Speaking Events / News
Lean as a Lever: Shifting from New Build to Renovation (August 26, 2026)
Lean as a Lever: Shifting from New Build to Renovation (August 26, 2026)
At the Lean Construction DK Annual Conference, Randi Christensen explored how lean thinking can help the construction industry navigate the transition from new construction towards renovation and transformation projects. As the sector faces growing pressure to reduce carbon emissions and make better use of existing assets, the biggest challenges are often not technical but decision-related.
Drawing on examples from the rehabilitation of Prague's Vyšehrad Railway Bridge and the transformation of COWI's future headquarters, the presentation demonstrated how Lean and Choosing by Advantages (CBA) can support transparent decision-making, keep alternatives open longer, and create value in complex and iterative project environments. The session highlighted the importance of early resource mapping, collaborative planning, and flexible project frameworks that enable teams to challenge assumptions and identify more sustainable solutions.
The key message was simple: if we want to transform the built environment, we must also transform the way we make decisions.
Picture: I can send one tomorrow or use the one on the webpage.
IGLC June 2026, Singapore
Lean as a Lever: Shifting from New Build to Renovation (August 26, 2026)
"𝗔 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆.
𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀.
Construction procurement is full of decisions that appear objective because they rely on weighted scores. But is a score enough to explain a decision, and does it lead to a good decision? " - Annett Schöttle
At the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) in Singapore, Annett presented “𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗔 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆." The study compared Choosing by Advantages (CBA) and Weighting Rating Calculating (WRC) across two procurement packages under real project conditions. Rather than focusing solely on the procurement outcome, it examined how the choice of decision-making method influences decision quality.
The findings showed higher transparency and traceability, a better understanding of decision rationales, stronger shared understanding, greater acceptance of decision outcomes, and substantially lower frustration during the decision-making process.
One insight stood out:
𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲.
CBA Workshop in San Francisco May 2026
We had a great Choosing By Advantages workshop last Friday at DPR Construction!
"It was an honor to teach alongside Randi M. Christensen and Dr.-Ing. Annett Schöttle! Even though we have a book together, I am impressed about all that they keep doing to help teams, projects and even cities make better decisions. I am truly inspired!" - Paz Arroyo
"What continues to fascinate me about CBA is that the shift is often psychological before it becomes procedural. Once teams experience a more transparent and structured approach to decision-making, perspectives begin to shift. People begin asking better questions and having different conversations. The shift often looks like this:
→ from factors to explicit advantages
→ from debating opinions to understanding differences
→ from focusing mainly on cost to making value visible" - Annett Schöttle
This is the first time the three have met since publishing the book last year, and the first time for Randi in California. This is also the first time an LCI CoP brings international speakers; the support and encouragement were really great.
Big thanks to everyone who helped organize this Lean Construction Institute | Northern CA Community of Practice training! Thank you to all who helped spread the word and encourage people to sign up for this unique chance.
Thank you to DPR for hosting!
Thank you to all participants for being open and willing to learn a different way of thinking and making decisions as a team.
Durable Decisions / LCI Northern California - May 2026
Sustainability is no longer a specialist discipline. It is a project management challenge.
What if decisions in projects were truly durable? Imagine that for a moment.
Making effective decisions in projects remains one of the biggest challenges in our industry, which made the Lean Construction Institute | Northern CA Community of Practice evening event, “Choosing By Advantages: An Introduction to Making Durable Decisions,” at Jacobs in San Francisco a great setting to exchange perspectives and practical experiences on collaborative decision-making.
Construction projects face countless decisions, and the quality of these decisions has a major impact on project success, collaboration, and ultimately the value delivered to the client. Yet in practice, decisions are often made under pressure, insufficiently documented, or without a shared understanding of what really matters.
That is where Choosing by Advantages (CBA) can make a real difference. CBA provides a transparent, logical framework that helps teams align around project goals, build a shared understanding of the decision rationale, and focus discussions on the advantages that truly matter.
Paz Arroyo, PhD, Randi M. Christensen, and I shared practical experiences from applying CBA in projects and invited participants to explore key CBA principles through a short interactive exercise.
And a big thank you to Tom Martin, and the entire Lean Construction Institute | Northern CA Community of Practice team for organizing the event.
Sustainability is no longer a specialist discipline. It is a project management challenge.
Sustainability is no longer a specialist discipline. It is a project management challenge.
