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The EBFC Show

The EBFC Show

By: Felipe Engineer Manriquez
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 The Easier, Better, for Construction Show strives to make building easier and better today. We dig into design and construction topics to inspire you to develop your people, improve your processes, and take the business of building to the next level. Podcasts are published monthly. Learn more and connect with Host Felipe Engineer-Manriquez, at https://thefelipe.bio.link/.Copyright 2023 All rights reserved. Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Your Project Is Late Because You Believe These 10 Lies | Victor Ortiz Part 5

    Your Project Is Late Because You Believe These 10 Lies | Victor Ortiz Part 5
    Mar 27 2026
    Most construction projects run on beliefs nobody questions. Victor Ortiz breaks down 10 misconceptions that keep teams late, over budget, and stuck in blame. From treating projects as anything other than production systems to relying on schedules that only report failure, this episode challenges how construction actually operates. If you lead projects or work in the field, this conversation will change how you see control, planning, and team performance. --- Most construction teams don’t realize they’re running the wrong system. You walk a job that’s slipping. People blame each other. The schedule gets updated. Nothing improves. Victor Ortiz has seen this for 25+ years. He worked with Glenn Ballard and Greg Howell in the early days of lean construction. He’s coached projects across data centers, hospitals, and heavy industrial work. He also just received the LCI Northern California Lean Rock Star Award. In this conversation, Victor breaks down 10 beliefs that keep projects late, over budget, and stuck in conflict. You’ll hear why treating a project like anything other than a production system guarantees poor results. Why schedules report failure instead of preventing it. Why selecting the lowest bid creates more cost, not less. And why adding people to a late project makes it worse. Victor also shares real stories from the field: A nuclear project that stockpiled miles of pipe with nowhere to install itDesign teams making decisions without builder inputTrade partners sitting silent because no one asked them to lead If you run projects, manage teams, or push lean adoption, you’ve seen these patterns. This episode gives you the language to challenge them and the logic to replace them. Victor’s full breakdown of all 10 misconceptions blog is linked below. 🎧 Listen now, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more insights that make construction easier and better! 🚀 Blogs: Ten Misconceptions in Traditional Construction Changed by Lean https://www.theebfcshow.com/blog/ten-misconceptions-in-traditional-construction-changed-by-lean/ Stop Losing Schedule Days: 30 Years of Last Planner System Failures (and How to Make Sure Your Project Isn’t Next) https://www.theebfcshow.com/blog/stop-losing-schedule-days-30-years-of-last-planner-system-failures-and-how-to-make-sure-your-project-isnt-next/ --- Connect with Victor via Email at vicortiz@earthlink.net LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-ortiz-671301/ Connect with Felipe via Social media and Free Lean and Scrum Training Resources at https://thefelipe.bio.link RSM Podia Course Link: https://store.theebfcshow.com/rsm Subscribe to never miss new videos here: https://click.theebfcshow.com/youtube Watch The EBFC Show Podcast https://click.theebfcshow.com/YouTube-Podcast --- Elevate your construction career and enhance your company's performance by mastering the crucial aspect of building enclosure management with Field Verified's specialized training. Address the major challenge of managing building enclosures, a common source of construction failures. Get hands-on learning experience with real-world construction scenarios and mock-up installations for skill-building with leadership and team-focused strategies. By joining our course, you gain access to a proven program that not only covers technical aspects but also better practices for effective construction management. Don't miss this opportunity to transform your approach. Visit https://fieldverified.com for more insights, or contact us at 480-719-5090.
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    2 hrs and 3 mins
  • No Estimates, Maximum Results with Vasco Duarte

