by J. Jerrald Hayes | Jan 12, 2023 | Management, Rants
I originally wrote this blog article back on Dec 11th of 2005. To the best of my recollection I was reading the Construction Contractors’ Survival Guide by Thomas C. Schleifer and chapter 2 was entitled Elements of Contractor Failure and was inspired to do more...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Sep 5, 2022 | Leadership, Management, Project Management, Uncategorized
It was back in the early 00s that in one of the project management email list groups I was subscribed to I was turned onto a book entitled: “Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War” and discovered the OODA loop and it clicked,… it mattered,… it mattered a...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Aug 13, 2021 | Contracting 101, Customer Relationship Management, Estimating, Management
The other day in a discussion about job photographs I mentioned a remodeler I used to do some some consulting with in addition to having some great camera equipment took the time to take some courses in photography and lighting and his job photos are as excellent as...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Jun 13, 2019 | Lean Thinking, Management, Quotes & Inspiration
A friend of mine posted this in a building & remodeling professional group we are a part of saying he has it taped inside of one of his tool boxes. It a great list for life. Period. Wendell Castle, the author of the list, was a legendary American furniture...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | May 24, 2019 | Leadership, Lean Thinking, Management, Productivity
1. Tell your company “Hey we are going to explore Lean Thinking as a way to improve or customer client experiences working with our company and how we get work done around here. And we are all going on this learning experience together. 2. To get your company going...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Apr 1, 2019 | Management, Markup & Pricing
Consultant and educator George Hedley of Hard Hat Presentations cites some numbers that I think are sadly all too true… If you watch 95 out of 100 general contractors, builders or subcontractors, and follow their progress for 10 to 20 years, you’ll hear the same...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Sep 20, 2017 | Management, Project Management, Quotes & Inspiration
“Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.” — Peter Drucker Is the late Peter Drucker’s admonition a call for specialization or thinking lean is it a call to identify in your production process the processes that do...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Sep 16, 2017 | Beyond Building & Remodeling, Books, Estimating, Management, Quotes & Inspiration, The Little Lessons
I am a huge “fan” of the work of psychologist and winner of the 2002 Nobel in economic science Daniel Kahneman and his book Thinking, Fast and Slow is arguably one of the most valuable books I have ever read. And for those that think 499 pages of...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Aug 7, 2017 | Leadership, Management, Systems
A good article from the Farnam Street blog showed up in my blog reader this morning about The Difference Between Amateurs and Professionals. The bullet points in it are all right on the mark but a big one that sticks out for me right now is… Amateurs have a...
by J. Jerrald Hayes | Jul 30, 2017 | Leadership, Management
It goes without saying that Steve Jobs was a terribly and tragically flawed human being but at the same time he was brilliant. His response here to insulting criticism is an example of his brilliance and Inc Magazine article author Justin Bariso’s analysis of...