Sustainability is no longer a specialist discipline. It is a project management challenge.
Webinar: Managing Sustainability Challenges in Construction Projects (April 2, 2025)
Every day, project managers navigate complex dilemmas between cost, time, quality, stakeholder expectations, regulations, and environmental and social impacts. While most organizations agree on the need for more sustainable solutions, acting differently is often difficult because decisions involve trade-offs, uncertainty, and competing priorities. In this presentation, Randi Christensen explores how project managers can move beyond sustainability as an abstract ambition and instead use transparent, fact-based decision-making to navigate these dilemmas. By making alternatives, advantages, and stakeholder values explicit, project teams can make better decisions, build alignment, and deliver projects that create long-term value for both clients and society.
LCI Congress October 2025
Sustainability is no longer a specialist discipline. It is a project management challenge.
Sustainability is no longer a specialist discipline. It is a project management challenge.
Paz Arroyo presented on CBA at the LCI Congress in Arlington, Texas.
"I already had a great day learning about lean behaviors, connecting with many friends in the industry and getting to know new faces! Also one copy of Building Decisions is in the LCI book auction!" - Paz Arroyo
She presented on Choosing By Advantages with Rebecca Snelling and shared ideas from Building Decisions book!
6th LCI Congress. Peru September 2025
6th LCI Congress. Peru September 2025
6th LCI Congress. Peru September 2025
Paz Arroyo presented on Lean and Quality at the 6th Lean Construction Conference in Peru. She also taught a CBA workshop in Spanish for Peruvian participants. And of course, she brought a copy of Building Decisions to give away.
Thank you, LCI Peru, for the invitation!
"No había visitado Perú desde hace más de 15 años y me quedé gratamente sorprendida con la comunidad Lean Construction y la calidad de las presentaciones! " - Paz Arroyo
LCI CoP Austin, August 2025
6th LCI Congress. Peru September 2025
6th LCI Congress. Peru September 2025
Paz Arroyo presented "Decision-Making Made Clear: An Introduction to Choosing By Advantages." at LCI CoP Austin, Texas.
She led a fun and simple exercise to teach people how to make decisions as a team using Choosing By Advantages.
Are you learning how to apply or looking at gaining more knowledge on Choosing By Advantage (CBA)? Paz provided a high-level explanation of the CBA process, outlining how it functions, including the unique steps required and the terminology used.
Lean Construction Institute Congress
September 5th 2025
Webinar
Aligning Your Team to Make Better Decisions with Choosing By Advantages
How can teams ensure that their decisions are transparent and well-founded, aligning with project goals? CBA provides a clear, logical framework for making better decisions— efficiently, transparently, and in alignment with lean thinking. Teams that systematically use CBA significantly reduce negative design iterations, saving time and money for the owner while minimizing frustration. They align on what truly matters, gain a shared understanding of project decisions, and discover innovative design and construction solutions.
In this webinar, we will discuss how CBA can drive project success. Paz, Annett, and Randi have just published the Building Decisions book, which expands on these ideas. They have also co-founded CollabDecisions, a platform to share knowledge on how to make collaborative decisions. Please join us for an interactive conversation to address the decision-making challenges in construction projects. Bring your ideas and questions!
Moderator:
Jeff Long
Jeffery Long has practical business experience in project management, executive coaching, and continuous improvement, having managed numerous projects in the construction, land development, and telecommunications industries and served a varied customer base, including U. S. Department of Energy, Bechtel, Chevron, Shell, AT&T, Genentech, and Roche. Jeff served as the Global Operational Excellence Lead at Roche/Genentech, ensuring capability-building programs met ongoing business needs. Key among them was implementing CBA as a key approach for making decisions.
Speakers:
Paz Arroyo, Annett Schöttle, and Randi Christensen
We are speaking at the 5th Last Planner Conference
April 18th 2025
Choosing by Advantages (CBA) is a powerful decision-making system that can significantly enhance project decision-making processes. Developed by Jim Suhr in 1986, CBA focuses on the importance of advantages among alternatives, providing a structured and transparent approach to complex decisions. In this session, Anette, Randi, and Paz will share how CBA improves project outcomes by fostering collaboration, reducing bias, and creating an auditable decision trail, and also how this approach has proven effective in various project scenarios, from selecting building materials to choosing contractors and more.
