I came to a project to help a team implementing takt planning, and the trade partners were negative about it. Takt had become a four-letter word to them. But the team had zones, a schedule built on flow, and zone maps. They thought like that, planned like that, and scheduled like that. So what was the problem? The trade partners had a fixed mindset about the plan.
Short answer: Fixed vs. nimble scheduling methods come down to mindset. A fixed mindset expects the takt plan’s colored bars to happen perfectly. A growth mindset knows construction is never perfect, so when delays happen, the schedule adjusts and recovers while protecting trade flow. Takt planning is a nimble scheduling system: plan, do, check, and adjust, daily, with visual information everyone can see.
What Is the Difference Between a Fixed and a Nimble Schedule?
With a fixed mindset, the thinking goes: there’s a takt plan with a beautiful color bar chart, so now it will happen perfectly like that. Well, no. It’s construction, and construction is never going to be perfect. With a growth mindset, we understand that when delays or problems happen, the schedule must be adjusted, and we do a recovery schedule the right way.
So takt does not mean the predictable flow is exactly what will happen. It means that when problems do happen and we adjust, we are protecting trade flow and seeing exactly what needs to happen to recover the schedule. Takt planning is a nimble scheduling system.
How Do You Recover a Takt Plan Without Throwing Labor at It?
If your plan is at the norm level, in a software or in one of our Excel templates, you can quickly adjust it. Instead of throwing labor, excess materials, money, and time at a problem, you can:
- Project the delay out at an incline.
- Detach the delay and put it on a separate takt time with a steeper line of balance.
- Swarm the problem.
- Anticipate the problem so it never happens in the first place.
- Add swing capacity.
- Pull the car out, or pull the zone out.
None of these compound the problem. What does compound it is trade burden. That is what I’m starting to call it when the same trade is stacked on top of itself, meaning you’ve overextended a single trade. Once you have that, your productivity losses compound and you end up in trouble. More options are in Swing Capacity & Workable Backlog.
What Can Napoleon Teach Us About Scheduling?
I was talking to the construction manager on that project, a great guy, about the generals of the Austrian Empire who fought against Napoleon. They had huge, rigid armies that moved in large, massive groups and followed the plan to a tee. That is how warfare was done back in the day. Napoleon had smaller, more nimble groups. When he hit a snag, it was, okay, plan B. Okay, plan C. Okay, plan D. His groups adapted and reacted and crushed the generals who stuck to their old-school techniques.
We cannot look at takt planning from a fixed mindset: this plan means I should hit those dates perfectly, roadblocks on the board will magically go away before we get there, the commitment I made on the weekly work plan will hit perfectly or the system breaks down. No. Putting roadblocks on the board doesn’t mean they disappear. It means get rid of the ones you can ahead of time, flow around the ones you can’t, and come up with an amazing plan that still flows. Our scheduling system should be nimble like Napoleon’s military, not like the Austrian Empire.
Why Is Plan, Do, Check, Adjust the Real Schedule?
There are three components to a schedule: the plan, the reality, and the adjustment. It’s just like the plan-do-check-act cycle. You have a plan, you go do the plan, you check it, and reality is a little different. Then you adjust. Plan, do, check, adjust. When trade partners say they don’t like the takt plan or the roadblock tracking system, they are usually judging the schedule on the plan part alone. That is your plan. We go do it, check it against reality, and adjust constantly in a nimble manner.
That is also my biggest complaint with a CPM schedule. Most schedulers or superintendents would rather shoot themselves in the leg than readjust the logic once they have to make a change. It’s not nimble. With a takt plan in software or a norm-level template, you can say, okay, that delay, here’s what we can do. We can cascade it out, pull it out, or put it on a separate takt time. Nimble, every day. See The Biggest Advantage of Takt Planning Over CPM.
| Fixed schedule (the Austrian Empire) | Nimble schedule (Napoleon) | |
|---|---|---|
| Mindset | The plan should hit perfectly. | Construction is never perfect, so we adjust. |
| When a delay hits | Throw labor, materials, money, and time at it. | Cascade it, pull it out, put it on its own takt time, swarm it, add swing capacity. |
| Roadblocks | Put on the board and hoped away. | Removed ahead where possible, flowed around where not. |
| Information | Static, like a 76-page CPM schedule. | Real-time and visual: takt plan, zone maps, roadblock maps. |
| Rhythm | Plan, then follow. | Plan, do, check, and adjust, daily. |
Why Does a Nimble Schedule Need One Visual Source of Truth?
We have to get this information visual, with one single source of truth, so trade partners don’t end up with information and commitments being lost. If a trade doesn’t have the right people and can’t get the work done, what would they rather have, a list of roadblocks or a physical map showing where they are? A 76-page CPM schedule or a takt plan that shows everybody exactly where they are? The answer is obvious. See Roadblock Tracking Maps.
And if the system is visual, works, and holds people accountable, unaccountable people aren’t going to like it. That doesn’t matter. What we need to do is the right thing, not pander to wanting to be liked.
Donella Meadows wrote in Thinking in Systems, “If I could, I would add an Eleventh Commandment to the first ten: Thou shalt not distort, delay, or withhold information. You can drive a system crazy by muddying its information streams. You can make a system work better with surprising ease if you can give it more timely, more accurate, more complete information.”
So here is the challenge. Every day this week, use your buffers and the wisdom of the team to adjust the plan to what is happening in the field. Make your roadblocks and zone maps visual so everybody can see the relationship between time and space, and work like Napoleon’s army.
Bottom line: The purpose of a plan isn’t to be created and followed perfectly. It is to see what is happening and adjust daily, so have a growth mindset with your schedule.
If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.
On we go.
FAQ
Does a takt plan mean the schedule will happen exactly as drawn?
No. A takt plan shows your current path to flow. When a roadblock or constraint interrupts it, you adjust the flow around it and create a recovery path right away that still maintains flow.
What is trade burden?
Trade burden is the term Jason is starting to use for the same trade stacked on top of itself, an overextended single trade. Once it happens, productivity losses compound.
Why do some trade partners dislike takt?
Usually because they judge the schedule only on the plan part and expect it to hit perfectly. A good schedule is plan, do, check, and adjust, daily. Also, any system that holds people accountable will be disliked by people who are not accountable.
People Also Read:
CPM Is Just a List, Takt Is a Recipe
How To Mark Logistics & Zone Maps
10 Ways to Encourage a Growth Mindset
Accountability vs. Count-On-Ability
If you want to learn more we have:
-Takt Virtual Training: (Takt Virtual Training)
-Check out our YouTube channel for more info: (Elevate Construction on YouTube)
-Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: (Elevate Construction Podcast)
-Check out our training programs and certifications: (Training Programs and Certifications)
-The Takt Book: (The Takt Book on Amazon)
Discover Jason’s Expertise:
Meet Jason Schroeder, the driving force behind Elevate Construction. As the company’s Founder and COO, he’s dedicated to taking construction to new heights. With a wealth of industry experience, he’s crafted the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp – intensive training programs engineered to cultivate top-tier leaders capable of steering their teams towards success. Jason’s vision? To expand his training initiatives across the nation, empowering construction firms to soar to unprecedented levels of excellence.