The DOWNTIME Strategy—Eliminating Waste Before Adding Process | Felipe Engineer-Manriquez

Agile in Construction: The DOWNTIME Strategy—Eliminating Waste Before Adding Process With Felipe Engineer-Manriquez

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"My first rule is that I will do no harm. And if something goes wrong, I will take full responsibility with leadership. My neck is literally on the line." - Felipe Engineer-Manriquez

 

Felipe shares his change strategy for introducing Lean and Agile into construction projects, and it starts with an unexpected principle borrowed from Hippocrates: do no harm. He explicitly tells teams this promise, putting his neck on the line to build trust. But the real magic happens in what comes next: instead of adding new processes, Felipe first helps teams stop doing things. Using the DOWNTIME acronym (Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Excess processing), he identifies wasteful activities that don't add value. In construction, 60-80% of every dollar doesn't add value from the customer's perspective—compared to manufacturing (above 50% value) or agriculture (90% value). Felipe's approach: eliminate waste first to create excess capacity, then introduce new processes. On a proje