Construction Brothers

We had a great business idea and we're giving it away. Also, a story about the best Monday meeting Eddie's ever had.

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Have you ever used the phrase "Can't We Just"?

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Around 200,000 people leave the U.S. Military every year and transition back to civilian life. Our guest, Jay Snyder is the President of Big Blue Innovations, but is currently serving in the United States Air Force Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel.

We love this conversation because it helps address the labor issue we hear about so often along with giving veterans an open door to an amazing industry. Jay gives us a few tips on how to approach hiring more veterans along with sharing his own experience going from active duty to the private sector.

https://www.bigblueinnovations.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/snyderjayp/

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Tyler's going to regret opening his mouth during this episode.

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Eddie used to wear khakis and a button-down shirt to the office every single day. He felt like this was the way he needed to dress for work in order to show that he was taking his role seriously. Now, he wears jeans and a t-shirt to the office every day. 

This isn’t an episode about fashion, but more an episode about questioning your motivations for doing things. Eddie has moved away from a ton of things that he used to hold near in business. The main reason for it was asking himself why they really matter and what difference they make in the company.

Also, Tyler quit drinking coffee so prayers are appreciated. 🤣

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Thanks for joining us this week!

Make sure you check out our sponsor Trimble ProjectSight! -https://projectsight.trimble.com/

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Amy Morin has one of the most popular TEDx talks of all time called “The Secret Of Becoming Mentally Strong,” with over 17 million views. The talk was based on her first book, 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do, which was featured on USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists.

She has also been featured on media outlets like Good Morning America, Business Insider, Fox News, Time, CNBC, and Today.

If that wasn’t enough, Inc. Magazine featured her as a top 100 leadership speaker in 2018.

Here is what you’re going to learn from listening to this podcast episode!

- What is the difference between mental strength & mental health?

- What’s the difference between being mentally strong and acting tough?

- What are some exercises for building mental strength?

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This week we are going over 4 Tips For Project Managers!

Here's a list of what we cover.

- Don’t be a project pile-it. Don’t hit forward on the email saying “Please advise” before you understand and clarify the request.

- Stay in front of the airplane.

- Don’t be a box checker.

- Have integrity. Never lie to get somebody to do something for you.

Thanks for joining us this week!

Make sure you check out our sponsor Trimble ProjectSight! -https://projectsight.trimble.com/

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What happens when there are no lines drawn between teams? Kevin Sell with United Group Services tells us about "Project Summit." Kevin talks about the cultural and contractual aspects of construction which opens the door for collaboration across an entire project. We're extremely excited about the approach the Project Summit team took on this and think it needs to be scaled up!

Related Links

Here are the news articles we referenced in this week's episode!

Have you ever been asked to do something and because it felt stupid you didn't really give it a full effort? Our guest, John Toups, calls this action Malicious Obedience. 

John is focused on driving safety, productivity, and employee engagement at companies like Exxon, Shell, and Suncor. In this discussion, we dive into some of the practices that he's used to engage teams within the construction industry to drive those outcomes. It's a fascinating topic!

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After reviewing hundreds of Architectural sets over the years, here are the main pain points we see most often.

- Stair stringers have width

- Do final coordination with your engineer before issuing the documentation

- Use grids (and coordinate)

- Know the actual dimensions of materials like masonry

- Dimension walls to face of stud

- Be a builder. Not an artist.

Thanks for joining us this week!

Make sure you check out our sponsor Trimble ProjectSight! - https://projectsight.trimble.com/

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Our guest this week is someone we've wanted to interview for a really long time. 

Bob Goff is the author of two New York Times best-sellers- Love Does and Everybody Always - He's also a recovering construction lawyer after practicing for 25 years. He is now a writer, speaker and founder of the non-profit "Love Does" dedicated to helping kids in conflict areas. 

Bob has been a massive inspiration to both brothers, and we were absolutely honored to chat with him. 

Related Links

Here are the articles we quoted during this week's episode!

Is mixed reality useful? We recently had the opportunity to try out a workflow that had us really excited. 

It’s something a lot of people are already doing, it’s just improved through MR. Nathan Patton is our guest today and he walks us through what’s new in Mixed Reality, how people are using it and what the future of this technology might look like. 

We had no idea how inefficient the layout process could be, especially if you’re new to it. Even users who have a ton of experience have a hard time finding layout points sometimes. 

