As business owners and managers, it's a daily challenge to encourage trainees and employees to understand how important small, sustained improvements can contribute to their professional development. As a means of simplifying this perspective, author James Clear shared his approach 1% daily improvement in his book Atomic Habits. A recent guest on The DYOJO Podcast, Zac, who manages a team of water damage technicians in Tumwater, Washington, shared how he uses the 1% improvement concepts to help team members focus on the right things that will help them and the team grow. 

As Zac puts it, "Team, how can we be 1% better today?" 

It turns out, the concept of the aggregation of marginal gains may have been introduced by Dave Brailsford in his capacity as director of British Cycling performance. While the 1% focus is helpful to team members and organizations, Brailsford took a holistic approach to improvement. Teams under his direction would look for any incremental advantage they could muster. For example, lighter tires for the cycles, more ergonomic seating, electrically heated over shorts, and down to details including handwashing techniques. 

Both men explain how small, consistent improvements will lead to positive results that compound over time. The more an individual and a team can structure their mindsets and habits towards sustainable increases in performance the better all entities will be poised for success. As growth-minded professionals, we don't have to make leaps and bounds to create better outcomes; often we just need to dial down to the essentials and improve intentionally. 

Hear more about this topic of small improvements leading to big impacts, as well as other habits for success in property restoration, construction, and the workplace on Episode 126 of The DYOJO Podcast. 

Instead of demanding compliance with an order to run laps, I made a small tweak and reframed discipline into something engaging. I threw a soccer ball out onto the field and turned it into a competitive drill. Two players raced to the ball: one played offense and the other defense. They ran, hustled, and worked hard—but instead of complaints, there was enthusiasm and laughter. This simple shift got the kids moving (run you turds) but also improved their skills in dribbling, defending, and competing under pressure.

That moment of innovation didn’t just help me on the soccer field; it taught me a valuable lesson that applies to leading teams in the workplace. Achieving goals isn’t always about doubling down on discipline, it’s about finding creative solutions that make the process engaging and effective.

Transforming Frustration into Employee Engagement 

For many managers, training employees can feel like shouting into the void. Traditional methods—long meetings, repetitive workshops, or endless checklists—often fail to inspire engagement. Employees may check the box but aren’t always learning or improving. Similar to my soccer coaching experience, doing what you have learned from prior managers, i.e. repeating old mindsets and habits, likely results in resistance, frustration, and minimal results for all involved. However, a little creativity can turn routine training into a purpose-driven activity that achieves more than just compliance. ​

Keywords: 

• Creative employee training
• Workplace engagement strategies
• Effective team management
• Employee skill development
• Hands-on training techniques
• Gamification in the workplace
• Innovative leadership methods
• Purpose-driven employee activities
• Experiential learning strategies
• Motivating employees to achieve goals

​In our next episode of The DYOJO Podcast, we’re diving into a tragic story that’s making headlines: the $200 million wrongful death trial in Oregon. This episode short will discuss the details related to a civil suit following a tragic Confrontation Between Armed Security and a Pallet Flipper at an Oregon Lowes. 

Nearly two years ago, Freddy Nelson Jr. was fatally shot in a North Portland Lowe’s parking lot by Logan Gimbel, a private security guard for Cornerstone, now serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. Nelson, who had an agreement with Lowe's to collect and sell unwanted pallets, was confronted by Gimbel, and things escalated quickly. The security company and the property management are now facing a civil trial related to their involvement in this tragic outcome. This incident raises critical questions about security practices and training—topics every contractor and business owner should be aware of.

​Tune in THIS THURSDAY (YouTube, Spotify, and Apple) for this important episode, where we break down the case and discuss the implications for security and risk management on job sites.

Sources: 

Video - KPTV Fox 12 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DouSndVI4gI
Article - CVN - https://blog.cvn.com/25m-trial-over-fatal-shooting-in-lowes-parking-lot-begins-watch-gavel-to-gavel-via-cvn ​

When was the last time you reviewed and updated your job descriptions?

• Do they reflect what you value as an organization?
• Do they accurately reflect the roles and responsibilities of the position you are hiring for?
• Do they map out a path to success for the recruit as well as the supervisor?