ANNETT SCHÖTTLE, RANDI CHRISTENSEN, and PAZ ARROYO
We are publishing a book!
Building Decisions:
The Power of Choosing by Advantages for Project Success
By Paz Arroyo, Annett Schöttle, Randi Christensen
Copyright 2025
Yes! We have signed a contract with Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group!
This book offers a practical framework and guidelines for group decision-making where multiple stakeholders have to come to a resolution. We introduce the reader to the Choosing by Advantages (CBA) decision-making system, explaining its principles and methods. The book also includes research and practical cases from our professional experience in the construction industry.
We are eagerly anticipating the release of our book!
You can add it to your whish list and preorder in various vendors around the world.
We will keep you updated in new dates!
CBA Workshop at IGLC - July 2024
Collaborative decision-making with Choosing by Advantages (CBA)
Led by Annett Schöttle and Paz Arroyo
Choosing By Advantages (CBA) is a powerful system to make collaborative decisions for design and construction that aligns with lean thinking.
Project teams have to make many decisions; waiting for the owner or architect to make them in isolation is not a wise strategy. Teams that systematically use CBA in a collaborative fashion significantly decrease negative design iterations, save time and money for the owner, and reduce team frustration. CBA helps teams align on what is relevant, understand why decisions were made on a project, and find innovative design and construction solutions.
This workshop will provide the basis for CBA. Through exercises, we will discuss best practices to manage the decision-making process.
Learning objectives:
- Understand the importance of decision-making methods.
- Learn the basics of CBA.
- Understand the difference between CBA and other decision-making methods.
- Create a transparent rationale for group decisions.
CBA Workshop at LCI NorCal - April 2024
Choosing by Advantages (CBA)
Ron Migliori, Paz Arroyo, and Larry Summerfield
LCI Northern California Chapter presented a CBA workshop.
Looking to learn CBA, this is a great opportunity if you are in the area.
Everyone involved in the building design and construction industry should use Choosing By Advantages (CBA) to promote informed decision-making. CBA ensures thorough consideration of all options, leading to better-designed buildings, efficient resource allocation, and minimized risks, ultimately enhancing project outcomes and stakeholder satisfaction.
The speakers will provide a high-level explanation of the CBA process explaining how it functions including the unique steps required and the terms used. Then, the speakers will coach the audience, in groups of four, while they use CBA to decide where a group of four wildly different people pick a location for a common vacation.
The Choosing By Advantages (CBA) process emphasizes identifying advantages (not disadvantages) in decision-making. Stakeholders list objectives, generate options, and assess advantages. Values are assigned to advantages, alternatives evaluated, cost considered and the most advantageous alternative selected. CBA ensures transparency, thoroughness, and objectivity, particularly in complex decisions.
Women in Lean Construction - March 2024
Collaborative decision-making with Choosing by Advantages (CBA)
Randi Christensen, Annett Schöttle and Paz Arroyo
The construction sector has traditionally been male-dominated. Therefore, we believe it is of utmost importance to spotlight the remarkable journeys of women who are paving the way and holding leadership positions in this field. By sharing the learnings, challenges, and most significant decisions of their careers, we strive to inspire and empower individuals on their professional path. This is the first international event dedicated to Women in Lean. Join us!
Organised by Raquel Reck, Bárbara Pedó, and Manoela Conte, and promoted by Climb Consulting Group and Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB).
Agenda Introduction and welcome remarks; Case 1: Patricia Tillman;
Case 2: Randy Christensen, Annett Schöttle, and Paz Arroyo; Round table discussion and Q&A session with the audience.
See the recording in the link
CBA Workshop at IGLC - June 2023
Collaborative decision-making with Choosing by Advantages (CBA)
Led by Annett Schöttle
Choosing By Advantages (CBA) is a powerful system to make collaborative decisions for design and construction that aligns with lean thinking.
Project teams have to make many decisions; waiting for the owner or architect to make them in isolation is not a wise strategy. Teams that systematically use CBA in a collaborative fashion significantly decrease negative design iterations, save time and money for the owner, and reduce team frustration. CBA helps teams align on what is relevant, understand why decisions were made on a project, and find innovative design and construction solutions.
This workshop will provide the basis for CBA. Through exercises, we will discuss best practices to manage the decision-making process.
Learning objectives:
- Understand the importance of decision-making methods.
- Learn the basics of CBA.
- Understand the difference between CBA and other decision-making methods.
