Developing Myself Has Been Enhanced by a Co-learning Partnership with My Business Unit Leaders

Presented By:

Charlie Murphy

Session Description

In 2014 our company embarked on a transformational change, to become a lean company by adopting the Last Planner System (LPS) for use on our construction projects. In 2017 our co-learning partner, Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), suggested to become a truly lean company that continually improves we had to do more than LPS, we had to become continuous learners through problem solving. And if the company was going to learn problem solving it had to start with me.

I manage Turner’s largest region, New York, with over 1,300 employees and annual revenue in excess of $2 billion. Like many companies as successful as we were, it seemed like we were doing too much firefighting and not enough to resolve our problems. By learning to become a good problem solver with my business unit leaders, I got the opportunity to experience being a student and then develop my coaching skills with my team. I’m learning the nuances of when to teach, when to coach, and when to direct. The business unit leaders and I are also learning how much work is involved to truly get to the root cause, and to truly define the problem. We’ve also learned to start small so you can do the research to define the problem and come up with countermeasures you can try.

Facilitator Bio:

Charles F. Murphy is Senior Vice President of the New York business unit of Turner Construction Company. The New York business unit has more than 1,300 employees and will complete $2.5 billion of construction in 2018.  Turner is the only builder offering clients a nationwide network, with 46 offices across the country, and ranks first or second in the major segments of the building construction field.  Turner Construction completed $12 billion of construction in 2017 and is, through its subsidiaries, the leading general builder in the United States. 

A 30 plus-year construction industry veteran, Mr. Murphy has spent his entire career at Turner.  His first position in 1978 was as an engineering assistant in the firm’s Philadelphia office.  In the years that followed, he was promoted positions of greater responsibility in Philadelphia and in 1990, was transferred to the New Jersey business unit as chief estimator.  In 1998, he moved to the New York unit as chief estimator.  In 2002, Mr. Murphy was promoted to vice president of healthcare.  He was named Vice President & General Manager in early 2005.  In December 2006 he was promoted to Senior Vice President.

Mr. Murphy serves as a Board Member of Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens and the Salvadori Center, Mr. Murphy is also a member of several prominent organizations, including the Contractors’ Association of Greater New York (CAGNY) and the Building Trades Employers’ Association (BTEA) and the New York Building Congress.

Mr. Murphy received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.