Kicking Off 2013 with S.M.A.R.T. Goals TAGS: achievable | blitz | blog | consulting | continuous improvement | goal | lean | measurable | operations | process | relevant | s.m.a.r.t. | six sigma | smart | smart goals | specific | sports | time-bound | weight loss It’s January 1, 2013!! (Well, okay, when this is posted it will be January 2.) That means everyone is going nuts with resolutions for the new year. And in about …Continue reading →

What Endurance Running Can Teach Us About Lean TAGS: 5k | 5S | act | audit | bright | check | continuous improvement | control | couch | cycle time | dayton ohio | discipline | distance | do | endurance | excess | flashlight | goals | high school | inventory | lean | lean blitz consulting | lofty | maintaine | motion | motivate | motivation | operations | osha | pdca | plan | process | progress | race | run | running | s.m.a.r.t. goal | safe | safety | soreness | sports | sprint | success | susie stein | system | template | training | troy ohio | up and running | visual indicator | waste reduction | weight loss | win | wins Many moons ago, I was a distance runner. I ran cross country in high school my junior and senior years, each race being a 5K. After starting out as a …Continue reading →

Troy Polamalu, NFL, Concussions, and Cheating the System TAGS: administer | baseline | bears | blitz | blow | brian | cheated | chicago | clinic | commissioner | concussion | consulting | countermeasure | culture | damage | equation | espn | establish | foolproof | football | game | goodell | head | health | hearing | lawsuit | league | lean | mayo | memory | national | nfl | operations | physician | pittsburgh | player | polamalu | priority | process | reflex | retired | roger | safety | six sigma | sport | sports | steelers | strength | success | system | team | test | trainer | trauma | troy | urlacher | vision | vomit The NFL is currently in the midst of a large lawsuit on behalf of retired players who are suing the league for health-related issues caused by on-field concussions during their …Continue reading →

Enforcing Standardized Process & Major League Baseball Pace-of-Game TAGS: activity | agreement | andre | association | audit | bargaining | baseball | baseball tonight | basketball | batter | beckett | blitz | boston | bud | business | cba | chicago cubs | cincinnati | classic | cobb | collective | collective bargaining agreement | consulting | dawson | eric | espn | fantasy | fines | football | game | graban | hits | hours | insider | jonathan | josh | league | lean | lukas | major | mark | measure | mlb | mlbpa | official | operations | pace | padres | papelbon | paul | pete | pitcher | play | players | procedures | process | record | red sox | reds | rose | rotisserie | rules | ryne | san diego | sandberg | selig | show | six sigma | slow | sports | sportscenter | stephen | strasburg | suspensions | ty | umpire | uni-watch | violation | waiting | waste | wgn I first started watching Major League Baseball on television back in 1988 with the Chicago Cubs on WGN. At the time I was just a cursory fan – loved watching …Continue reading →

Continuous Improvement and Our Founding Fathers TAGS: 1776 | american | blitz | brats | britain | burgers | change | consulting | continuous | declaration | destination | england | fathers | founding | freedom | george | hancock | history | improvement | independence | jefferson | john | journey | july | lean | management | nation | operations | process | revolutionary | six sigma | sports | states | tax | taxation | thomas | united | war | washington Happy Independence Day 2012 everybody! In between bites of our burgers or brats and swigs of beer, let’s also take the time to thank all of those who have made …Continue reading →

Golf Lessons and Being Open to Change TAGS: accept | advice | agent | augusta | blitz | change | chipping | club | country | design of experiments | doe | experimentation | expert | free | golf | lean | lessons | listen | masters | national | pro | process | six sigma | standardized | technique | unsolicited | work Just like last year, I was inspired to play golf more frequently after watching The Masters this April. While I haven’t frequently gotten to the course or the range, I …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #1 TAGS: athlete | authors | baseball | basketball | blitz | business | coach | continuous | crean | david | games | goals | hoosiers | improvement | indiana | jeffrey | kelvin | kentucky | lean | liker | long-term | meier | ncaa | operations | organization | patrons | philosophy | principles | process | sampson | savings | short-term | six sigma | sixteen | sponsors | sports | student | sweet | tickets | time | tom | tournament | toyota | university | value | visual | way Yesterday we brought forth a bit of a visual depiction of what lean is and how it can impact a small business or sports organization. Hopefully we demonstrated the level …Continue reading →

The Importance of Competence in Lean Leadership TAGS: articles | blitz | certifications | continuous | education | employees | experience | experts | improvement | influence | instinct | knowledge | lean | LINO | manager | mentor | operations | priorities | process | projects | six sigma | sports | stretch | support | taiichi ohno | toyota I’m a little bit ashamed to admit this, but I’ve never really had a lean mentor. There hasn’t been a lean or continuous improvement champion that has taken me under …Continue reading →

Goal Setting: Additional Information from Lifehacker TAGS: achievable | lean | lifehacker | measurable | personal | realistic | resolutions | s.m.a.r.t. goals | specific | time-based Part of the reason I felt it best to step away from posting specific “Lean in personal life” content is because Lifehacker does it so dang well. Lots of authors …Continue reading →

S.M.A.R.T. Goal Example #3 – Reducing “Stuff” TAGS: 5S | achievable | cd | christmas cards | dvd | excess inventory | furniture | goodwill | lean | leather couch | measurable | recycling | s.m.a.r.t. goals | shirts | specific | tax deduction | time-based | wardrobe | waste (This is the third in a series of posts on S.M.A.R.T. goals and their benefits.) One “unusual” goal I set for myself is based on ridding myself of items that …Continue reading →

S.M.A.R.T. Goal Example #2: Save Teams Over $1M in 2012 TAGS: 50/50 raffle | baseball | concessions | cost savings | customer satisfaction | customer service | lean | maintenance | out of order | revenue streams | s.m.a.r.t. goals | smart goals | sports | stadium | tickets | total productive maintenance | utility costs | vendor | waste (This is the second in a series about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals and the benefits they provide.) So this S.M.A.R.T. goal is less an example and more about the actual mission …Continue reading →

S.M.A.R.T. Goal Example #1 – Weight Loss TAGS: achievable | exercise | gym | lose weight | measurable | membership | new years | realistic | resolutions | s.m.a.r.t. goals | smart goals | specific | time-based | weight watchers As a follow-up for defining S.M.A.R.T. goals and their benefits, it’s probably important to try out some examples. First, a very common resolution: losing weight. The above list of resolutions …Continue reading →

Benefits of Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals TAGS: achievable | goals | lean | measurable | plans | realistic | resolutions | s.m.a.r.t. | specific | time-based S.M.A.R.T. goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-based) are beneficial for a multitude of reasons. They aren’t vague: Because of the specificity, you can know right away if you’re on track …Continue reading →

New Years Resolutions: S.M.A.R.T. Goals TAGS: achievable | lean | measurable | new years | realistic | resolution | s.m.a.r.t. | smart goals | specific | time-based All of us cobble together random ways we want to better ourselves in the form of New Years Resolutions. It’s a time-honored tradition, primarily because January 1 makes for such …Continue reading →