When a measure becomes a target
Once a measure becomes a target, it stops being a good measure. Construction jobs prove that every week.
Read the field note· Keith Montgomery
The certainty of a sergeant
Give someone the tools to execute, and a private can do the job with the certainty of a sergeant.
Read the field notePercent complete versus planned complete
Percent complete versus planned complete is the first schedule check that means anything, and only if both numbers are measuring the same thing.
Read the field noteMilestone hit rate
Milestone hit rate is the simplest schedule metric on a commercial job, and one of the few that is hard to soften. A milestone is either done on the date you named, or it is not.
Read the field noteFloat is not padding
Critical-path float is the number of days a job can slip before the finish date moves. It is also the number most schedules hide.
Read the field noteThe 100 decisions before lunch
A superintendent or project manager on a sizable commercial job does not spend the day “managing the schedule.” They spend it making the same categories of decisions, over and over, because the facts those decisions depend on are not in one place.
Read the field noteFewer decisions. Faster work. Less overhead.
A large construction job does not slow down because people are lazy. It slows down because the day is full of choices that should already have been made.
Read the field note