By Forcing CPM, You Relieve Contractors From Doing Their Job

I have seen this play out time and time again. When owners force CPM, the Critical Path Method, on a project, they think they are protecting themselves. The truth is, they are doing the exact opposite. They are relieving the contractor and project team from their actual job, which is to plan, lead, and manage production in the field.

Here is what happens.

When CPM is dictated, one scheduler creates the plan in isolation. That schedule becomes the baseline, and suddenly the entire project is tied to it. The problem is that nobody can read it, nobody can use it, and nobody in the field actually understands it. It is just a document sitting in a system somewhere. From that point on, the superintendent, the project manager, and the trades can shrug and say, we are just following the CPM schedule.

That is not leadership. That is compliance.

Instead of adjusting sequences, optimizing flow, or adding buffers where they are needed, the team gets trapped in the baseline. Collaboration goes away. Trade partners lose visibility. The project gets stuck with a rigid, siloed plan that does not reflect reality.

What makes it worse is when people try to bolt on other systems like Last Planner or Advanced Work Packaging while still anchoring them to CPM. It does not work. Flow, handoffs, and buffers do not survive inside a structure designed around rigid dependencies and siloed thinking. Those systems become watered down exercises instead of the powerful planning tools they were meant to be.

The bottom line is simple. CPM was never designed to be a production system. It disrespects people by isolating planning, it violates basic production principles, and it floods projects with unnecessary work in progress. By forcing it, owners unintentionally take away the team’s ability to lead.

There is a better way. Systems like Takt, true Last Planner, and collaborative planning methods allow teams to anticipate, adjust, and lead. They create flow, give visibility, and empower the people actually doing the work. That is where predictability comes from, not from a massive CPM database that nobody trusts.

If we want projects to succeed, we have to stop leaning on CPM as a safety net. It is not protecting anyone. It is holding us back.

On we go.

Key Takeaway

When CPM is forced on a project it strips away accountability and leadership. Real success comes from collaborative production based planning systems that empower teams in the field.