Ep. 507 - Straining at Gnats and Swallowing Camels

Jason takes the scriptural phrase from Matthew 23:24, "ye blind guides which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel," and turns it into a leadership lesson for the industry. He walks through a recent story of a PM who balked at a $4,000 training bill while the same project was on track to lose hundreds of thousands to schedule slippage, turnover, and liquidated damages. He pulls in the John Wayne Hell fighters scene where an oil well fire specialist gets promoted to a board meeting arguing about bathroom paint colors and quits to go back to real work, and shares his own moment early at Elevate when he tried to hire his way out of managing the business. Additional Resources: =================== • Playlist - Construction Leadership —    • Superintendent to Field Commander: The Lea...   • Related Podcast - Stop Playing Tennis! — https://elevateconstruction.libsyn.co... • Related Podcast - Focus on the Right Problem, Feat. Charlie Dunn — https://elevateconstruction.libsyn.co... • What to Watch Next -    • 6 Things Every Good Project Manager Does   • What to Watch Next -    • How Do You Lead Yourself?   • Jason's Book - Elevating Construction Senior Superintendents, Book 1 — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6XQBBZG • Suggested Book - The One Thing — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1885167776 • Blog - https://elevateconstructionist.com/st... Key Moments in this Podcast: ========================== 01:31 - Where midsize contractors often outperform the largest players on this 01:56 - The PM who balked at the $4,000 training bill on a project losing millions 03:36 - The real cost of skipping the training: hundreds of thousands in delay and overtime 05:12 - The industry saying: pole vaulting over mouse turds 05:35 - Why PMs only see the general conditions budget, not the weightier matters 06:23 - The gnats leaders obsess over: websites, software, truck doors, hard hat colors 07:06 - The John Wayne Hell fighters story and the bathroom paint color board meeting 09:10 - The right weighting exercise: can you afford $200 to $300k in mistakes to save one field engineer 10:22 - The core diagnosis: visible unimportant issues get all the attention, invisible urgent ones don't 11:15 - The math: cut two dollars or earn twenty dollars, which is easier 11:35 - LeGrand Richards: run to your work, not away from it 11:56 - The Hensel Phelps general superintendent: find the biggest problem first and take it down 13:00 - Jason's confession: trying to hire his way out of running the business at Elevate 13:38 - The reason people strain at gnats: they're easy to see. The reason they swallow camels: they're not The camel isn't the emergency. It's the one you're too busy to notice. Find the biggest problem in the room and take it down first. Resources ======================== Check out our website for more info: https://www.elevateconstructionist.com/ Access resources to elevate your operations: https://elevateconstructionist.com/re... Listen to the Elevate Construction podcast: https://elevateconstructionist.com/po... Check out our training programs and certifications: https://elevateconstructionist.com/tr... Subscribe to my YouTube channel:    / @jasonwilliamschroeder   Learn More About Jason ======================== Jason Schroeder is the founder and COO of Elevate Construction IST, a company focused on elevating construction by providing valuable insights, effective solutions, and high-quality training. With his extensive experience in the construction industry, he created the Field Engineer Boot Camp and Superintendent Boot Camp, immersive training courses designed to produce high-performing leaders who can lead their teams in the right direction. Through Elevate Construction IST, he aims to scale his training programs throughout the nation to help more construction companies elevate their operations to the next level. ======================== Email: jasons@elevateconstructionist.com Phone: +1 (602) 571 8987 #Construction #ProjectManagement #Leadership