Demonizing the Enemy – War Series #1

Demonizing the Enemy: Declaring War on Waste and Variation to Protect Your People

Projects don’t fall apart all at once. They unravel one tolerated behavior at a time. A little mess becomes normal. A missed commitment becomes expected. An unsafe shortcut becomes “how we do it here.” A meeting turns negative, then it turns toxic, and before you know it the whole team is walking around braced for impact.

That’s why Jason Schroeder uses the phrase “demonizing the enemy.” It sounds intense, but the target matters. The enemy is not people. The enemy is the system-killers that steal your time, your money, your safety, and your sanity. The enemy in construction is waste and variation. If you don’t name it, you’ll start fighting each other instead of fighting what’s actually hurting the project.

Why This “War” Language Matters: The Enemy Isn’t People

Leadership gets distorted in high-pressure environments. When a job starts slipping, people get emotional. They blame. They label. They start saying things like “they don’t care” or “these guys are impossible,” and the project becomes personal. That’s when respect disappears, and once respect disappears, the work gets harder.

Jason’s point is to flip the focus. We do not declare war on trade partners, foremen, workers, or managers. We declare war on the conditions and behaviors that create instability. Waste. Variation. Unsafe shortcuts. Undisciplined planning. Inventory piles. Half-finished work. Broken handoffs. Empty promises. Those are the enemies because those are the things that hurt people and destroy flow. When you make the enemy clear, you stop turning the site into a blame arena. You turn it into a problem-solving environment.

The Stand-Down Story: How Clear Standards Galvanize a Team

Jason tells a story about a stand-down meeting where he reset expectations. The site was drifting, and it would have been easy to show up angry, point fingers, and demand more effort. Instead, he reframed the whole thing. He honored the workforce, praised the people, and then drew a hard line against the real enemy: the philosophy of tolerating chaos.

That’s the key. The meeting wasn’t about shaming people. It was about making standards visible and non-negotiable. When leaders do that with respect, it actually lifts the team. People want to win. They just need a system that makes winning possible. This is what “demonizing the enemy” looks like in real life. Not aggression toward people. Aggression toward waste.

What “Demonizing the Enemy” Really Means on a Jobsite

It means you stop being naive about what destroys projects. You stop thinking, “It’ll probably work out.” You stop assuming someone else will fix it. You treat waste and variation like an invasion: if you tolerate it, it spreads.

Variation shows up as inconsistent planning, inconsistent readiness, inconsistent standards, inconsistent reporting. Waste shows up as waiting, rework, extra motion, extra handling, excess inventory, overprocessing, and the slow drag of half-finished work. Those things aren’t abstract. They show up as crews stepping on each other, materials everywhere, and leaders who can’t get home because the day never ends. A leader’s job is to create stability. That stability comes from clear standards, disciplined planning, and urgent roadblock removal. If those don’t exist, the team will improvise. And improvisation is where waste multiplies.

The Leadership Trap: Being So Tolerant You Let the Enemy Take Over

Jason calls out a trap that good-hearted leaders fall into. They’re so focused on being kind, so focused on not hurting feelings, that they avoid holding standards. They tolerate what should be corrected. They let meetings drift. They let housekeeping slide. They let unsafe behavior get “one more chance.” They let commitments become optional. That isn’t kindness. That’s neglect. Respect for people means protecting people. And you can’t protect people if you won’t protect standards. If the plan requires burnout, the plan is broken. If the plan requires chaos, the plan is broken. If the plan requires tolerating unsafe conditions, the plan is broken. The system failed them; they didn’t fail the system. If leaders haven’t been trained to hold standards respectfully, the project will teach them the hard way.

Win the War Without Fighting: Firm Standards and Human Connection

Jason makes a crucial distinction: you can be firm without being harsh. You can hold a standard while still treating people with dignity. In fact, that combination is what creates a healthy culture. Firm standards say, “We will not allow this condition to continue.” Human connection says, “I respect you, I believe you can do this, and I will support you with clarity and training.” When you combine those, the project becomes a place where people feel safe and challenged at the same time. That’s how you win without constant conflict. You don’t argue about the enemy. You remove it.

Fight Until Negotiations Are Complete: The Change Order Pause That Kills Flow

Jason brings in a practical example that leaders will recognize immediately: change orders and negotiations. Sometimes a team hits a scope gap or a design miss, and the conversation turns into, “We’re not doing anything until this gets settled.” That posture feels powerful, but it often creates a different problem: you just paused the project’s flow.

The job doesn’t stop needing leadership because a negotiation is happening. Crews still need clarity. The plan still needs to move. Safety still needs standards. Quality still needs verification. If you let the job stall every time money is being discussed, you’ll create a stop-start culture that multiplies waste. There are times to pause, and there are times to keep moving while you negotiate. The leadership move is to know the difference and protect flow whenever possible. This is one reason Takt is so valuable. Takt makes flow visible. It shows you what happens when the rhythm breaks. It also makes it obvious that “waiting to act” is usually more expensive than “acting while you resolve.”

