I’m recording from a phone booth in a building in Paris, so there’s a bit of an echo. Yesterday I was walking back from dinner near Notre Dame with Kevin Rice and Fabien. He looked for a place his picky American friends would like and pointed to a barbecue place. I had the best meal of my life. The French took our barbecue style with tender meat and wonderful cheese. Kevin teased me: only Jason would come to Paris and eat barbecue. On the way back I said, Fabien, teach me something. He taught me two concepts that tie together, and they’re the focus today.
Short answer: Hierarchical control, delegating and leaving, is less control, because everyone assumes someone else has it. Real control comes from extreme ownership. And because quality is a question of statistics, not laziness, you take extreme ownership all the way to poka-yoke: simple error-proofing that controls the checks and alarms, not the people.
Why Is Hierarchical Control Less Control?
Fabien said control is less control. Here’s how I want to frame it: hierarchical control is less control in an organization. When you assign somebody to do something, and that person assigns somebody, and that person assigns somebody, no one is in control. The person delegated to may not have the experience, the passion, or even know the why. They expect to be supervised by the person above. That person assumes it’s done and doesn’t know it went to a third person. And the person who delegated it in the first place thinks it’s getting done, when really it’s not. Everyone assumes somebody else is taking care of it.
There are certain things we should control on construction projects, like the environment, safety, and quality control. I’ve said many times in podcasts and books that a superintendent does not delegate quality. What we need is extreme ownership.
What Are the Principles of Extreme Ownership?
In Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, former SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin lay out the principles that should govern execution in a hierarchy. I highly recommend the book.
| Principle | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1. Extreme ownership | Accept full responsibility for everything that happens |
| 2. Lead by example | Effective leaders lead from the front |
| 3. Clarify the mission | Clearly communicate goals, objectives, and expectations |
| 4. Prioritize and execute | Don’t delegate and forget; make tough decisions under pressure |
| 5. Decentralize command | Encourage initiative and empower individuals |
| 6. Build and maintain trust | Trust is the foundation |
| 7. Discipline equals freedom | Self-discipline and protocols give freedom to act decisively, instead of chaos |
| 8. Check your ego | Prioritize the team’s success |
| 9. Plan for contingencies | Be nimble |
| 10. Never give up | Keep going |
If we want control, meaning a clean, safe, and organized site, the environments where they need to be, and compliance items done, there are things in that extreme ownership model we can implement so mistakes and a lack of control don’t happen.
Is Quality a Question of Statistics?
Fabien said quality is really a question of statistics. Let me say that again. People think we can be perfect and things can go right the first time. But there’s a statistical certainty that mistakes will happen and things will get out of control. There’s a natural entropy in the universe.
His example: if a person makes one mistake out of a thousand, that’s not laziness. That’s mathematical certainty. If you delegate through hierarchical control and leave, it gets worse, maybe a hundred per thousand. If you take extreme ownership and double-check, one in a thousand plus one in a thousand might get you to about one in 10,000. To go higher, you implement poka-yoke. Human error rates vary by type of mistake, but humans are fallible. Mistakes happen at work, driving, and in medicine, and studies report it over and over.
In his trainings, Fabien asks: when was the last time you spilled water, Coke, beer, or wine on yourself, or dropped food on your shirt? We’ve drunk from a glass maybe 100,000 times, with muscle memory and good habits, and we still make mistakes. You can be trained, have standard work, and have a double check, and you’ll still statistically make mistakes.
What Is Poka-Yoke?
Poka-yoke is a Japanese term meaning mistake-proofing or error-proofing. Here are its basic tenets:
- Elimination of defects: eliminate errors at the source, rather than relying on detection or correction, by designing processes that prevent mistakes in the first place. That prevents costly rework and minimizes the need for quality control.
- Mistake prevention: prevent errors before they occur, using physical or visual cues, sensors or alarms, or automatic mechanisms that guide people to do tasks correctly.
- Simplicity and effectiveness: the approach should be simple, practical, and easy to implement, with emphasis on effectiveness rather than complexity or technology.
- Operator engagement: operators identify potential errors, suggest improvements, and implement error prevention. Their knowledge and experience are valuable in designing it.
- Continuous improvement: a proactive approach to sources of error, leading to a more efficient, error-free process over time.
These tenets help reduce errors, improve product quality and productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction. See Poka-Yoke: How Japan Prevents Mistakes Before They Happen.
How Did I Use It on Projects?
I would never delegate to delegate to delegate: you go keep this area clean, and that person hands it off, and so on. When I was running projects as the superintendent, I led by example. I picked up trash and kept the site organized. I clarified every day what we wanted to do, prioritized, and executed constantly. I deputized everybody to act in their own sphere. And I used visual cues, sensors or alarms, and automatic mechanisms:
- At the hoist: if it’s not clean, don’t operate the hoist.
- Crane operator: if somebody isn’t rigging you to the right area, don’t do it.
- Forklift: everything gets cleaned before you get off the lift.
- Dumpster: at a certain level, it’s automatically called in for a dump.
- Any area: if you can’t pick up the trash with one hand, that’s a visual cue to clean it immediately.
Notice that in both extreme ownership and poka-yoke, we don’t control people. We enable people, provide clarity, support them, and let them do their jobs as part of the culture and the system. What we control are the checks, balances, and alarms we put in place. Execute with standard work and double checks, as a team, then add poka-yoke, so people who are engaged, supported, somewhat autonomous, loved, and communicated to can operate well in that environment.
A listener running his first job site as a foreman, on a lean build, thanked us for Elevating Construction Superintendents and said it gave him the power to move forward in his career. I love that.
So here is the challenge. Pick one thing on your project you’ve delegated and walked away from. Take ownership of it again, and add one simple visual cue or automatic trigger that makes the mistake hard to make.
Bottom line: Hierarchical control, the delegate-and-leave model, is less control. Human error is a matter of statistics, not laziness, so take extreme ownership all the way to poka-yoke.
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
Why is hierarchical control less control?
When you delegate to someone who delegates to someone else, everyone assumes someone else is taking care of it. The last person may not have the experience, the passion, or the why, and the people above think it’s done when it isn’t. Delegating and leaving is really no control.
What does quality is a question of statistics mean?
Humans are fallible. If a person makes one mistake in a thousand, that isn’t laziness, it’s statistical certainty. Training, standard work, and double checks reduce errors, but you still need poka-yoke, error-proofing built into the system, to go further.
How do you use poka-yoke on a construction site?
Use physical or visual cues, sensors or alarms, and automatic mechanisms. Don’t operate the hoist if it’s not clean. Clean the forklift before you get off. Call the dumpster in automatically at a set level. If you can’t pick up the trash in an area with one hand, clean it immediately.
People Also Read:
Stop Relying on Inspection: Build Quality at the Source
A Remarkable Quality Process
Artful Delegation
Clean, Safe, and Organized: The Foundation of a High-Performing Job Site
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-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)
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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.