It can get especially frustrating and time-consuming when you have 300 or even 1000 points to layout. 

With Trimble’s new mixed reality application, FieldLink MR you can fire up the XR10 and it will give you an arrow and show you where the points are. Once you’re there, you can dial in and fine-tune it all without using the tablet. A practical workflow you’re already doing, made better through mixed reality.

Related Links

Here are the articles we quoted during this week's episode!

Even though the family has been in BIM for a long time, we're still learning new things. Allen is the VDC-FM Integration Manager at JLL and brings a load of valuable insights to the table.

His role at JLL working with Owners has allowed him to see the end-users needs, which we so often overlook. 

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A lesson on innovation. Keep exploring! 

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Can a digital twin really be created in 2022? Our guest, Matt Sprague, is pushing back against the belief that true digital twins exist. He suggests that we have a lot of work to do, and a ton of questions to ask before we can get to a real digital twin of a building. 

We dive down a few rabbit holes that are pretty fun during this conversation! 

- What defines a digital twin? 

- How does a digital twin evolve from the Design Model to the Built Model, to the Operated model? 

- Will the metaverse play into how we view and interact with digital twins? 

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Do you love the undo button as much as us? This week we are talking about mistakes that happen and what we can do to make the situations better. 

Topics that we cover:

Mistakes happen!

How to compare mistakes to baseball

Slow down, think- then act!

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Our Dad has been bringing up the topic of carbon credits a lot over the past year. Like us, you’re probably wondering “What the heck is a carbon credit?” so we asked our friend Dan Linsky of ClimeCo to break it down for us. 

“Dan has been involved in the carbon and renewable energy industries since 2003. At ClimeCo, he serves as the Vice President of Voluntary Markets and Leader of the Transaction Team. Dan oversees all voluntary carbon sales, coordinates strategies, and manages ClimeCo’s carbon offset inventories for this growing market.” 

The thing we’re most excited about with Carbon Credits is the ability to get a leg up on the competition in your bids. If you have a clear way of showing owners that you’ll offset the emissions produced over the life of the project you’re going to turn some heads. 

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Today the bros' are chatting about one of the biggest problems in the steel industry and how it can be solved.

Things that we talk about:

- RTU Frames: Why is it the biggest problem?

- Christmas is coming...just like big projects.

- Pre-Detailing meetings are important.

- Most of all, communication is key

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Do you ever hear voices in your head? This week we chat with our friend Jordan McRae about bone conduction and it's use cases in the industry.

Things that we cover in this episode:

What is bone conduction?

What kind of environments does this help the industry in?

Can you fully plug your ears and still hear?

How does the microphone work? Does it reduce ambient noise so that people on the other end of our call can hear us clearly?

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These things take practice, but they are all qualities you should strive for as a leader.

- Show your humanity. Don't be afraid to show your emotions.

- Remember the golden rule

- Make others successful, and you will be successful.

- If you're offering a reward, make sure it's in reach and winnable.

- If you want good performance, pay well. Be there waiting with the check when the job is finished and people will love you for it.

- People want to be heroes, not villains.

Credit to Lee Evey for helping us out with these tips!

Thanks for joining us this week!

Make sure you check out our sponsor Trimble ProjectSight! - https://projectsight.trimble.com/

Please consider subscribing!

In this week's episode, our friend Melanie Kagen educates us on the reality of homelessness and how we can help. 

Melanie’s Info: 

www.thecfr.org 

melaniekagen@thecfr.org 

(770)-428-2601 

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In this week's five minute Friday, Tyler and Eddie read the Christmas Story.

We hope that everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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In this 5 Minute Friday, Tyler discusses the restlessness he felt at times during his time at ABSI. 

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In this episode, our good friend Aiden Maguire joins us to give us a full education on Hilti's Jaibot.

Here are a few things we cover in this episode!

- How Jaibot improves site safety

- Features you didn't know about

- What happens when the drill runs into something?

Thanks for listening! Please be sure to leave a rating or review and follow us on our social accounts!

Have you ever been called a hypocrite? In this week's Five Minute Friday, we cover some topics over hypocrisy. In the construction industry, it's really easy to have a "do as I say, not as I do" mindset, but little things that even children understand can cause us to stop and think. 

