Black Box Thinking

Failures, mistakes and problems are part of every contractor’s business.

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They are part of everyone’s day.  What separates out high-performing teams is a relentless focus on learning from these problems then creating systems and training to mitigate them in the future.  

Talent Development Tools: Root Cause Analysis and Improvements. Quote: Ego is about who's right. Truth is about what's right. Mike Maples Jr. Book: Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed.

Low-performers look for “Who” did something wrong.

Low-performers put quick fixes in place and move on.

Low-performers avoid talking about failures, problems and mistakes openly.  


High-performers view every failure, problem or mistake as an opportunity to learn. 

High-performers ask lots of questions to identify the root cause of what happened.

High-performers then make plans to adjust for the next cycle.  

High-performers raise up the whole team by creating new standards, processes and training when they find a better way.  


Black Box Thinking was recommended to me by Sujata Bhide and dives much deeper into this topic.  

We spend a lot of time with our clients helping their teams develop great skills at Root Cause Analysis + Improvements.  Never easy; always worth it.  

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Construction Contracting, Materials Science, and "People Science"
Psychology is materials science for people. Engineers use materials science to design and build construction projects that are both safe and meet the needs of their owners. Organizational Development is the engineering of individuals into effective teams.
Project Delivery - CM Agency or Multi-Prime
Project Owners can minimize the markups for overhead and profit by contracting directly with the specialty contractors and hiring a Construction Management (CM) firm to work as their agent. This project delivery method is called CM Agency or Multi-Prime.
Definition - Training
The process of Increasing the knowledge and skills of someone, typically shorter-term and in the context of being able to perform in their current role at a competency level that meets standards.