- Create a transparent rationale for group decisions.
CBA Workshop at IGLC 30 in Edmonton, Canada - July 2022
Paz Arroyo and Annett Schöttle led Collaborative decision-making with Choosing by Advantages (CBA) workshop at IGLC 30 in Edmonton Canada.
The participation was great, we had an interactive workshop and interesting discussions on how to apply CBA in different decisions for design and construction.
In addition, Randi Christensen, Paz Arroyo, and Annett Schöttle presented a new research paper on how to choose the best media to document a CBA decision.
How can Lean and Choosing by Advantages support sustainable project delivery
How can Lean and Choosing by Advantages support sustainable project delivery
Randi Christensen was invited to present at the Lean working group under ENCORD (European Network of Construction Companies for Research and Development). The theme was: How does Lean support Circular Economy on projects? Firstly, Randi presented the close connection between Lean and sustainability. By focusing on value creation - also for the future generations - and by reducing waste, we will get better and more sustainable projects. As a specific example Choosing by Advantages was presented as a tool to support cross-disciplinary assessments of e.g. design solutions. The following workshop gave many examples on how other lean tools also support CE.
The European Lean Construction Conference, June 9-10 2021
How can Lean and Choosing by Advantages support sustainable project delivery
Annett and Randi will present how CBA can be used to support sustaianble project delivery at the European Lean Construction Conference.
The Conference is designed to bring together Lean Construction practitioners across the continent in order to share stories, best practices, and lessons learned. Europe as a continent has diverse Lean Construction practitioners, different cultural barriers and unique approaches to applying Lean Construction. Our goal with this conference is to help the European Lean Construction community unite, share best practices, learn from each other and improve together.
Lean Construction DK Conference, August 25, 2021
Randi presented how Lean supports Sustainable project delivery at the Danish Lean Construction Conference August 25 2021. Lean is green - Årskonference 2021 - Værdibyg (vaerdibyg.dk)
LCI Peru Lean Talk " Tomando Decisiones Colaborativas" in Spanish
Paz Arroyo participated in the LCI Peru Lean Talk moderated by Jose Guzman. The presentation and discussion is in Spanish on March 2021. The presentation title was "Tomando Decisiones Colaborativas" ("Making Collaborative Decisions"). More information in the following link: https://www.lciperu.org/conferencias-lean-talk
LCI Australia and New Zealand Webinar - Introduction to Choosing By Advantages - August 2020
Join Lean Construction ANZ for a webinar on and Introduction to choosing by Advantages Part 1
The construction and highways industry have a huge impact on our society and peoples lives. Infrastructure is necessary for economic growth but also can impact our neighbors and wildlife negatively. Critical decision making methods that enable us to balance multi criteria is therefore absolutely key to ensure sound and transparent decisions.
Randi has implemented the decision method ‘Choosing by advantages’ on several infrastructure projects and will over two lunch and learn sessions share ideas and experience based on projects from the UK and Scandinavia.
On August 6th, Randi will give and introduction to the multi criteria decision method, Choosing by Advantages covering the tabular method and terminology.
Meetup -Gender Bias in Construction Industry July 2020 Webinar
Annett Schöttle and Paz Arroyo will present on Gender Bias in Construction Industry at the 6th Construction Innovation Meetup of Climb Consulting Group - Brazil.
March 25th 2020 - 4:30 p.m. Ireland Time.
See the link for youtube recorded webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm5ZI_qgVME&feature=youtu.be
Highways Community Lunch and Learn Program- May 2020 Webinar
Randi Christensen will presented an Introduction to Choosing by Advantages at the Highways Community Lunch and Learn Program.
›The Construction and Highways Industry have huge impact our society and peoples lives. Infrastructure is necessary for economic growth but also impact e.g. neighbour and wildlife negatively. Sound decision making methods that enable us to balance multicriteria is therefore absolutely key to ensure sound and transparent decisions. Randi have implemented the decision method Choosing by advantages on several infrastructure project and will over two Lunch and Learn presentations share ideas and experience based on projects from UK and Scandinavia.
›On May 18 Randi will give an introduction to the multicriteria decision method, Choosing by Advantages covering the tabular method and terminology.
›On June 3, Randi will further elaborate how CBA also enhance understanding of costumers and could be used to deliver more sustainable solutions.
