The heights that can be built are a function of how deep and strong your foundations go. This episode is all about building an easier, better tomorrow today. Walker Lott and Davis Hambrick started The Laying Foundations podcast to serve construction professionals by sharing insights about the changing ways construction is done and the career paths that make the built environment a reality. People are the key to making change, and these two are all about building relationships, unlocking potentia...
Apr 27, 2022•55 min•Season 3Ep. 49
Do you like to laugh, and does your work involve overcoming challenges? Jake Harrell will help you shift your perspective while entertaining you with humor. Jake uses simple proven methods to reorient how the systems we work in the impact our thinking, teams, and organizations. He is also the author of “Chasing Excellence” and the Co-Host of A Quality Podcast. Dive into this episode to see why he is a regular The EBFC Show live stream guest. He can help you achieve just about any outcome. Connec...
Apr 13, 2022•59 min•Season 3Ep. 48
Cromwel and Miljan see a future in construction where individuals and teams easily adapt to the increasing levels of complexity and are on a mission to further develop the practices, mindsets, systems architecture, and culture of the construction industry. Better delivery for everyone involved starts now and improvement of the quality of people’s lives is the driver. The construction industry is constantly changing, and so are the ways that it's done. Agile approaches have been proven to enhance...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 3Ep. 47
Many construction projects fail to finish on time and on budget. Adopting Lean Construction principles and tactics can help. David MacNeel helps facility owners and contractors deliver major capital projects early and under budget. He has coached over 400 project teams in Lean principles, Lean tools, and Lean thinking. Dave learned to apply Lean during his 20-year career with the nation’s largest concrete contractor as a Superintendent, PM, and Operations Manager. He also instructs several cours...
Mar 16, 2022•49 min•Season 3Ep. 46
The unknown enables us to grow when we take on new challenges. You don’t have to leap into it alone when it comes to improving your work. LaShira Champion-King is a passionate builder dedicated to improving project delivery and has helped many construction project teams adopt the continuous improvement mindset. She shares her knowledge and experience in providing value while minimizing waste throughout different projects. She has decades of experience helping people transform to make their proje...
Mar 02, 2022•53 min•Season 3Ep. 45
Secret sauce is something that makes a company more efficient and adds value for the customer. Brian Melcher says, “This is Scrum.” He is the Founder, Owner, and Principal at Field Verified, the first building envelope consulting firm in Arizona to expand to a full-scale testing facility. He began his career building custom homes and retail spaces in Southern California. His experience shifted to quality assurance inspection of residential and commercial buildings across the United States. He is...
Feb 16, 2022•47 min•Season 3Ep. 44
Iris D. Tommelein is a Professor of Engineering and Project Management in the Civil and Envir. Engrg. Dept. at UC Berkeley. She focuses on developing theory and principles of project-based production management for the architecture-engineering-construction industry, what is termed 'lean construction.' She is an expert on construction site logistics, layout, materials- and supply-chain management. Professor Tommelein directs the Project Production Systems Laboratory (P2SL - p2sl.berkeley.edu), a ...
Feb 02, 2022•53 min•Season 3Ep. 43
Stephen Powell, Vice President of Program Management, specializes in include Healthcare Construction, Children's Hospital Construction Consulting, LEED BD+C, IP. Stephen shares the importance of understanding Lean Construction from the Owner’s perspective and all project partners involved. We shared how Scrum continues making a difference for teams working on complex projects and how the Last Planner System, Takt, and A3 Problem-Solving can be used by anyone during any phase to deliver projects ...
Jan 19, 2022•59 min•Season 3Ep. 42
Jennifer Lacy is a Lean Practice Leader with more than 18 years in the construction industry creating a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, learning, and leadership development. Jennifer naturally elevates others while achieving better results aligned with core values like respect for people. Her WHY? To attack every interaction as an opportunity to help elevate those doing work while constantly finding ways for improvement! She earned an Operations Management BA degree from Texas ...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 41
John Zachara leads the program and capital budget management of a multiple-site acute care healthcare organization. He uses decades of project management experience to deliver a wide variety of project types including commercial, retail, hospital, clinical, research, educational, and religious facilities. When opportunities arise or problems come up, John knows how to leverage Lean Construction principles and techniques. He is an active member of the Lean Construction Institute (LCI) Chicago Com...