Reconnaissance and Facts: Don’t Assume Go Find Out

A field commander doesn’t guess. They confirm. Jason emphasizes reconnaissance: go see. Go verify. Ask for facts. Look at the conditions. Don’t run the job on rumors, feelings, or assumptions. This connects directly to the truth principle: if reporting is opinion-based, you can’t fight the real enemy. If you want to attack waste, you need to see where it is. If you want to reduce variation, you need to measure it. If you want to stabilize flow, you need to confirm readiness. When leaders operate from facts, the team stops fighting narratives and starts solving problems.

People Aren’t the Enemy: Behaviors and Conditions Are

This is where the episode’s message becomes a moral cause. People have dignity. People are not disposable. People deserve respect. But behaviors and conditions must be corrected. Unsafe work, messy zones, broken commitments, toxic meetings, and disrespectful communication cannot be tolerated because they harm people and destroy stability. That is how you keep the fight in the right place. You demonize waste, not workers. You demonize variation, not trade partners. You demonize unsafe conditions, not the people trapped inside a broken system.

What the Enemy Looks Like on a Project

• Variation in readiness that causes crews to start, stop, and re-mobilize repeatedly.
• Inventory and half-finished work that creates congestion, trade damage, and rework.
• Unsafe shortcuts and tolerance of hazards that increase exposure for everyone.
• Meetings that drift into negativity and blame instead of roadblock removal.
• Commitments that aren’t kept, reported honestly, or closed looped with verification.

The Law of Thirds: Move the Middle and Stop Feeding Detractors

Jason talks about the law of thirds. On most teams, you’ll have a third who are fully bought in, a third who are in the middle, and a third who resist change and drag the culture down. Leaders often waste energy trying to convert the detractors. That rarely works. The smarter move is to strengthen the committed group and win the middle through clarity and consistency. When standards are clear and enforced respectfully, the middle group starts leaning toward stability. They see that the system is real. They see that the project is safer and calmer. They feel the difference. That’s how cultures change not through speeches, but through standards that don’t wobble.

When a Behavior Is Cancerous: Protect the Team, Correct the System

Jason uses strong language for a reason when he describes “cancerous” meeting behavior. Some behaviors infect the team. Persistent negativity. Public disrespect. Sabotaging planning. Undermining leadership. If those behaviors are tolerated, they spread. If they spread, the project becomes unstable. The answer is not to attack the person. The answer is to protect the team and correct the system. Set meeting rules. Keep conversations fact-based. Require respectful communication. Coach privately. Remove persistent barriers. And if needed, make hard decisions to keep the environment healthy. Respect for people includes protecting the group from destructive behavior.

How to Declare War Without Losing Your Culture

• Name the enemy clearly: waste, variation, and unsafe conditions—not people.
• Hold firm standards while staying respectful and supportive in your tone and coaching.
• Use facts and verification so problem-solving replaces blame and narrative fights.
• Protect flow whenever possible, even during negotiations, by keeping the work moving and roadblocks cleared.
• Focus on winning the middle through consistency instead of feeding energy to the detractors.

Connect to Mission

At Elevate Construction, the goal is stability—projects that can plan, schedule, and flow without burning people out. LeanTakt exists to make flow possible through visual systems, disciplined planning, and roadblock removal. Jason Schroeder’s lens is system-first because blaming people doesn’t solve production problems. Fixing the system does. When you “demonize the enemy” the right way, you protect people. You reduce exposure. You reduce rework. You reduce overtime. You create a jobsite where the plan is real, the standards are clear, and the team can win together. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Conclusion

Here’s the challenge: stop fighting each other. Stop tolerating chaos. Stop being naive about what destroys projects. Name the enemy clearly, and then lead like it matters. Because the enemy in construction is waste and variation. When you declare war on that and you do it with firm standards and respect for people you create the one thing every project desperately needs: stability. Protect the standard. Protect the team. Protect flow. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

What does “demonizing the enemy” mean in construction leadership?
It means getting crystal clear that the enemy is waste, variation, and unsafe or undisciplined conditions—not people—so the team focuses on problem-solving instead of blame.

How do I hold firm standards without damaging relationships?
Be clear about the standard, stay respectful in tone, and focus corrections on behaviors and conditions. Pair firmness with support, training, and consistent follow-through.

Why is variation such a problem on jobsites?
Variation creates instability. It leads to stop-start work, remobilization, broken handoffs, and more rework. Reducing variation increases predictability and flow.

How does this connect to Takt and LeanTakt?
Takt makes flow and handoffs visible. It requires stable standards and readiness. Declaring war on waste and variation supports the discipline needed to protect Takt rhythm.

What should I do when meetings become toxic or blame-focused?
Reset meeting norms, require facts, keep the focus on roadblock removal, coach privately, and protect the team from persistent destructive behavior.