LCi - March 2020 Webinar
P2SL 2020 - Lean Design Forum Presentation
Paz Arroyo will present on Choosing by Advantages at the Lean Construction Ireland (LCi) Webinar series.
March 25th 2020 - 4:30 p.m. Ireland Time.
See the link for registration details at https://leanconstructionireland.ie
P2SL 2020 - Lean Design Forum Presentation
P2SL 2020 - Lean Design Forum Presentation
P2SL 2020 - Lean Design Forum Presentation
Paz Arroyo, Glenn Ballard and Stan Chiu, presented at the P2SL - LCI Lean Design Forum.
Are we, in design of our projects, doing set based design in the right way? The presentation will propose a NO answer to that question. What’s missing is aligning design criteria prior to trying to produce a design.
Currently, it appears that we do not keep the data needed to identify misalignments prior to starting design; the result of which is increased frequency and extent of rework in design and sometimes also in construction.
LCI 2019 - Lean Design Forum Presentation
P2SL 2020 - Lean Design Forum Presentation
P2SL 2020 - Lean Design Forum Presentation
Set Based Design involves generating, evaluating and selecting from design alternatives. Lean Product Development uses Trade-Off Curves to do that, while Lean Construction uses Choosing by Advantages. The roundtable will investigate similarities and differences of the two methods, and explore if only one should be used in both domains, if each domain should have its own method, or if the two methods could be combined into a new method superior to both Trade-Off Curves and Choosing by Advantages, and applicable to both Lean Product Development and to Lean Construction.
P2SL 2019 - Lean Design Forum Workshop
Paz Arroyo (DPR Construction) and David Long (Turner Construction) facilitated a Choosing By Advantages 1-day Workshop at UC Berkeley, California for the 2019 P2SL - LCI - Lean Design Forum on Wednesday 23 January 2019.
IGLC 2019 - Industry Day
Our Directors, Paz and Randi, will contribute to IGLC Industry day. The purpose of industry day is to provide an opportunity to share current best practice and challenges from both local and international projects. Specific keynote speakers and panelists have been identified based on their experience and knowledge of Lean Project Delivery both locally and Internationally.
IGLC 2019 - Workshop
Our directors, Paz and Annett will facilitate a workshop on Choosing by Advantages during workshop day at International Group of Lean Constructions annual Conference, July 1, 2019
Highways England Lean Practitioner day 2019
150 lean practitioners from Highways England and it's supply chain participated in this springs lean practitioner day, March 26. At the event Randi facilitated a CBA workshop to demonstrate the value of sound decision making.
Highways England Lean NEwsletter 2019
Highways England Lean NEwsletter 2019
Read about how CBA is used on Highways Engalnd's biggest project Lower Thames Crossing:
UK Webinar, 2018
Our next webinar will be on the CBA tabular method! Do not miss it!
November 13, UK4-5pm, PST8-9am
Lean Productivity, From Design to Delivery, 2018
Lean Construction UK have invited Randi Christensen to present Choosing by Advantages on the annual summit November 1st 2018.
Lean in Vietnam, 2018
Conference on Lean, Productivity and Safety, 2018
Randi Christensen presented CBA at The UK - Vietnam Research Link Workshop: "Connecting to the smart cities developing a road-map to explore big data analytical solutions to address Mekong Delta's current challenges"
Conference on Lean, Productivity and Safety, 2018
Conference on Lean, Productivity and Safety, 2018
Our director, Randi Christensen, presented August 21 2018 decision making at the conference, Lean and Safety - Strategies to improve productivity. The speakers, including clients, designers, contractors and craftsmen, agreed that Lean and Safety leads to higher productivity for all companies involved.
IGLC 26 - Chennai, India 2018
This year International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) conference took place in Chennai India, July 18-20. Paz Arroyo Ph.D. and Annett Schöttle presented their research papers about decision-making and collaboration in parallel and plenary sessions. Paz was also one of the facilitators of the Lean Project Delivery (LPD) Workshop, Juli 16th. Furthermore, during Friday’s plenary session, Annett announced our new organization CollabDecisions. We received many positive feedback regarding our research and the foundation of our organization. We are looking forward to next year IGLC in Dublin!
Collab Decisions 1st Webinar!
We are very excited to announce our first Collab Decision Webinar on August 28th, 2018, at 9am PST! If you are interested in getting to know last research on how to make better collaborative decisions, do not miss it!
Stay tuned for registration!
