Episode
Scrum in Construction
- Podcast
- Better Ways of Working
- Published
- Dec 14, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 2698
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://bwow.substack.com/p/scrum-in-construction
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Summary
Scrum Isn’t a Software Thing It never was. One of the most common objections I hear when talking about Scrum goes something like this: “Sure, Scrum works in software—but you can’t use it in construction .” That belief sounds reasonable.It’s also wrong. In my latest podcast episode, I sat down with Felipe Engineer-Manriquez , who has been quietly proving that wrong for nearly two decades —using Scrum in construction projects ranging from $10 million to multi-billion-dollar programs. Not experiments.Not theory.Not post-its for show. Real projects.Real contracts.Real consequences. What Happens When Scrum Shows Up on a Job Site Felipe shared story after story of what happens when Scrum and Lean principles are applied to construction work: * Projects finishing months early * Zero claims, zero litigation * Every contractor making money * Leaders reclaiming nights and weekends * Teams planning better in weeks than traditional schedules do in years One university project even finished early with no legal disputes —something the owner said had never happened before in over a decade. That alone should make us pause. The Real Problem Isn’t Scrum It’s How We’ve Framed It Scrum didn’t originate as a “software framework.” It emerged from studying complex product development —work with: * Uncertainty * Dependencies * Long lead times * Many stakeholders * Humans making decisions under pressure Sound familiar? Construction has all of that.So do healthcare, manufacturing, education, nonprofits, and leadership teams. What Filipe walks through in this episode is how Scrum aligns naturally with Lean Construction practices like the Last Planner System , rolling planning horizons, visual work management, and continuous learning loops (PDCA, OODA). Different vocabulary.Same foundation. Why Tr…