Two Restaurants on Saturday Night

Leaders of construction companies have to make many decisions with less than perfect information.

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On one hand you never want to make a decision without good information.  On the other hand there is value in the timeliness of a decision and many times there will be imperfect information regardless of how much time you wait.

Leadership Tools: 2 Restaurants On a Saturday Night

The best leaders have a complex 5D Model in their heads at all times.  They have mental models of the market with the competition, their projects and their business as a whole. This “Situational Awareness” along with the ability to act decisively is crucial.  

Many times we are looking for perfectly formatted data in some sort of a report but there are indicators all over the place.  Consider two restaurants; Saturday evening; similar locations; similar food. One is packed consistently with a wait and the other is nearly empty serving a couple tables at a time.  

You don’t need detailed financial information to know there are problems and begin the troubleshooting process.  There are many similar indicators on projects and within contracting businesses. The more you train yourself and your team to “see” these then act upon them the better your team will operate.  

Part of the learning process is to see the indicators then to dig rapidly for supporting data to better evaluate.  

What are your main proxy indicators for productivity, safety, quality, morale, etc.?




Definition - Delegation
Delegation is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person. This includes standards, resource allocation, follow-up, and quality checks to ensure the work is done correctly. Accountability for outcomes does not diminish.
Opportunity Evaluation (2 Critical Dimensions)
Your strategic decisions show up most vividly in the opportunities you choose to pursue. Disciplined and aggressive business development will ensure a strong pipeline of opportunities. Choosing what to pursue requires balancing two critical dimensions.
Our Principles for Creating Value in Careers, Projects, and Contracting
“As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The person who grasps principles can successfully select their own methods. The person who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” - Harrington Emmerson