What Is Respect For People? TAGS: blitz | buddhism | consulting | dignity | ethics | honesty | honor | integrity | lean | respect | respect for people | six sigma | toyota | toyota production system | toyota way | treatment | truth What we know as Lean and the Toyota Production System is built upon two pillars – one is continuous improvement through process optimization and waste reduction, and the other is …Continue reading →

Guest Post: NFL Football and #Lean TAGS: adapt | blitz | blog | christina | coach | consulting | football | guest | kach | lean | learn | liberty mutual | nfl | practice | practitioner | teach | tom brady | toyota Today we have a guest blog post from my friend, fellow Lean practitioner, and fellow blogger Christina Kach. She has been a guest blogger for Lean Blitz in the past, …Continue reading →

Better Technology is NOT Always the Solution to the Problem TAGS: conservative | consulting | continuous improvement | daily show | fox news | glenn beck | jon stewart | lean | lean blitz | overprocessing | problem | solution | technology Last night a segment on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart poked a little fun (big surprise) at the new and allegedly better technology on Fox News for collecting and …Continue reading →

The Toyota Way Principle #9 and Notre Dame Football – 2013 Edition TAGS: bcs | bob diaco | brian kelly | championship | coach | college football | consulting | football | leaders | leadership | lean | lean blitz | nfl | notre dame | operations | philosophy | process | sports | toyota way It’s August, and that means both pro and college football seasons are coming soon – many college teams will kick off their season at the end of the month. Last …Continue reading →

Miami Marlins Suing Season Ticket Holders Over Complaints About Seating TAGS: challenge extended network | continuous improvement | craig calcaterra | customer service | jeffrey loria | lawsuit | lean blitz consulting | leon | miami marlins | miami new times | operations | principle #11 | process | root cause analysis | season tickets | sports | toyota way While hosting tiny crowds in a tax-financed new stadium with a team that now features no notable superstars, the Miami Marlins have found a new way to ruffle the feathers …Continue reading →

Notre Dame Football and the 14 Principles of The Toyota Way – Part 1 TAGS: bcs | blitz | brian kelly | championship | college football | consulting | gsr | lean | manti te'o | miami | notre dame football | operations | principles | process | six sigma | sports | sun life stadium | toyota way | tyler eifert | zeke motta Tonight, for the first time since the 1989 Sunkist Fiesta Bowl, the University of Notre Dame will vie for college football’s national title, the 2013 BCS National Championship in Miami. …Continue reading →

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 →

The Toyota Way Principles and Small Business TAGS: blitz | coffee | consulting | continuous flow | continuous improvement | defects | do it right the first time | kanban | lean | level load | operations | optimization | principles | process | pull | scheduling | six sigma | small business | sports | standardized | total productive maintenance | toyota way | tpm | visual control | waiting | work | workload We’ve finally gotten through all 14 Toyota Way principles and what each of them can mean for business operations. But putting them all together can be a challenge, but certainly one …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 →

Lean Tools: Standardized Work and Best Practices TAGS: 14 principles | activities | best practices | consulting | continuous improvement | cycle | excess | house of lean | lean | lean blitz | maximize | motion | operations | process | production | quality | repeatability | safety | six sigma | sports | standardized work | takt time | toyota way | waiting | walking | waste It’s been a long time since I’ve jumped into describing the Lean tools – I broke away to focus on the 14 principles of The Toyota Way, because they were …Continue reading →

Lean is Marketing TAGS: business901 | communicate | customer | defects | four | inventory | joe dager | lean | lean blitz consulting | marketing | needs | operations | overproduction | p's | place | price | processing | product | promotion | pull system | scrap | sports | toyota way | waiting The essence of marketing is the identification of needs a customer aims to have satisfied and providing a solution that will satisfy those needs within four specific categories – the …Continue reading →

The Melky Cabrera Suspension and Why Continuous Improvement Principles Matter TAGS: 2012 | 50 games | 5S | audit | banned substance | baseball | blitz | buster olney | concessions | consulting | continuous improvement | equipment | espn | games | lean | level playing field | london | melky cabrera | mlb | notre dame football | olympics | operations | outfielder | ped | process | ryan braun | safety | san francisco giants | sports | stadium | steroids | testing | ticket sales | toyota way When I first started to write about lean and continuous improvement applications in sports, I was more focused on the business operations – ticket sales, concessions, stadium upkeep, equipment manufacturers, …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 →

Stuff I’m Reading – August 8, 2012 TAGS: 2012 | advertisers | anibal sanchez | attendance | attention | ballpark | belly putter | blitz | blog | consulting | david samson | golf | golf digest | hanley ramirez | heath bell | improve | jeff gordon | jeffrey loria | jose reyes | lean | lean wastes | leanblog | lightning strike | london | love | mark buehrle | mark graban | marketing | miami marlins | nascar | nbc | olympics | omar infante | operations | optimization | organization | pocono | policy | process | product | revenue | safety | sailboat | sailfish | seth godin | small business | sponsors | sports | sprint cup | thad greiner | toyota way | weather There are ample opportunities for performance improvement in sports business and small business operations that I simply can’t get to it all as issues occur day after day. In addition, …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 →