We Must Fix the Systems First

It Is the System: The Components That Must Be in Place

Here’s the deal. I realized something very acutely recently. It really is not the people. That is not just a cute little saying I adopted from the Lean community. I am telling you, it really is not the people who are the problem. It is the system. The systems are causing the problems, and we are never going to make progress in this industry until we fix and replace them. That is not dogma, and it is not me being dramatic, though I will admit that sometimes I am.

Short answer: It isn’t the people, it’s the system. Locked sequences, no float, a single critical path, no buffers, and forced trade stacking set trades up to fail. Every project needs the right system in place: a well-built team, a won-over workforce, good onboarding, Takt, Lean contracts, weekly procurement management, a visual Last Planner environment, zero tolerance, daily correction, quality at the source, and contractor grading.

First, a Word on Training

Before I get into systems, I want to share something that happened at a recent Super PM Boot Camp. A guy came who paid for the training himself, and then his company found out and offered to pay for it. That took a lot of initiative. He is taking his own career and being responsible for it, and I thought that was pretty neat.

The feedback I gave the group was this. When you leave here, make sure you get at least $5,000 worth of training this year. Next year it can be $7,000. After that, $10,000, then $15,000, then $30,000, then $60,000, and then $120,000 a year. You might say those are big numbers. If you want to make big money, you need to invest in big, good training.

So here is how I put it. If you are not ready to spend money for training, you are not ready for leadership and increased wealth, because the world will pay you in direct proportion to the value that you give it. Think about that for a little bit.

The Project Where Nothing Could Change

I went to a project the other day, and I know this might sound arrogant, but we can solve all of their problems. It would be hard, and it would not roll out easily. It would be a couple of months of real, difficult work. But at the end of that time, we could solve their problem completely.

What I kept hearing was, we cannot do this because of this, and we cannot do that because of that. Somebody created a system that was ineffective and actually hurts people, and now everyone has adapted to that system. The system is so locked in that it prevents any solution from taking hold.

I learned from Hal Macomber that every system is perfectly designed to get the results it is getting. And when you enter a system, you have to understand what the goal of the system is. As I see it, the goal of the systems we have on our construction projects is to get the lowest bidder, abuse and de-incentivize people, run them into the ground, not finish on time, and blame it on somebody else.

A List of Unethical Behaviors

I wrote down a list the other day, and I called it unethical behavior. I was mad, and I planned to do a post about it. Here is what was on it.

• Locking in the sequences without trade partner input.
• Not allowing float on your projects.
• Forcing CPM as a system where you have one critical path and cannot create flow for trades.
• Only allowing the time impact analysis on the critical path.
• Forcing work breakdown structures that are based on deliverables instead of location.
• Forcing a single critical path and not recognizing that other items are critical too.
• Not allowing Takt, flow, or rhythm on projects.
• Not allowing buffers to absorb variation.
• Forcing trades to stack their work, which means forcing trade stacking and out-of-sequence work.
• Forcing approval for re-sequencing, which locks trades into sequences that do not make sense.
• Using push techniques for recovery that hurt people.

Guess where I got those. I got them from that project. I said we have the solution to fix these problems, and they said we cannot. The owner stipulated that the schedule had to be completed, vetted, and published before the trades ever got on the job. We cannot change the sequences, because they are locked in. We cannot create flow for them. We cannot create an extension for them unless it is on the critical path. We are not allowing you to adjust any of the parameters to make them successful. If they get behind, we will force them to trade stack regardless of their ability to do so. They are not allowed to re-sequence, and when we have a recovery or we are behind schedule, they will pay for it.

I said, wait a minute. No one can succeed outside of the system design. No one.

You Have to Adopt the System, Not Just Admire It

When I talk about implementing Takt planning, people say, oh Jason, that is a good idea, that is really neat, here is the visual schedule. No. That is not what I mean. What I mean is that you have to implement Takt to adjust the system, or you will not make any progress.

These are not just good ideas. If you do not do them, you will not run a project right. Period. End of story.

• If you do not build the team first and put it together the right way, you will not do a project right.
• If you do not win over the workforce, with good bathrooms and lunchrooms, you will not run a project right.
• If you do not effectively onboard people to where they are bought in and know exactly what is expected of them, you will not run that project right.
• If you do not include Takt, pre-construction, Lean contracts, and remarkable procurement, you will not run a project right. I do not care if you like the procurement log. If you do not have a great way of managing procurement weekly with the on-site team and managing the supply chain, you will not run that project right.
• If you do not have the visual Last Planner environment, you will not run that project right.
• If you do not have Takt, it is impossible to finish on time consistently.
• If you do not implement zero tolerance, a daily correction method, quality at the source, and contractor grading, you will not run a project on time.

I do not know how else to say it. It is the systems.

Trade Partners Are Victims of the System

The trade partners do not have the infinite flexibility to do whatever they want. They do not have the flexibility to redirect the entire project site. They are victims of the system.

Here is one last example. Say you have zones throughout the project and a train of trades running through them. If you have a trade that is lumped together and takes forever zone by zone, going really slowly, and you do not adjust their crews, break them out, and put them in sequence behind each other at the same speed and the same distance apart as everyone else, then nobody will go faster than that slowest trade. You could put the best people on earth in the sequence and they could not go faster.

Or look at the number of zones. If you only have two or three zones and Little’s Law says it will take seventy days, and you go to five zones and Little’s Law shows it will take forty-two days, then sticking with two or three zones at seventy days means no one can go faster than seventy days.

Construction is governed by mathematical laws, and we know how the systems work now. Everything is known. You can optimize the system, design how a project is run, and clear the roadblocks out ahead. You can be wildly successful, and absorb enough of the industry’s supply chain delays and variation to still finish on schedule consistently.

Stop Blaming People

We have to stop blaming the people. It is all about the system design, and it is only us who can change it. As Hal Macomber said, learn systems thinking. Read Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows. Read The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge. Look at your business, your project, and everything else as a system. And if you want to know how to implement Lean to the fullest, check out the Integrated Production Control System. We know now, today, every single component of the system, and it must be in place.

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

So here is the challenge. Look at your project and ask which of these components is missing. Then ask whether the problem you keep blaming on people is really a problem in the system.

Bottom line: It’s time to stop blaming people, and it’s time to start focusing on systems.

On we go.

FAQ

What does it mean that a system is perfectly designed to get the results it is getting?

It means the results you see are produced by the design of the system, not by bad luck or bad people. If you want different results, you have to change the system, and you need to understand what the goal of the system actually is.

What are the system components Jason says must be in place?

A well-built team, winning over the workforce with good bathrooms and lunchrooms, effective onboarding, Takt, pre-construction, Lean contracts, remarkable weekly procurement management, a visual Last Planner environment, zero tolerance, a daily correction method, quality at the source, and contractor grading.

Why does Jason say trade partners are victims of the system?

Because they do not have the flexibility to redirect the project site or change the schedule. Locked sequences, no float, forced trade stacking, and recovery paid by the trades mean they cannot succeed outside the system design.

What does Jason recommend reading to learn systems thinking?

Thinking in Systems and The Fifth Discipline, a recommendation he credits to Hal Macomber.

People Also Read:

The 10 Myths of CPM
Procurement Log Service
It’s NOT Their Fault!
Build the System – Support the People!

Want your team trained on this? See our Last Planner System and Takt training.