Weekly Construction Coordination Meeting Plus-Delta for Two Weeks

Plus: Identified constraints; Plans made to address all constraints; meeting finished on time; the six-week look ahead discussion focused on identifying constraints; everyone present participated in the meeting.     Delta: Have all trades represented at meeting; Identify constraints for look ahead activities in advance of meeting; Post work zone area plans and phase plans […]

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Lean Thinking Needs Artists

A concern we should have is that Lean Thinking, TPS and otherwise, has largely been shaped by left brain thinkers, and has thus been interpreted (and therefore invented) as a largely process oriented set of principles and practices.  Even the Respect for People principle is often spoken of as if the purpose of respect is

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Time to Put an End to Tool Obsession

The Chief Executive magazine article linked below helps illustrate how deeply rooted tool-based leadership is in our enterprises. Well intended, the article’s author makes the argument that the key to creating shareholder value is an understanding financial accounting tools. Wrong! Think Paul O’Neill, who while Alcoa’s CEO made his singular leadership focus on radically improving

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Building Culture First

Play is a great way to build a solid team, whether joining together like the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Building team above did this year to support a cause, enjoying a ballgame, or regular cookouts. Designing play, easy and hard, into the project work builds relationships and fosters an environment that is enjoyable and makes life

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The Project from Hell

A C.S. Lewis quote: “We must picture hell as a state where everyone is perpetually concerned about his own dignity and advancement, where everyone has a grievance, and where everyone lives with the deadly serious passions of envy, self-importance, and resentment.” If the above sounds like a project on which you worked, you will appreciate why

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Workflow Planning Session Plus-Delta

Plus: All trades in one room; Peer to peer conversations about expectations; Confirmation of milestone dates; Understanding path toward completing work as promised; Starting pull planning with a small scope of work; Use of templates; Planning done shortly after bootcamp; Bright colored sticky notes; Only last planner moving notes representing their work; Shared facilitation of

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