Mental Models and Building Strong Businesses

The best builders develop a complex 5D mental model of the project.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

This complex 5D mental model is then constantly kept updated. Through thousands of interactions with hundreds of people over years they “nudge” the project from concept through construction completion.

Leadership Tools: Mental Models and Building Construction Businesses

They make lots of mistakes but what keeps the project on-track is that they know what’s not fitting their mental model and they adjust quickly.  They have rigorous processes for managing design revisions, requests for information and a submittal process to ensure they are getting what they really want.  They have many routine meetings, planning and communication rhythms.

Building a construction business is no different; just more complex and (hopefully) continuing on for many decades.  It is critical for leaders at all levels within a contracting business to develop detailed mental models of the business as it operates today and as they want it to operate in the future.  

They must engage people who will challenge every aspect of that mental model just as a building design is challenged to make it better, more cost effective, faster, etc. 

This is where an unbiased but experienced 3rd party facilitator can really add value. 


Learn More:




Lean Principle - 3 Enemies of Lean
Profitable growth comes from operating within a target capacity and capability range - and continually increasing those ranges. Operating with consistent overload, consistent under capacity, or with consistently high variability is not sustainable.
Changes and Cash Flow Improvement
Construction is a cash-intensive business and change orders are often one of the root causes of poor cash flow. A 30-day improvement to change management workflow can generate over $400K in additional cash flow for a $50M contractor.
Foreman - Four Sometimes Competing Responsibilities
No other position in the construction industry has a bigger impact on field productivity than the Foreman who is leading the crew on front-line. There are four major responsibilities the foreman has that often seem to be competing with each other: