When it comes to communication, it pays to think smart. Or rather, thinking smart can keep you from paying….     In reading the book, Inside The…

  As a member of the Association of Subcontractor and Affiliates (ASA) of Chicago, we try to share the collective expertise of the association. Like…

  Three stories jolted me in quick succession last week.   A close friend who leads a residential home building firm in Chicago responded glumly when…

A good predictor tool for rework and cost impact on a construction project is the Field Rework Index (FRI). Take a past project on which you have…

This 2,800-square-foot plan utilizes Lean design to combat narrow-lot woes. One of the most important aspects of Lean design is value. It makes no…

  In his 2008 book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea of the 10,000-Hour Rule. That is, the essential component in developing expertise…

As we continue to distance ourselves from an economic downturn that had a deep impact on the remodeling industry, one key variable is still evolving…

  We were winning by several touchdowns when I got the nod. “Just hand the ball off, stay in bounds, & keep the clock running...”  Those were my…

  Sometimes numbers alone can tell the story of an organization’s leadership.    Here is the Win/Loss record for the NY Giants:           1964: 2-10-…

Benchmarking is a technique in which a company measures its performance against that of best in class companies, determines how those companies…