Toby Bradley has been with Fisk Electric Company for 13 years and has served as General Superintendent over all Cook Children’s Health Care System main campus projects for the past three years. He specializes in healthcare facilities ranging from half a million square foot new construction to small, detailed remodels in occupied hospitals. Bradley graduated from the IBEW Local Union 20 Apprenticeship School in 2012 before moving on to be foreman and general foreman on various Cook Children’s and UT Southwestern Healthcare projects, as well as multiple worship centers. He has been a leader in the adoption of Lean construction practices within his local branch.
Shortly after I was introduced to the concept of Lean Construction, I read the book Two Second Lean by Paul Akers and learned about what he called the 8 forms of waste. These were all straightforward concepts that I could relate to my industry, and I saw right away that there were ways I could improve my projects by reducing these types of waste.
There was one exception however: unused employee genius.
That day has stuck with me ever since, an ever-present reminder that there is always room for constant improvement. How many times have we heard someone say, “This is how we have always done it,” “Don’t rock the boat,” or “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? I’ve worked around too many people with this type of mindset.
