Construction Brothers

Today we’re re-sharing an episode we did earlier this year with Jordan McRae. Jordan is the CEO of Mobilus Labs and one of the inventors of MobiWAN, a communication device that enables users to hear and speak through skull vibrations. MobiWAN was one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Significant Inventions of 2021.   As construction people know, communication on the job site is immeasurably important. I...

It’s not what you’d expect. Despite all of his work in physics, Einstein is said to have said that the most powerful force in the universe is compound interest.  This certainly makes sense in the world of finance, but it goes far beyond that.  It’s about slow-burn, long-process growth on top of growth on top of growth. Its power reaches into personal lives, business lives, creative pursuits–it rea...

When it comes to adopting new helmet solutions, it turns out that construction workers are surprisingly fashion-conscious. Today we talk to Rob McKinney about innovations in head protection. Rob is full of insight about the current state of safety practices in the construction industry.   Before we get around to helmets and hard hats, we chat about the Ford Lightning. Tyler shares about his recent...

Discipline or regret. It’s one or the other.    Tyler shares his morning routine and the challenges of consistency, and we discuss how much harder it is to start a new routine than to maintain an existing one.   Life, especially family life, doesn’t lend itself to consistency.   Discipline is uncomfortable for a time, but regret can last a long, long time.   Discipline=freedom.    By the way, if y...

Before we go any further, here are three movie scenes that we refer to in today’s discussion. If you haven’t seen these in a while, you might want to refresh your memory: Billy Madison milk scene Cousin Eddie and his RV Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker   Some hail Trevor Owen as the BIM Guru. Some call him BIM Boy. Whatever term you use, Trevor knows BIM. Specifically, he’s the BIM specialist for...

Man, it’s been a long few years. Let’s allow ourselves to step out of the weeds for a minute.   Today, Heady Eddie shares the concept of benevolent detachment and a few other insights from the book Resilient . The message from that book? Sometimes you need to let it go.   You can’t do it on your own.    Sometimes you need to hand your situation off to something greater than yourself. Give yourself...

5,229 construction workers died by suicide in 2016 (the last year for which CDC numbers are available).    The industry category of “construction and extraction” has a higher rate of suicide than any other industry category.    That’s why suicide is a topic worthy of discussion on a construction-related podcast. That’s why we’re talking to Kevin Sells today.    People who aren’t involved in constr...

Frustration can eat you alive.  As Dad used to say, “Don’t let ‘em get your goat.”  Eddie shares that he has yet to be killed by any of the countless frustrations that have distracted him at various points over the years.  There’s always a way to figure something out. Very rarely will a single day’s frustration still be here in a couple weeks.  Allow your “That bothers me” threshold to grow as you...

It’s been a month since we’ve been here with a new episode. We’re excited to be back!   Joining us today is Steven Biersteker (pronounced beer-staker), a Canadian architect from Thinkspace .    As a child, Steven wanted to be an inventor. When he discovered that you couldn’t major in “inventing,” his combined strengths of art and math sent him in the direction of architecture. He attended Universi...

We've heard it a million times: Treat others as you would like to be treated. Today we discuss how to balance the classic moral principle of The Golden Rule with an age-old business maxim: The customer is always right. In the service industry, employees and managers often face challenges when attempting to implement the practice of treating others as you’d like to be treated.  Tyler reflects on a...

(This episode is a rebroadcast of an interview we did in February of 2022.)   Allen Angle is the VDC-FM Integration Manager at JLL . Allen is full of insights when it comes to the role of technology in construction. Most of JLL’s construction clients have some sort of system in place for operations, maintenance, and space management. Allen’s job is to help them discern the sexy from the practical....

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! M...

(This episode is a rebroadcast of an interview we did in 2020.)   Brian Ringley is the Construction Technology Manager Boston Dynamics. Much of his work centers on the Spot robot. You could call it an “agile mobile robot” or a “quadraped.” Or you could just call it a robot dog.    But it’s more than just a robot dog, and it’s more than just an agile quadraped. It’s a platform for all kinds of func...

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 che...

Take me out to the ballgame! Today we’re re-airing a really fun conversation we had last year with Angie Simon.   Angie can hit a nasty curveball, but when she’s not standing at the plate, she’s working in one of these roles: Advisor to the Board at Western Allied Mechanical . (She was CEO when we recorded this interview last year.) Immediate Past President Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contrac...

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

Some people call it by name, and some people refer to it less directly, but anxiety is a real thing. And it can keep you from doing your best work and living a full life.   The experiences we describe in this episode might seem totally unfamiliar to some of you. But we’d bet that some of you are going to find yourself saying, “Hmm. Yup. I’ve experienced that…”   The anxiety we’re talking about in...

Work, family, finances–all of these things are wonderful, but they also cause stress. Sometimes, that stress can accumulate to the point where it becomes something more substantial and name-able: anxiety. It can be easy to downplay symptoms and brush aside concerns, but you’re not doing yourself any favors when you do that.    Today we discuss some signs that might indicate a level of anxiety wort...

We’ve talked about some complicated things over our 138 episodes. Everything from laser mapping equipment to $15 billion petroleum-processing factories. The complexity of today’s topic exceeds all of those. Today we talk about parenthood. Since we’re the Construction Brothers, our focus is primarily on fatherhood.     Between the two of us, we have eight kids. That’s a bunch of years to travel tha...

Today we build on last week’s FMF episode, when we discussed the importance of approaching your work like you’d approach a game of chess rather than Fortnite.    It’s about being deliberate–thinking several steps ahead. As a manager, it’s easy to get caught up in the expectation that all progress is visible to an outside observer. The problem is that different human workers function differently. T...

Sometimes you hear a podcast that’s so good you want to produce your own version of it. This episode finds us reflecting on an Entreleadership podcast with Dr. Henry Cloud. Cloud is a bestselling author, psychologist, and leadership expert. He is best known for his popular book Boundaries. (You can see the video version of this podcast here .)  Before we get into all of that useful stuff, though,...

Today we channel our inner Kasparov to discuss the fact that things are better when you think several moves ahead. Whenever possible, it’s best to be methodical and avoid the need to make decisions on the fly.    We discuss how we’ve seen people do this effectively–including a former colleague who would occasionally head to the back room, pop in his earbuds, and do the dishes. Sometimes it even bo...

We’re just sitting here talking… but it’s different. For those of you who are listening to the podcast rather than watching the Youtube video: We’ve redesigned our recording space to allow for more movement and some occasional video integration. We’re experimenting with a slightly different format that will hopefully involve some in-person interviews among other things.    Watch the video: https:/...

Tyler shares about a recent experience with creative shutdown. His new role required a different form of insight than his previous role, and he needed to figure out how to shift gears.   What he learned is that it’s okay to step away from the situation. Get outside. Get away from the pressure and create space for the ideas to grow.   It takes both discipline and openness. And a playful attitude. A...

Jeff Sample is known to many as The Ironman of IT. That title is not metaphorical. He’s an actual “Ironman” athlete and he works in construction-related IT. Jeff has worn many hats within the construction world, but he’s currently the primary host of the ContechCrew podcast and the “Industry Evangelist” for Join , which specializes in helping owners, designers, and contractors improve workflow thr...