JASON SCHROEDER
Founder • Chief Operating Officer
Jason Schroeder is a construction executive, author, and trusted voice on Lean, Takt Planning and field leadership. As Founder and COO of Elevate Construction, he helps teams build stable systems and strong, people-first cultures.
COO & Co-Founder
LeanTakt, LeanBuilt,
LeanSuperintendent
LeanSuperintendent
Founder &
COO
Elevate Construction
30
+
Years Experience
About me
Supporting Construction Through Excellence
Jason has 30+ years in construction, rising from the trades to executive leadership while delivering major North American projects across sectors. He led senior roles at Hensel Phelps, DPR and Okland, built early field-leadership boot camps, and trained hundreds of supers and engineers.
He pioneered Takt Planning and created the Takt Production System®, Integrated Production Control System™ and First Planner System®. He’s the author of multiple best-known field leadership books and hosts the Elevate Construction Podcast (1M+ downloads), sharing practical, jobsite-tested Lean and leadership systems.
$
10
B+
Worth of Projects Supported
98
%
Client Satisfaction
Expertise
Skills I Have
Comprehensive skills designed to accelerate construction and
leadership development.
Construction Management
99
+
Endorsements
Construction
99
+
Endorsements
Pre- Construction
99
+
Endorsements
CPM
Scheduling
37
+
Endorsements
Contract Management
29
+
Endorsements
Design -
Build
19
+
Endorsements
Takt Planning, Steering & Control
First
Planner ®
System
Last
Planner ®
System
Lean
Leadership
Services
Services I Provide
Comprehensive skills designed to accelerate construction and
leadership development.
Leadership
Development
Project
Management
Career
Development Coaching
Training
Management
Consulting
Team
Building
Need Project Support?
Whether you’re starting a new project or need help moving an existing one forward, our team is here to assist. Let’s work together to bring your ideas to life.
Super PM Boot
Camp Is On The Way
This Superintendent/PM Boot Camp will give you the energy, confidence and passion you need to lead your projects and your teams at the highest level
Free Takt
Production Course
Master the Takt Production System® with 9 focused video lessons. Select any lesson to access its video, Miro board, syllabus, quiz and recommended textbook.
Published Works
Featured Books
Bestselling books that transform the way leaders think and operate.
Official Study Guide & Workbook for Elevating Construction Superintendents: A Companion To Elevating Construction Superintendents by Jason Schroeder (The Art of the Builder)
Elevating Pre-construction Planning: Book 2 – The First Planner System (The Art of the Builder)
Official Study Guide & Workbook for Elevating Construction Foremen: A Companion To Elevating Construction Foremen (The Art of the Builder)
Awards
Honors & Awards
Recognition for leadership and excellence
Rapport Leadership International Master Graduate, Level 2
Associated with okland construction
Issued by Rapport Leadership International
Jan 2020
What i got
Licenses & Certifications
Licensed Contractor
Master Graduate
Approved LCI Instructor
Takt Master Certification
Scrum Master Certification
CAPA Pro Member
Certificate of Management, Lean Construction
Lean Leader Certification
Designated Design-Build Professional(™)
Autodesk AutoCAD Certified Professional
Autodesk Revit Architecture Certified Professional
Certified of Management - Building Information Modeling
Digital Presence
Youtube Channels
Educational content reaching millions of business professionals worldwide.
Elevate Construction
Podcast
13 subscribers
Apple Podcast
Elevate Construction - Jason Schroeder
4.9(139) How To – UPDATED DAILY
Jason Schroeder
Jason Schroeder is a lifelong builder, construction executive, author, speaker, and one of the construction industry’s most trusted voices on Lean thinking, Takt Planning, production control, and field leadership. He is the Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Elevate Construction, where he helps construction companies and field leaders create stable delivery systems, build strong cultures, and lead with respect for people.
With over 30 years of experience in construction, Jason’s career began in the trades and progressed through field engineer, superintendent, general superintendent, project director, and executive leadership roles. He has planned, built, and supported some of the most complex construction projects in North America, including projects valued in the multiple hundreds of millions and multiple billions of dollars, across healthcare, commercial, institutional, and megaproject environments throughout the United States.
Jason has held senior leadership roles with Hensel Phelps, DPR Construction, and Okland Construction, where he became known for his ability to stabilize challenging projects, build high-performing field teams, and translate Lean principles into practical, executable systems. During this time, he developed some of the industry’s earliest and most comprehensive Field Engineer, Superintendent, and Project Engineer boot camps, training hundreds of field leaders and helping scale operational excellence across organizations.
