Genchi Genbutsu & Manti Te’o's Draft Stock TAGS: actual place actual thing | bcs championship | combine | consulting | draft | football | gemba | genbutsu | genchi | go and see | go and see for yourself | lean | lean blitz | lennay kekua | manti | nfl | notre dame | operations | sports | t'eo We have been inundated with the story of Manti Te’o and the girlfriend hoax, especially this past weekend as the NFL Draft unfolded. Te’o is one of the most award-decorated …Continue reading →

Was Elvis Dumervil a Victim of Bad Process, Bad Technology, or Both? TAGS: agent | broncos | contract | defensive end | demaurice smith | denver | denver post | dumervil | elvis | espn | fax machine | lean blitz consulting | magid | mike klis | national letter of intent | nfl | nflpa | operations | overprocessing | photo | process | scholarship | sports | technology | video | waiting In one of the quirkiest NFL contract-related events, we present to you new accidental free agent defensive end Elvis Dumervil, formerly of the Denver Broncos. Dumervil, under contract with the …Continue reading →

Punxsutawney Phil and Measuring the Wrong Things TAGS: 5S | causation | combine | consulting | continuous improvement | correlation | day | draft | groundhog | indicators | lean blitz | manti te'o | measure | nfl | operations | overprocessing | pennsylvania | process | punxsutawney phil | react | scouting | six sigma | sports | standardized work | tom brady | visual   Every February 2nd Americans gear up for the grand indicator of how much longer winter will be with us – by checking in with a groundhog in Pennsylvania about …Continue reading →

NBA and NFL Draft Eligibility Restrictions – Why? TAGS: acl | basketball | brandon jennings | college | consulting | continuous improvement | david stern | derrick rose | draft | eligibility | football | greg oden | injury | jadeveon clowney | kentucky | knee | lean blitz | marcus lattimore | nba | ncaa | nerlens noel | nfl | operations | pat forde | process | risk | rules | six sigma | south carolina | sports The NBA and NFL both have eligiblity restrictions on draftable players, and those restrictions are very quickly being called into question. The NBA implemented a rule in 2005 that required …Continue reading →

Could the Super Bowl Power Outage Have Been Prevented? TAGS: asq | baltimore | beyonce | blackout | continuous improvement | failure modes effects analysis | fmea | football | game | grid | halftime | john priebe | lean blitz consulting | national football league | nfl | operations | outage | power | prevention | problem solving | process | ravens | root cause analysis | san francisco 49ers | six sigma | sports | super bowl | superdome We’ve all been watching the stories fly in over the last 24-36 hours about the power outage at the Superdome during the Super Bowl, so that won’t get rehashed here. …Continue reading →

The NFL Pro Bowl and Focusing On Things That Matter TAGS: all-star game | aloha stadium | change | concussion | continuous improvement | football | jeff saturday | kaizen | kyle rudolph | lean | nfl | operations | pro bowl | process | quality | six sigma | sports | super bowl | testing | that's the way we've always done it | value There is serious talk at the highest league levels about discontinuing the NFL Pro Bowl, and for very good reason. – The game really only serves as a vacation for …Continue reading →

The Holiday Season, Post Updates and a Blog Carnival Shout-Out TAGS: adult kickball | arrest | barack obama | baseball winter meetings | beyond lean | blitz | blog | booth | bud selig | cards | carnival | christmas | consulting | continuous improvement | curious cat | dallas | dump | election | elves | festivus | green bay packers | heisman trophy | integrity | inventory | john hunter | johnny football | johnny manziel | kaizen | kansas state | klein | lean | manti te'o | matt wrye | miami marlins | mitt romney | monday night football | nashville | nfl | notre dame | operations | process | referee | replacement | root cause analysis | roundup | salary | santa claus | seattle seahawks | sports | t'eo | texas a&m | toronto blue jays | trade | trade show Ahh, the holiday season is fully enveloping us. Everybody be happy and peaceful to one another during this stressful time of shopping, traveling, seasonal obligations (like choral activities where folks …Continue reading →

Sprinklers Spring Up During NFL Game TAGS: blitz | breakdown | consulting | continuous improvement | error-proofing | game | input | lean | miami dolphins | nfl | november | operations | poka-yoke | process | seattle seahawks | six sigma | sports | sprinklers | sun life stadium | technology A couple weekends ago at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, the Seattle Seahawks were battling the Miami Dolphins in a hard-fought one-score game…when this happened. Whoops. Many stadiums (if not …Continue reading →

Long Lead Times on Johnny Football Texas A&M Jerseys TAGS: 2 | adidas | aggie | aggies | blitz | bulk | college | consulting | continuous improvement | darren | espn | flexibility | football | jersey | johnny | late | lean | lsu | major league baseball | manziel | margins | mlb | national football league | nfl | nickname | operations | optimization | ordering | overseas | process | revenue driver | rovell | shipping | six sigma | sports | texas a&m Texas A&M’s redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel has certainly earned his nickname “Johnny Football” for both his passing and running abilities in leading his school to a solid season of …Continue reading →

NFL Replacement Officials and Quality Defects TAGS: aaron rodgers | blitz | consulting | errors | football | golden tate | green bay packers | hail mary | judgment | lean | lockout | monday night football | national football league | nfl | principle | replacement | roger goodell | russell wilson | seattle seahawks | stop to fix problems | strike | the toyota way Principle #5 from The Toyota Way states “Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.” Through three weeks of the NFL football season …Continue reading →

NFL Replacement Referees and Lack of Standardized Work TAGS: accuracy | agreement | bargaining | blitz | book | collective | consulting | continuous improvement | denver broncos | error | experience | four timeouts | john fox | knowledge | lean | lean wastes | national football league | new orleans saints | nfl | operations | players | process | referees | replacement | rules | seattle seahawks | six sigma | sports | standardized work | training | union | work instruction So, NFL, how are these replacement referees working out for you? Between snagging one off the street who turned out to have significant New Orleans Saints allegiances to the lack …Continue reading →

NFL Replacement Referee Pulled from Covering Favorite Team’s Game TAGS: allegiance | association | bias | brian stropolo | carolina panthers | check | collective bargaining agreement | consulting | espn | facebook | failure | gambling | lean blitz | lockout | nba | new orleans saints | nfl | official | operations | process | pulled | quality | referee | side judge | sports | tim donaghy It is a basic expectation of sports fans, managers, organizations, and officials that a high-quality game umpire or referee is unbiased to the outcome of matches and to the participants. …Continue reading →

Madden ’13 With Wrong Player Picture TAGS: 13 | calvin johnson | cover | defensive tackle | denver broncos | detroit lions | ea sports | lean blitz consulting | madden | marcus thomas | megatron | national football league | nfl | oops | operations | picture | process | running back | six sigma | sports | twitter | university of florida | update | utep | wrong The newest edition of the EA Sports Madden NFL video game, Madden ’13, came out on Tuesday. Generally football fans, gamers, and players alike are over-the-top excited about the release …Continue reading →

College Football and the Lack of PDCA TAGS: act | activity | alabama | ann arbor | appalachian state | check | college baseball | college basketball | college football | continuous improvement | crimson tide | cupcake | defects | do | errors | exhibition | football | inferior | lean blitz consulting | michigan | mlb | nba | nfl | nhl | nick saban | operations | opponents | pdca | plan | preseason | process | production | risk | scheduling | six sigma | south carolina | sports | waste Pretend for a moment you’re a company with a few manufacturing lines. Some are big, some are small, some are complex, and there’s one that gets a lot of attention …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 →