Failure is a Potent Teacher

Failure is a very potent teacher for construction contractors if:

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share
Leadership Tools: Failure is a Potent Teacher.
  • You don’t define failure just as CATASTROPHIC events that seriously damage your business.  
  • You define failure broadly as ANYTHING that is not adding value to the customer or slowing your progress.  
  • You embrace failure as part of the learning process diving deeply into the Root Cause Analysis (RCA). 
  • You develop a culture and systems so that everyone on the team thinks about the business as a series of interrelated cycles.  Consider all the interrelated cycles from the installation of a light fixture in the field to to the monthly project review meetings to the annual business planning process.  
  • Your whole team views each cycle as an opportunity to improve (PDCA)
  • You have developed structured processes for continuously updating your Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as your team learns then rolling them out across the company improving the whole team’s capabilities.  

Book Resources:

The Five Elements of Effective Thinking

Thinking in Bets

Related LinkedIn Posts:  

Churchill - Failure is NOT Fatal

Fail 9 Times to Succeed




CMAR - Strategic Market Choices and a 3-Part Approach
Being truly competitive (or not having to compete at all) with the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) project delivery method requires advanced business development and preconstruction capabilities.
Contractors Are Like Sharks
Contractors never get to slow down. They must always be moving forward on the hunt for the next high-quality project, the talent to build that project, and always improving their operational capabilities to deliver that project successfully.
Higher Scores Aren’t Always Better: Percent Planned Complete (PPC) Example
Construction is full of competitive personalities - more is always better. This is not always the case, and you must be careful when setting targets that your goals don't have unintended consequences. Percent Planned Complete (PPC) is a perfect example.