A recognized pioneer of Takt Planning in construction, Jason is the inventor of the Takt Production System®, the Integrated Production Control System™, and The First Planner System® —production and leadership systems designed to create flow, reliability, and dignity in construction work. He is also the author of several influential books, including Elevating Construction Superintendents, Elevating Construction Senior Superintendents, Takt Planning, and Takt Steering & Control, which are widely used by field leaders and organizations seeking to modernize how construction is planned and executed.
Jason is the host of the Elevate Construction Podcast, one of the most listened-to construction leadership podcasts in the world, with over one million downloads. Through the podcast, his books, training programs, and consulting engagements, Jason shares practical, field-tested insights on leadership, Lean systems, production flow, and cultural transformation—always grounded in real jobsite experience.
In addition to Elevate Construction, Jason is the Founder and COO of LeanTakt and LeanSuperintendent, platforms created to scale Lean education, Takt Planning, and field leadership development throughout the construction industry. His work consistently emphasizes stability, total participation, continuous improvement, and respect for people—not as abstract ideals, but as daily practices on real construction projects.
At the core of everything Jason does is a clear and deeply personal mission:
to elevate construction into a profession that builds leaders, honors people, delivers predictable results, and preserves families—while making construction as efficient as manufacturing and as respected as healthcare.
questions
Frequently Asked
What is your core philosophy on construction?
I believe construction is a production system, not a management exercise. Everything I teach and build comes back to one idea: we build remarkable people who build remarkable things.
Projects should be designed for flow, where work moves steadily through zones without stops, restarts, or chaos. When the system is right, crews are respected, families are protected, and results become predictable.
What is the Takt Production System® and why does it matter?
The Takt Production System® is how I bring flow to construction. It’s a way to create rhythm, continuity, and consistency by moving work through zones on a steady time beat.
Instead of trades stacking on top of each other in chaos, crews move like a train—same pace, same spacing, finishing as they go.
That stability is everything. It reduces variation, exposes bottlenecks early, and creates an environment where teams can actually succeed without constant firefighting.
When you combine the Takt Production System® with the Last Planner® System and the First Planner System®, you connect strategy to execution, and that’s where projects start to feel calm, predictable, and winnable.
What is the First Planner System®?
The First Planner System® is Jason’s preconstruction discipline for engineering the production system before construction begins. Most projects fail because they start wrong, and over 60% of success is determined before the notice to proceed. The First Planner System® produces a complete production plan, phased strategy, procurement logic, logistics plan, and information pathways so teams are set up to win from day one.
It works alongside the Takt Production System® and the Last Planner System® as part of Jason’s Integrated Production Control System (IPCS). You cannot run one alone and expect to win. When all three work together, the project has a designed system, a steady rhythm, and reliable commitments that protect both the schedule and the people.
Why do you say “we build people, not just projects”?
Because I’ve seen it over and over again, the companies that invest in people outperform everyone else.
We don’t have a labor shortage. We have a training shortage.
When you develop foremen to lead, field engineers to solve problems, and superintendents to run systems, everything stabilizes.
That’s why I push for at least 80 hours of training per person per year. You can’t just “learn as you go”, that’s how you learn mediocrity.
If you want excellence, you have to invest in people intentionally and consistently.
How is Elevate Construction different?
We’re not a consulting company that sits on the sidelines—we’re builders.
If you want it done, you call us.
We run projects, build systems, and train teams hands-on. Whether it’s implementing the Integrated Production Control System™, training teams through our boot camps, or supporting projects with the Takt Production System®, we’re in the field making it work with real crews.
What makes us different is simple:
- builder-led experience
- system-first thinking
- and a real commitment to developing people
- We don’t just teach theory—we get results.
How do you define Lean in construction?
Lean, to me, is the willingness to learn and implement excellence for the purpose of blessing people and humanity.
It’s not just a set of tools, it’s a mindset and a commitment to build better systems so people can do their best work and live better lives.
Lean is centered around six core principles:
- Respect for people, nature, and resources
- Stability and standardization
- One-piece flow (progress flow)
- Flowing together on a takt time with pull and Andon
- Total participation supported by visual systems
- Quality and continuous improvement
When you really understand Lean, you realize it’s not about efficiency at the expense of people, it’s about putting people first so excellence becomes possible.
I truly believe Lean is the construction industry’s and humanity’s best hope to rise to the next level. Because when you focus on people, everything else follows.
get in touch
Let's Work Together
Ready to transform your business? Reach out today to schedule a consultation.
Phone
Location
2828 N Central Ave, 10th Floor, Suite 716, Phoenix, AZ 85004.
Construction executive, author, and trusted voice on Lean, Takt Planning, and field leadership.
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