In this short clip from Episode 112 of The DYOJO Podcast, we encourage business owners and managers to review and rethink the standard job description. Achieve better outcomes in recruitment, hiring, development, and employee retention by updating these processes to reflect your unique culture.⁠

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Transcript 

Really rethinking the job description? I think that fork forces us to rethink what do we actually want from this position. And I don't really care. I don't care that company A calls this a project manager and this is what the script is. Or they call this an estimator. That's a lead tech, what matters in your company? For this need, this is what we have a need for. What does that look like in our company? Let's get that on paper, you've got to show them a path to success. Let's think through as we're bringing this person in these will be your pathways to success. This is what success will look like first 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, and then we'll review it after you know, the first year. 

Probably first 90 days, you may think you made a mistake. But just stick through it, you know, do the things we're asking you to do. I don't think we're setting you up for failure with what we're asking you to do, we have a pretty good idea of what we want that to look like, clear job description, a pretty clear plan, you've got to show them a path to success. The trick there being is there's only so much even the project manager that we just trained. There's only so much I can prepare you for. And then it's learn as you go, you know, there's only so much I can show you before it just kind of unless you're doing it, you're not going to make the mistakes that force you to learn. You've got to show them a path to success.

On the flip side, have you ever worked with the lazy Boomer didn't want to pull their weight or felt like they'd put their time in? Recently we hired a project manager with no construction experience no prior project management, direct experience. I talked a lot about in the new book P2T as well as in the project management book about relevant experience, we have this tendency to think, man, if someone has construction experience, there'll be a great project manager. Well, the reality is the majority of project management in our industry and most construction industries is a lot of customer interaction and interacting with subcontractors and trades people and carpenters and employees by mindset change. And so the people management kind of gets overlooked.

​It is good to have in obviously, we can't be doing things the wrong way. But where someone maybe has spent their whole life developing their their technical skills, maybe they haven't quite developed their personal interpersonal skills. And so that needs to be accounted for when someone's being transitioned in that role. And then if someone can come in with a customer service role, they have to have the ability to not get taken advantage of or do things the wrong way or not be able to QC a project. So we hired somebody with no prior experience and they're doing really well actually got complimented by one of our tougher subs, you know, for being on top of their stuff. You know, having good scopes good communication, good communication with the customer. 

We shared a clip of a conversation with Nicole Humber from The DYOJO Podcast Episode 110. we're going to talk to She is the CEO of Bravo Restoration based in Windsor, California. She shares her thoughts on skilled trades professionals reaching out to local schools, talking to students to encourage them as they pursue a career in the modern workplace. 

We discussed the importance of meeting with students to discuss the opportunities in the skilled trades with Kate Cinnamo of Explore The Trades. For Episode 110 she shared some excellent reasons for why busines owners and managers should make this investment. Kate also shared some great insights on how to be of value to local schools and educators. ​

Nicole Humber also shared her experiences as a contractor speaking to elementary, middle, and high school students. "So, I've been really involved in those schools coming back and either being a presenter and talking about our specific trade, or being a mentor for women, like women students that are interested, but not like, they only see male, so they think that's allowed. We have a couple of programs outside of schools that focus in on, you know, ages 16 to 24, or right after high school. And so I just get involved in those, you know, reaching out asking if I can be a mentor, or like, Hey, do you need anything like, what can I give you to help?"

​We asked Nicole for her words of encouragement for people that maybe are feeling frustrated with their career development. Because whether it's a young person or various genders, or races, you know, there's all kinds of barriers to you know, especially a very traditional old school thinking industry,

Nicole shared, "My biggest encouragement or advice would be just, you can only control what you can control; what you do. You can't control what other people say or do or, or, and so it's like, what you can control is what you experience. And so when people are in these establishments, that they're like, I can't quite break through this barrier. I feel like there's a a glass ceiling. I see it, but I can't get there. Invest in yourself. So invest in reading leadership books, invest in, you know, if you have to pay for your own IICRC classes do that. Do your research, become an expert in the industry where it makes it impossible for anyone to put the lid over you."​

The DYOJO echoes what Nicole saying. For anyone who hasn't experienced it, and we've had some badass ladies on our crews. It really is, there's no rhyme or reason it's not you're from this generation means that you're a hard worker, I've had people from older generations who have been lazier than young people. I've had young people kick butt and, you know, take in complex concepts quicker than others who've been doing it for a long period of time. 

Thriving in the skilled trades is really about finding the right people that are a culture fit for your organization. And if you look around, and the culture is pretty monolithic, it's a leadership issue. It's time to you yourself, need to get outside of your box, expand the parameters for finding new talent, and finding ways to make it open and inviting to not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it will exponentially grow and improve your company having more diverse influences.