The Project Management Playbook for the Top 1%

Never run out of strategic ideas again ✨ 50+ tactics inside.

Project Management is an open-world game.

A top project manager must play many roles. The challenge is knowing when and how to adapt.

Every day, you choose how to move your project forward:

Path 1: The Easy Road. You play it safe. You stick to traditional methods like Gantt charts, static spreadsheets, rigid schedules, and the same old status meetings. You rely on what’s worked before, grinding through the familiar processes day in and day out.

Or,

Path 2: Tall Grass. Here, you try new approaches. You experiment with lean principles, build systems, embrace new technologies, and take bold steps in leadership. This path is tougher and riskier, but the rewards? They’re unmatched.

If you’re reading this, your choice is clear: You’re not afraid to step into the Tall Grass. You’re always on the hunt for new ideas in project management. I admire that about you.

But here’s the problem.

If you try to take the Tall Grass path in today’s construction landscape, you’ll run into some bad advice:

• Plenty of guides push methods that demand too much time, too many resources, or are impossible to implement quickly. Most are based on outdated practices that don’t apply to modern project challenges—like relying solely on the traditional iron triangle (schedule, budget, scope) or ignoring the latest tech tools.

• Then there are the so-called "experts" with little real-world experience, selling you dreams that don’t match reality (“Follow this blueprint and every project will be a success!”).

Bottom line? Finding effective project management strategies is tough.

That’s exactly what I’m here to solve. 

I'm Kyle Nitchen, and I lead healthcare projects in Southern California for Layton Construction, a well-known nationwide construction management firm.

Over the years, I’ve gathered hundreds of unique project management techniques by leading over $450M+ in complex construction projects and collaborating with some of the sharpest minds in the industry.

💯 The mission:

To help you discover powerful project management strategies that deliver. Techniques you can start using tomorrow morning. Leadership-enhancing, schedule-optimizing, outcome-driving strategies you won’t find anywhere else. With these in hand, you can go into the chaos and lead successful projects with confidence.

“The Influential Project Manager” is your guide. Ready to start?

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🗣 Leadership & Managing People

1. ​27 Real-Life Lessons from $450M+ in Projects

2. What Navy SEALs Can Teach Us About Project Leadership

3. The 4 Types of Project Managers

4. The 1 Relationship That Defines Project Success

5. The 4 Stages of Team Development

6. The Hidden Force Behind The World's Greatest Teams

7. How to Build Relationships

8. 6 Proven Ways to Increase Your Influence

9. A Project Manager's Guide to Negotiating Like a Pro

10. Mastering the Trust Equation for Strong Relationships

11. Skills That Lead to Promotions, Raises, & Respect

12. Revealing Your Hidden Genius Through DISC

13. The GROW Coaching Framework For Leaders

14. 9 Traits of High-Achieving Individuals

📊 Project Management

1. Your Projects Will Change The Moment You...

2. The Difference Between Amateurs & Professionals

3. The Most Powerful Paradoxes of Project Management

4. Antifragile Project Management

5. My Project Management Toolbox

6. A Day in the Life of a Project Manager

7. How to Write a Project Report that Gets Your Promoted

8. How to Manage Change Like a Pro

9. Bridging The Change Order Gap

10. Skills That Lead to Promotions, Raises, & Respect

11. How to Become Your Company's Meeting Champion

12. The Future of Construction Project Management

13. What's Your Bottleneck to Success?

14. Building Projects That Are Beautiful and Impressive

🧠 Frameworks & Tools

1. The Top 10 Behavioral Biases in Project Management

2. Networking is Dead: How to become an "anti-networker"

3. The 7 Archetypes of Highly Effective Project Managers

4. How to Manage an Underperforming Trade Partner

5. The Minto Pyramid Principle

6. The R Factor Mindset: Events + Response = Outcomes

7. A Project Manager's Guide to Writing Like a Pro

🏗 Lean Construction

1. 10 Learnings from LCI Congress 2024

2. 13 Must-Have Contract Provisions for Lean Success

3. Why is it So Hard (and Expensive) to Build Anything?

4. Inside My $100M Takt Plan: See How I Did It

5. How To Make Your Project Flow

6. How to Manage a Construction Project

7. A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding MEP Systems

8. A Beginner's Guide to Takt Planning & Control

9. Delivering The Empire State Building: Lean Construction Principles in Action

10. Introducing The Last Planner System

11. The Lean Construction Playbook

12. The RFI Process: Why it Matters, and How To Do It

📌 Productivity

1. How You Get More Done in Less Time

2. Simple & Straightforward Time Management Techniques

3. SOPs: A Project Leader’s Best Friend

4. Leveraging Your Project with Construction Technology

5. The Premier Organization System For Your Work & Digital Life

6. The 5S Lean Methodology

📈 Learning & Growth

1. 8 Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

2. Behind the Hardhat: 5 Powerful Mental Health Tools

3. Construction Management, Lean, & IPD Resources

4. The R Factor Mindset: Events + Response = Outcomes

5. What is Critical Thinking?

6. The AEC Professional’s Ultimate Career Guide

7. The Books That Have Shaped My Life

🎧 Podcasts

1. Scale of 1 to 10: How good are your PMs?

2. Beyond Deadlines: Building Leaders, Culture, Strategy, and More

3. Careers in Construction Project Management | Matt Gorgolinksi

4. 22 Hacks for Young Construction Professionals | Matt Graves

5. Leadership Lessons from the Navy SEAL Teams | Jason Gardner

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🎁 But there’s more!

Join 4,000+ subscribers and get NEW proven tactics (with guides and real-world examples) straight to your inbox, once per week:

See you soon ✌️

Kyle

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P.S. Please share 💙 Send The Influential Project Manager to other people who take the Tall Grass path. Friends always make adventures easier.