made available for later viewing through your training portal.
    Do you offer group access or company licenses?
    Yes. Teams can enroll together at discounted rates, and we offer licenses for enterprise rollouts.
    What technology or setup do I need to join the virtual training?
    A reliable internet connection, webcam, Miro, Spreadsheets, and access to Zoom.

    faq

    GENERAL FAQS

    What is the Superintendent / PM Boot Camp?
    It’s a hands-on leadership training for Superintendents and Project Managers in the construction industry focused on Lean systems, planning, and communication.
    Who is this Boot Camp for?
    Construction professionals including Superintendents, Project Managers, Field Engineers, and Foremen looking to improve planning, leadership, and project flow.
    What makes this construction boot camp different?
    Real-world project simulations, expert coaching, Lean principles, team-based learning, and post-camp support — all built for field leaders.
    Is this just a seminar or classroom training?
    No. It’s a hands-on, immersive experience. You’ll plan, simulate, collaborate, and get feedback — not sit through lectures.
    What is the focus of the training?
    Leadership, project planning, communication, Lean systems, and integrating office-field coordination.

    CURRICULUM & OUTCOMES

    What topics are covered in the Boot Camp?
    Takt planning, day planning, logistics, pre-construction, team health, communication systems, and more.
    What is Takt Planning and why is it taught?
    Takt is a Lean planning method that creates flow and removes chaos. It helps teams deliver projects on time with less stress.
    Will I learn how to lead field teams more effectively?
    Yes. This boot camp focuses on real leadership challenges and gives you systems and strategies to lead high-performing teams.
    Do you cover daily huddles and meeting systems?
    Yes. You’ll learn how to run day huddles, team meetings, worker huddles, and Lean coordination processes.
    What kind of real-world challenges do we simulate?
    You’ll work through real project schedules, logistical constraints, leadership decisions, and field-office communication breakdowns.

    LOGISTICS & FORMAT

    Is the training in-person or virtual?
    It’s 100% in-person to maximize learning, feedback, and team-based interaction.
    How long is the Boot Camp?
    It runs for 5 full days.
    Where is the Boot Camp held?
    Locations vary — typically hosted in a professional training center or project setting. Contact us for the next available city/date.
    Do you offer follow-up coaching after the Boot Camp?
    Yes. Post-camp support is included so you can apply what you’ve learned on your projects.
    Can I ask questions about my actual project?
    Absolutely. That’s encouraged — bring your current challenges.

    PRICING & VALUE

    How much does the Boot Camp cost?
    $5,000 per person.
    Are there any group discounts?
    Yes — get 10% off when 4 or more people from the same company attend.
    What’s the ROI for sending my team?
    Better planning = fewer delays, smoother coordination, and higher team morale — all of which boost productivity and reduce costs.
    Will I see results immediately?
    Most participants apply what they’ve learned as soon as they return to the jobsite — especially with follow-up support.
    Can this replace other leadership training?
    In many cases, yes. This Boot Camp is tailored to construction professionals, unlike generic leadership seminars.

    SEO-BASED / HIGH-INTENT SEARCH QUESTIONS

    What is the best leadership training for construction Superintendents?
    Our Boot Camp offers real-world, field-focused leadership training tailored for construction leaders.
    What’s included in a Superintendent Boot Camp?
    Takt planning, day planning, logistics, pre-construction systems, huddles, simulations, and more.
    Where can I find Lean construction training near me?
    Check our upcoming in-person sessions or request a private boot camp in your city.
    How can I improve field and office communication on a project?
    This Boot Camp teaches you tools and systems to connect field and office workflows seamlessly.
    Is there a training to help reduce chaos on construction sites?
    Yes — this program is built specifically to turn project chaos into flow through structured leadership.