Want Your Colleagues To Do A Good Job? Show Them What A Good Job Looks Like. TAGS: american society for quality | assembly | blitz | borat | communication | consulting | continuous improvement | control | customer | customer requirements | design for six sigma | do it right the first time | good job | if you don't have time to do it right | instruction | lean | manager | operations | picture | process | quality | quality function deployment | reports | six sigma | visual | work instruction It’s a situation I’ve encountered many, many times in my career – a manager or colleague requesting a project be completed or task finished without me knowing enough about how …Continue reading →

2012 Summer Olympics: The SPOILER ALERT Olympiad TAGS: 2008 | 2012 | advertising | alert | aly | americans | beijing | blitz | broadcast | cbs | cnbc | communication | computer | consulting | de janeiro | douglas | espn | evening | facebook | franklin | gabby | gabrielle | gold medal | immediate | jordyn | lean | live | lochte | london | michael phelps | missy | nbc | nbc sports network | nbcolympics.com | new york | olympics | operations | process | race | raisman | results | rio | ryan | secrecy | six sigma | spoil | spoiler | sports | suspense | swimming | tape delay | today show | twitter | update | versus | viewership | wieber Yesterday after I posted about Jordyn Wieber being left out of the Olympics women’s gymnastics all-around competition and indicating that Gabby Douglas had won the gold medal, I got a …Continue reading →

How Do We Establish A Standardized Process? TAGS: best | blitz | communicate | communication | continuous | customer | documentation | documented | implement | improvement | lean | measure | necessary | note | operations | optimization | paper | post-it note | practice | predict | process | project | require | simplified | six sigma | sports | standardized | sticky | time-based | work I’ve posted a lot recently about the importance of implementing a standardized process – the ability to audit and measure, the ease of implementing improvements across the board, establishment of …Continue reading →

“Because I Said So” is Destructive TAGS: answer | ask | associates | because i said so | blitz | child | communication | continuous | curiosity | curious | embarrassment | enlighten | five whys | follow | golden | grow | handbook | honest | ideas | improvement | interest | lean | learn | management | new | operations | parents | process | punishment | question | questions | rulebook | rules | scapegoat | shame | silence | six sigma | sports | teamwork | toddler | trust | why I had a conversation with a friend this weekend who was telling me about his little boy. He’s enlightened by his son’s curiosity and ability to ask questions and interest …Continue reading →

State of the Lean Blitz Blog: April 2012 TAGS: activities | alignment | apparel | atlanta | audience | augusta | baseball | baseball winter meetings | basketball | bat | ben hill | blitz | blue | braun | braves | championship | club | cnbc.com | columbus | comments | communication | concessions | consultants | continuous | customer | darren rovell | david schoenfield | dayton | e-book | elmore | email | espn.com | experience | facebook | five whys | followers | football | georgia | giveaway | golf | google | greenjackets | group | hot dog | improvement | jackets | jersey | knowledge | lean | locker room | manufacturing | mascot | masters | merchandise | minor league | moneyball | movie | national | ncaa | notre dame | ohio | operations | pin flag | plus | principles | process | questions | respond | ryan | satisfaction | season | service | seth godin | silver hawks | six sigma | sneezers | Soccer | south bend | sports | sportsbiz | steroids | subscribers | subscriptions | sweetspot | t-shirt | tools | tournament | toyota way | twitter | waste | wastes I figured that since the blog is between 5-6 months old now that I provide a “state of the blog” address – what has changed since the blog first kicked …Continue reading →

The Masters: Mowing the Fairways TAGS: 2012 | angc | augusta | blade | blitz | bubba watson | cart | club | communication | cut | fairway | golf | grass | hydraulic | leak | lean | maintenance | masters | mow | mower | national | operations | patron | practice | process | sharpen | six sigma | tennis ball | tractor | training When the patrons begin leaving Augusta National Golf Club during the week of the Masters and when the final groups of golfers finish up their rounds or work at the …Continue reading →

Chicago Cubs and Correcting Mistakes Immediately TAGS: accountability | accountable | blitz | chicago | communication | correct | cubs | dave | footwork | lean | mental | mistakes | operations | positioning | principle | process | six sigma | spring | strategy | sveum | technique | toyota | training | way | world series New manager Dave Sveum has brought a “new philosophy” to the Chicago Cubs this year in spring training – correcting mistakes immediately, greater accountability, and working to get it right …Continue reading →