Long-Term Philosophies and the Miami Marlins Blockbuster Trade TAGS: anibal sanchez | baseball winter meetings | blitz | blockbuster | bonifacio | buehrle | consulting | continuous improvement | dallas | detroit tigers | dump | emilio | giancarlo stanton | hanley | heath bell | john buck | johnson | jose | josh | lean | long-term | los angeles dodgers | manager | mark | marlins | miami | new york mets | omar infante | operations | ozzie guillen | philosophy | pitcher | principle | process | ramirez | reyes | salary | san diego padres | shortsop | six sigma | sports | toronto blue jays | toyota way | trade Back at the 2011 Baseball Winter Meetings, the Miami Marlins were truly the stars of the show. With a new taxpayer-funded stadium ready to open and a roster already featuring …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 →

Penn State University and Violation of Mission Statements TAGS: accreditation | allegations | blitz | consulting | culture | fbi | fixing | football | freeh | health | integrity | jerry sandusky | joe paterno | leadership | lean | louis | mid-atlantic | middle states commission on higher education | mission | ncaa | operations | penn | philosophy | principle | problems | process | scandal | sports | state | toyota way | university | vision | website | well being Penn State University continues to suffer the consequences of misplaced priorities. Not only have severe sanctions been applied to the university by the NCAA but now the accreditation status of …Continue reading →

2012 Summer Olympics: 100M Heckler and Doing the Right Thing TAGS: 100m | 2012 | behavior | blake | blitz | bolt | bosch | bottle | bronze medal | consulting | culture | dutch | edith | final | games | gatlin | gold | heckler | jamaica | judoka | justin | lean | london | olympics | operations | poetic justice | principle | process | sebastian coe | security | silver | sports | stop to fix problems | tackle | toyota way | uk telegraph | united states | usain | yohan Yesterday at the Olympics a heckler in the crowd at the track and field stadium threw a plastic bottle at the runners just before the Men’s 100M final. It didn’t …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #14: Become a Learning Organization TAGS: balboa | blitz | classroom | consulting | continuous | improvement | lean | learning | operations | organization | perfect | philadelphia | principle | process | reflect | reflection | relentless | rocky | six sigma | sports | stairs | steps | teach | toyota way (This is part of a series looking at the 14 Principles of The Toyota Way.) This is the final principle, the one that ties the previous thirteen together. No organization …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #13: Decide Slowly Through Consensus, Implement Rapidly TAGS: achieve | analysis | benefits | blitz | cause | change | consensus | consider | consulting | decisions | defects | delay | errors | evaluate | failure | five whys | fix | haste makes waste | implement | lean | management | operations | options | principle | problem | process | quick | rapidly | reap | root | sigma | six | slow | solve | sports | toyota | way One of the risks of implementing changes or new ideas in processes is the failure to consider all options and the potential for an outcome not otherwise projected. A lot …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #12: Go and See For Yourself TAGS: blitz | chihuahua | consulting | data | disruptive | eyeglasses | gemba | genbutsu | genchi | go | inputs | lean | machines | numbers | objective | operations | outputs | people | principle | process | see | situation | six sigma | sports | spreadsheet | subjective | toyota way | yourself It’s extremely commonplace in today’s data-driven world to make big decisions based on information provided by databases and reports. It’s simply the nature of progress and technology. Data-based decision making …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #10, Notre Dame Football, and RKG’s TAGS: arnold | athletes | big skill | blitz | brian | central | character | charlie | cincinnati | cohesive | consistency | constancy | consulting | dame | emotional | fightin' | fighting | football | grand | guy | irish | joe bolden | keith | kelly | kind | kinda | lean | mental | merits | michigan | nbc | notre | operations | penn state | people | philosophy | players | power | principle | process | prototype | recruiting | right | rivals | rkg | scouting | six sigma | skill | specifications | sports | staff | state | style | success | toyota | turnover | university | valley | way | weis | wolverines We’ve already dissected how the University of Notre Dame football program could be at an advantage on the field this coming fall because of the benefits of limited staff turnover. …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #10 and the Importance of People TAGS: 2002 | art | athletics | baseball | beane | billy | blitz | brand | constraint | consulting | cultivate | depodesta | develop | efficiency | front line | fuson | grady | howe | implement | knicks | lean | lewis | management | maximize | michael | mission statement | moneyball | new york | oakland | operations | operators | paul | people | peter | philadelphia | phillies | philosophy | principle | process | produce | six sigma | sports | teams | toyota | undervalued | value | victory | way | yankees (This is a continuation of the examination of the 14 principles of The Toyota Way.) It’s one thing to have a company philosophy and mission statement, as well as a …Continue reading →

Penn State Football and Toyota Way Principle #1 TAGS: allegations | blitz | child | consulting | cover | critical | decision | demonstrate | director | espn | example | financial | flagbearer | football | freeh | function | gains | heavy lifting | jay | jerry | joe | lean | long-term | management | molestation | operations | organization | paterno | penn | philosophy | principle | priority | process | report | sandusky | short-term | six sigma | sports | staff | state | sustainability | toyota | university | up | usurp | way I’m not going to rehash all of the details behind Penn State University’s cover-up of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse allegations and convictions – other outlets are doing a fine …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #9: Growing and Developing Leaders TAGS: align | blitz | breathe | consulting | director | front | future | goals | hire | leader | lean | line | live | manager | objectives | operations | outside | philosophy | principle | process | promote | six sigma | sports | teach | toyota | train | understand | way | work (This is part of a series of posts about the 14 Principles of The Toyota Way.) Yesterday I discussed how a person that can visualize a scenario or concept is …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #8 and Implementing Technology that Helps TAGS: activities | blitz | client | computer | consulting | current | director | expectation | future | identification | lean | manager | manual | map | mapping | money | note | operations | optimize | people | post-it | principle | process | projects | provider | requirement | resource | risk | serve | six sigma | solution | sports | state | technology | time | time study | toyota | waste | way One of my current clients has a two-pronged plan for improving a process that is absorbing a lot of resources (people, time, risk, money). The first prong is to optimize …Continue reading →

Using Toyota Way Principle #8 on Everyday Technology TAGS: a6 | audi | blackberry | blitz | box | capability | capacity | car | cell | consulting | cost of ownership | curve | droid | economy | fuel | glass | htc | iphone | lean | lg | logo | maintenance | motorola | nokia | operations | otter | palm | people | phone | principle | prioritize | priority | process | purchase | purpose | quattro | reliability | repair | six sigma | specialized | sports | technology | test | tested | toyota | treo | upkeep | vehicle | way (This is a continuation of a series of posts reviewing the principles of The Toyota Way.) As previously mentioned, the eighth principle from The Toyota Way states: “Use only reliable, …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #8: Use The Proper Technology TAGS: activity | at&t | automotive | blackberry | blitz | cell | data | droid | enhance | flip | functions | humans | improve | industry | iphone | lean | medical | operations | phone | principle | process | productivity | robots | service | six sigma | sports | sprint | technology | text | toyota way | verizon | voice | waste (This is a continuation of a series of posts on the principles of The Toyota Way.) Technological advancements over the years have been a part of many breakthrough process improvements. …Continue reading →

Toyota Way Principle #7 – Visual Controls TAGS: adjust | blitz | board | colors | consulting | control | digital | factory | indicator | kanban | label | lean | led | light | lights | limit | lines | metrics | operations | principle | process | rack | readout | shadow | shadowboard | shapes | signage | sounds | speed | sports | stop | stoplight | toyota | visual | way We’ve all seen speed limit signs and pay attention to them at our own discretion. But have you seen a design like this? This speed limit sign features a radar …Continue reading →