If You Trained Someone, It Was Worth It

Experience Is What You Get When You Didn’t Get What You Wanted

In the construction industry, we’re often faced with challenges that don’t go as planned projects get canceled, teams shift direction, and outcomes sometimes fall short of expectations. But one powerful way to reframe these setbacks is to remember that experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

Keeping Leaders Close to the Field

One principle I always emphasize is keeping command posts and leadership as close to the frontline work as possible. The less time leaders spend traveling back and forth from the office to the field, the more efficiently they can supervise, plan, and support the team.

For years, I’ve dreamed of having a compact, mobile command post a mini office rigged with internet, printer, and everything needed to plan on-site and be right where the work happens. I never quite pulled it off, but I admired those who did, like Brent Elliott at DPR Construction, who could oversee basement construction from his plan desk under an umbrella. That kind of leadership proximity helps teams stay connected and projects move faster.

Handling Complex Production Planning

One listener shared a common challenge: managing ductwork that runs transverse to other trades across multiple areas of a build. Their question was how to accurately plan durations when ductwork spans several zones.

Here are a few approaches:

• Assign multiple wagons (teams) for the mechanical work, giving more time overall.
• Extend durations for the ductwork to accommodate its cross zonal nature.
• My preferred method: ask the mechanical team to fabricate and phase their spools according to the defined zones (A, B, C, D), then schedule accordingly.

Mechanical contractors often prefer to work in a certain sequence out of convenience, but sometimes this mindset slows overall progress. In construction, flexibility is key. For example, civil contractors sometimes insist on installing sewer lines starting from a connection point, but this isn’t always necessary. Projects like bridges and tunnels are built from multiple access points simultaneously.

If a trade resists adapting to the flow of the broader team, it can cause sub optimization where one contractor’s convenience harms overall progress. Lean construction principles focus on optimizing the whole project, not just one trade’s preferences.

Embracing Experience Through Setbacks

Projects get canceled. Funding dries up. Partners change. It’s natural to feel disappointed when these things happen. But one of our project managers shared a great perspective: even if he knew a project would get canceled, he would still move forward with it because of the invaluable experience gained.

This mindset is critical. If your team learned something new, grew stronger, or developed skills even through mistakes the time spent was never wasted. Experience is a form of progress, even if the outcome isn’t exactly what you wanted.

Final Thoughts

Remember, every project, every task, and every setback holds value. Training someone, solving a scheduling challenge, or adjusting plans on the fly are all ways to gain experience. That experience builds your team’s resilience and capability for the next opportunity.

So the next time things don’t go your way, try this mindset: Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. Use that experience as a foundation to elevate your work and your team’s future success.

Key Takeaway

Great construction leadership means staying connected to the field, embracing challenges, and turning setbacks into valuable learning opportunities. When leaders foster collaboration among trades, promote flexibility in scheduling, and encourage teams to align with the overall project flow, they create a more efficient and supportive work environment. This not only strengthens team performance but also drives continuous improvement and moves the industry closer to truly lean, high-performing construction practices.