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After a month off, WE ARE BACK! On today's episode, Tyler and Eddie discuss the people problems in the BIM Industry. Is driving more detail into design really possible considering the employment issues we're facing?

We address these topics:

- Eddie talks about how automation in BIM is the future, not people.

- Industry expectations on BIM departments

- Where do we find people do the work?

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In this week's five minute Friday, we discuss the golden rule and the many ways that it can be perceived.

We also discuss about in some situations, how the customer is not always right.

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How do we pass down knowledge efficiently? This week we sit down with Randy Collins and figure out how to implement training that truly works. We talk about how to set expectations, how to build a training program, and how to normalize training. Randy brings up some interesting points on how training affects both those new and experienced in the industry, and why you should continue training.

The boys are taking a break and re-tooling, so we're revisiting another episode this month. We're going to be coming at you with some new stuff in December! 

What comes first, the Lego bricks or the Lego master?

The modular construction movement is trying to figure out this very same issue. What comes first, is it the modules or the modular design? Construction already uses modular or unitized building materials as its basis for the design. Whether you are dealing with a literal brick, lumber, plywood, or piping we use predictable sizes and shapes that complement each other and fit together well.

The big question is, how do we encourage more companies to go into modular building components?

Eddie and Tyler dive into an interesting discussion based around a blog post Eddie has been working on.

Thanks for listening! Please be sure to leave a rating or review and follow us on our social accounts!

In this week's five minute Friday, Tyler and Eddie discuss the outcome of taking the time to fulfill a project until you are 100% satisfied. We also hit a few topics such as not settling for the minimum, but going above and beyond.

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We talk to the founder of Dusty Robotics! Tessa brings insight of how CAD drawings have more use cases than we currently use them for and has designed a robot that takes these drawings and prints them on a site. While Tyler draws up his BattleBot, Tessa talks about how humanitarian issues created a desire to enter the robotics field and finding creative ways to help people. Designated as a Chief Robot Whisperer, Tessa’s goal is to create robots that can do the things we can’t or don’t want to do.

!! RFI !! Love them or hate them they are a part of the construction process we know today. Listen today as we give you a little glimpse into the brokenness of the process and challenge you to think of a better way.

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Why should we care about carbon emissions? How can you determine how much embodied carbon is in the materials you’re using on your job site?

Our guest this week is Stacy Smedley. Stacy is the Director of Sustainability for Skanska USA and the Executive Director for Building Transparency which developed an amazing tool to help combat climate change caused by embodied carbon generated by the construction industry.

Here are a few things we asked her!

- What is embodied carbon?

- Why should we care?

- What can we do to improve the sustainability of the materials we’re using

Relevant Links

Have you ever stayed in a Marriott, Hilton, or Hyatt Hotel? There's a high likelihood that you've used one of these bathroom pods. But how is it done? Tyler had the opportunity to go visit SurePods, which is a prefabrication company here in the U.S. Their Vice President, Bill Seery, walked Tyler through the plant and showed him how it all comes together.

1. Productivity - The work is in front of you, and you almost always have the next thing to be working on. This reduces the number of people in "Wandering Mode" which is what you'll see frequently on job sites.

2. Safety - Since everything is in a controlled environment, it's easier to keep things closer to the ground and in a place that's safer for all employees. In some cases, they have the walls up on tables so they're really comfortable to work on. Each task can be reviewed by a safety officer and adjusted on the fly if needed.

3. Waste - Every piece of light gauge they roll has a purpose. They don't just buy light gauge in stock lengths and cut to size, they roll the studs as needed and to the correct length. 

4. Finish - The finished product is immaculate. Multiple people are at the end of the line cleaning every speck of dust off of the tile, sink, mirrors.

Clifton Harness joins us once more! Clifton happens to be the 1st guest ever to be on the show. (See Episode 2) He is the CEO and Co-Founder of TestFit, which helps Developers and Architects solve site plans for multifamily, hotel, parking or garden apartments in seconds.

Clifton is one of our favorites to have on the show because we always walk away with food for thought. 

In this episode, we cover:

- Testfit's breaking news (someone is joining the team)

- Clifton's theory of how to fix the industry

- Is a completely 3D workflow a pipe-dream?

Also, quite possibly the most off-the-rails intro to a show we've ever had. Blame Tyler's coffee addiction. 

Relevant Links