Dec 22, 2021•53 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Bill Wagner is passionate about growing business while creating great experiences for employees. Bill generates growth by applying cutting-edge best practices from the worlds of science, marketing, and economics in a way that scales into all companies large or small! He currently leads a SaaS enterprise construction software and services company with all employees trained as Scrum Masters. Learn why this investment has paid dividends for Penta Technologies, Inc. and the customers they serve. Con...
Dec 08, 2021•58 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Construction Scrum is the first practical guide for construction professionals to implement the Scrum framework in the construction industry. My vision for this book is to enable project managers, superintendents, and whole project teams to take action to make project delivery easier, better, and faster now. Chapter 9 is the 2020 Scrum Guide with my commentary for design and construction professionals based on experiences with thousands of teams and hundreds of Scrum Masters. Learn more at https...
Nov 26, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Construction has traditionally been siloed, but Dave Cooper is on a mission to make all builders and suppliers better through passion. His relentless pursuit of innovation allows for connections across complex supply chains that lead others into new partnerships while also driving change within the construction industry! Dave engages in deep conversations about innovation and inclusivity around the offsite construction space. Listen/watch for an inside look at the places and with the people maki...
Nov 24, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Would you benefit from the owner's insights regarding making building easier and better for yourself, your team, and your company? Begin with the end in mind and learn from a general contractor turned owner. Pete Novaresi shares his takt scheduling in construction experiences and Lean principles from an owner's perspective putting in billions of dollars of construction each year. He also discusses problem-solving and encourages projects teams to question what problem they are trying to solve. Th...
Nov 10, 2021•58 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Iron workers install structural and reinforcing iron and steel to form and support buildings, bridges, roads, and more. These professionals impact the built environment by performing physically demanding and dangerous work, often at great heights. Dr. Cindy Menches support the business success of union iron worker contractors and the Iron Workers International Union as the Director of Professional Development & Training for IMPACT. She develops innovative professional education programs that...
Oct 27, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Keyan Zandy, Chief Operating Officer, and Joe Donarumo, Senior Superintendent, authors of The Lean Builder joined guest host, Jesus (Jesse) D Hernandez Jr, The Learnings and Missteps Podcast, and Felipe Engineer-Manriquez to build out a dialogue about why they wrote the book, why the industry needs more collaboration, and what we can all do to make construction easier and better today. The Lean Builder is a story and playbook for builders by builders. It features a fictional tale about a newer g...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 34
What do you recommend for people who resist new construction technology, innovation, lean construction, or combinations of these tools and principles as problems? Nathan C. Wood knows that projects don't have one size fits all solutions or approaches. He has worked on hundreds of projects across the US, Europe, and the Middle East. Nathan founded SpectrumAEC with a clear goal — solving the human barriers to new processes and technology adoption. Nathan is an innovation influencer across the Arch...
Sep 29, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Meredith Meyers is a strategic business development and marketing leader experienced in architecture, engineering, and construction. Meredith is a brilliant strategist, enjoys learning, and naturally helps people play to their strengths. She is talented in developing strategies that honor the team while serving the customer. Her strengths include acquisition of new businesses, account management, and collaboration for multi-hundred million dollar-sized projects. Meredith’s strategic partnerships...
Sep 15, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Jason Casey is an experienced Operations Director at Ardmac helping international projects deliver large, complex, and fast build construction projects including fit-out, clean rooms, data centers, and refurbishment & construction. He leads teams to ensure the safe delivery of projects on time, within budget to agreed quality, and client satisfaction. Jason serves as the Lean Construction Ireland Vice-Chair and is responsible for Ardmac’s strategic adoption of lean project delivery of capita...
Sep 01, 2021•54 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Todd Henderson is a principal at Boulder Associates, leads their San Francisco office, and has over 20 years of healthcare design experience. An advocate and innovator of lean design within his company's culture and beyond, Todd is also currently fascinated by Agile, Knowledge Management, programming microcontrollers, pickling, and homemade cocktail bitters. Most recently, he became a Certified ScrumMaster and runs his teams using the Scrum framework. Todd’s specialties include healthcare design...