    No Estimates, Maximum Results with Vasco Duarte
    Feb 23 2026

    What if the estimates we fight so hard to defend are actually the very thing slowing us down? In this episode, Felipe sits down with Vasco Duarte --- Agile coach, author of #NoEstimates, and host of the Scrum Master Toolbox podcast --- for a candid conversation about why traditional estimation may be creating more illusion than clarity... and what to do instead. Vasco brings serious field credibility. He led initiatives at Nokia involving 500 people, 100 teams, across four continents. And he saw projects fail not because the work was impossible --- but because leaders trusted the plan more than the evidence unfolding in real time. This conversation hits home for construction and project management professionals who operate under pressure, contracts, and commitments. Key Takeaways - 📊 Throughput beats upfront estimation --- forecasting based on actual delivery rate consistently outperforms speculative planning. - 🔁 Scope is the real lever --- when time and budget are fixed, scope becomes the only honest variable. - 🧠 Reality always wins --- complex work behaves stochastically. Plans that ignore this get punished. - 🏗️ Pull planning isn't new --- software and construction independently discovered the same backward-planning principle. - 🤝 Scrum is human work --- frameworks don't save teams; people do. This episode isn't anti-planning. It's anti-delusion. Whether you're running a job site or leading a software team, this conversation will challenge how you think about forecasting, commitments, and control. 👍 Like and Subscribe Connect with Vasco Website: https://about.me/duarte_vasco Connect with Felipe Social media & free Lean and Scrum training resources: https://thefelipe.bio.link Registered Scrum Master (RSM) Course: https://store.theebfcshow.com/rsm Subscribe on YouTube: https://click.theebfcshow.com/youtube Watch The EBFC Show Podcast: https://click.theebfcshow.com/YouTube-Podcast Thank you Field Verified for Sponsoring today's show! Elevate your construction career and enhance your company's performance by mastering the crucial aspect of building enclosure management with Field Verified's specialized training. Managing building enclosures remains one of the most common sources of construction failure. Field Verified addresses this challenge through hands-on learning with real-world construction scenarios and mock-up installations, combined with leadership and team-focused strategies. By joining the program, you gain access to proven technical practices and better construction management strategies that improve both performance and reliability in the field. Visit https://fieldverified.com for more insights or call 480-719-5090 ---

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    50 mins
  • AI in Construction: How to Apply AI to Real Projects with Tom Feliz

    AI in Construction: How to Apply AI to Real Projects with Tom Feliz
    Jan 24 2026
    Whether you’re a construction professional, tech enthusiast, or just curious about the future of work, this episode is packed with insights, philosophy, and practical advice. This show was filmed live from LCI Congress 2025. Tom Feliz, DataGrid’s Head of Growth, breaks down how construction professionals can practically apply AI to eliminate waste, improve productivity, and get home by 5 PM. Discover why AI won't take your job—but someone using AI might—and learn actionable first steps to leverage AI agents, visual language models, and automation in your daily construction workflows. 🎯 Key Topics & Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction at LCI Congress 20250:54 - What people misunderstand about AI in construction3:17 - Why AI is the biggest invention of our lifetime6:00 - How AI eliminates energy-draining tasks9:48 - Favorite AI tools and large language models (LLMs)10:47 - Creating your own AI board of directors12:47 - Visual Language Models (VLMs) vs. LLMs for construction13:48 - Solving the lessons learned problem with AI agents22:35 - Why Tom chose construction over Silicon Valley24:44 - Respect for people and clearing the path for field workers28:34 - How to get started with DataGrid30:26 - The 30-year welder who became an AI power user 🔑 Topics Covered: Construction technology, lean construction, Last Planner System, AI agents, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), scheduling automation, target value design, construction productivity, field operations, construction innovation, digital transformation, construction AI tools, project management automation 📚 Resources Mentioned: DataGrid: https://datagrid.comContact Tom: tom@datagrid.comSteve Jobs Stanford Commencement 2005: https://youtu.be/UF8uR6Z6KLc?si=4_spRDgZHgPdcnkv 💡 Key Takeaways: ✅ AI eliminates menial tasks so you can focus on creative problem-solving ✅ Start with simple automation for high-frequency, high-impact problems ✅ Visual Language Models handle construction documents better than standard LLMs ✅ You don't need coding skills—if you can manage people, you can build AI agents ✅ Lessons learned agents prevent repeating mistakes across projects 👉 Take Action: Subscribe for more construction technology insightsDrop a comment: What's ONE task you'd automate with AI today?Share this with someone in construction who needs to hear this ConstructionAI #LeanConstruction #ConstructionTechnology #AIinConstruction #DataGrid --- Connect with Tom via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tpfeliz/ Datagrid at https://www.datagrid.com/ Connect with Felipe via Social media and Free Lean and Scrum Training Resources at https://thefelipe.bio.link RSM Podia Course Link: https://store.theebfcshow.com/rsm Subscribe to never miss new videos here: https://click.theebfcshow.com/youtube Watch The EBFC Show Podcast https://click.theebfcshow.com/YouTube-Podcast --- Today's episode is sponsored by Field Verified. Elevate your construction career and enhance your company's performance by mastering the crucial aspect of building enclosure management with Field Verified's specialized training. Address the major challenge of managing building enclosures, a common source of construction failures. Get hands-on learning experience with real-world construction scenarios and mock-up installations for skill-building with leadership and team-focused strategies. By joining our course, you gain access to a proven program that not only covers technical aspects but also better practices for effective construction management. Don't miss this opportunity to transform your approach. Visit https://fieldverified.com for more insights, or contact us at 480-719-5090.
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    35 mins
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