Aug 18, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 30
IPD is a fast-growing contract delivery model for schools in Canada. Darlene Cadman is bringing years of IPD experience to the United States. She is an architect working primarily in educational facilities. She has decades of experience in a wide variety of projects, studies, and facilities with recent experience focused around Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Lean. The Red Deer Catholic St Joseph High School and St Gregory K-9 IPD project and the City of Red Deer Firehalls #3 and #4 IPD pr...
Aug 04, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 29
“COVID-19 causing more strategic thinking due to disruption and having us pause and ask, are we doing the right thing?” ~Paul Doherty As published by Forbes as “Changing the World”, seen on Bloomberg TV and reported by CNBC as one of America's Business Titans, Paul is a Registered Architect and one of the global Industry's most sought after thought leaders, strategists, and integrators of process, technology & business. Paul is the Founder & CEO of The Digit Group, Inc. (TDG), a leading ...
Jul 21, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Season 2Ep. 28
How do you find people in design and construction working to make our industry better than they found it? Often you find them in genuine conversations sharing honestly about how things are and what we are working on today. Kate Simons and Millicent Drabble are two such individuals that are transforming the industry from within. Incremental steps taken regularly with the right people make a community, a tribe, that work together on meaningful changes. Kate’s passion is learning, coaching, and con...
Jul 07, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Steve Turner is more than a Superintendent. He steps towards different challenges and opportunities with tact and grace. He is also the Lean Champion for FPI Builders. Join this inspiring dialogue about Steve’s experiences with Lean Construction principles and methods. No surprise, we are mutual friends with Joe Donarumo and Keyan Zandy. Steve even shares how he came to adopt Daily Huddles for meaningful trade partner involvement. We dove into technology including digital Last Planner System® us...
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Dan Fauchier feels your frustrations. He too has worked too many hours doing a “great job” of managing Waste. Now he is dedicated to increasing staff productivity while ensuring on-time and on-budget project completion. Watch/listen to this show if you are ready to increase profits, reduce waste, and be happier. Dan is an author, coach, Director at The ReAlignment Group of California, Board Member of the International Institute for Facilitation, and Advisory Board Member of Plannerly - The BIM M...
Jun 09, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Why are tradespeople called construction workers? What makes someone a construction professional? Do you have to go to college to be called a professional? Henry Nutt, III is a Preconstruction Executive at Southland Industries. He is a passionate advocate working to transform the construction industry in the area of collaboration. He started his career as a sheet metal worker and now travels the country working with construction projects and other industry leaders. Henry specializes in educating...
May 26, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 24
⚠️ Warning ⚠️ This episode is not for the easily offended or naive. Sean Graystone shares his 40 plus years of experience in construction including little-known industry insights including Agile contracts. We explored improving our industry, mental health, construction project emotions, what it takes to create high-performance teams. Today, he is working as an Owner’s Representative. Sean specializes in collaborative project delivery, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), Independent/Integrated For...
May 12, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Dr. Fernanda Leite has worked as a #projectmanager in Brazil including multiple government and commercial building construction projects. Today, she is an Associate Professor in Construction Engineering and Project Management, in the Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin. Her technical interests include information technology for #projectmanagement, #BIM (building information modeling), collaboration and coordination technologies, and ...
Apr 28, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Real construction innovation can be hard to see in the vast amount of marketing and market noise. Construction innovation is real. Dan Carlton, President, Partner, and Makayla Oei, Project Executive, at Mark III Construction, Inc. shared what they are doing with building owners to standardize, integrate and innovate. Their process goes beyond conventional prefab and kitting. They integrate the full scope for mechanical, electrical, low voltage, plumbing, piping, and framing into manufactured MEP...
Apr 14, 2021•58 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Frank Coln strives to create an environment of constant learning on his projects. His experiences with pull planning and the Last Planner System go beyond one size fits all approaches that often fail. He represents a growing number of construction superintendents that openly embrace Lean and actively work towards greater collaboration, patience, respect, flexibility, accountability, and use of technology. He is reflective and intentional about how processes are and are not working. Frank says, “...
Mar 31, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 20
