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Practice Makes Champions

January 31, 2011 By 10 Comments

A few months ago I wrote about my soccer coaching experiences with my daughter’s U7 team. To conclude that article I mentioned we were about to start playing indoor soccer.

Well, that indoor season ended Friday night… and I’m happy to announce that our team of 6 and 7 year old girls won the championship!

I mention their ages since the team we played in the championship game was made up primarily of 8 year olds so winning the game was no small task. 

As an aside, the picture to the left is me and my daughter in her championship t-shirt that she won’t take off now!  

Anyhow, as is usually the case, I personally learned many things this past season. But one particular lesson stands above all.

Hard Work & Practice

The main lesson I was reminded of is that nothing is more important than hard work and practice.

You see, we’re not a club or academy team… yet in preparation for the big championship game we practiced twice a week.

During those practices we worked on fundamentals and scrimmaged. At this age, nothing is more important than increasing the number of “touches” the girls have with a soccer ball.

Additionally, all our girls had homework to do each night including things like doing at least 50 “toe taps” before they went to bed.

In other words, these little girls worked very hard.

Life Lessons

Immediately after the championship game I asked the girls, “Do you know why we won?” I then went on to explain that we practiced so hard and worked together as a team… and that’s why we won.

You see I find that many people, including grown-ups, fail to grasp the importance of hard work and why practice definitely makes perfect.

I’ve known people with amazing intelligence… yet they fail to meet their own life expectations because they’re not willing to put the work in. Instead, they expect their “talent” to carry them to success… which it rarely does in the long run.

So, while winning championships is great… the most important life lesson I hope to teach these young girls is that anything is possible with hard work and practice.

It’s 4:37 AM Right Now

What’s interesting about this story is that it’s 4:37 AM as I type this sentence in the parking lot of the indoor soccer facility my girls play at. Why am I here at this ridiculously early time?

Well, with more than 50 teams vying for practice time for the next indoor season that starts this Saturday, you have to arrive early to grab your practice slot unless you want to practice at 10:30 PM Sunday night.

When family and friends learned I was planning to be at the facility this early almost all said I was crazy. They simply couldn’t grasp why I’d be willing to sacrifice sleep for 6 and 7 year old girls.

But, to me, nothing is more important than giving these girls the opportunity to continue the life lesson that practice and hard work are the only way champions are developed, in sport or life.

Besides… if you could have seen the looks on their faces after they beat that team of 8 year olds – who incidentally clobbered us twice by 7 and 8 goals earlier in the season – you’d realize why I’m so committed to them.

Filed Under: Featured, Leadership, Soccer

Applying Lean at a Food Bank

January 24, 2011 By 2 Comments

Hat tip to my friend, and business partner, Kevin Meyer for pointing me to this inspiring video.

In this video you’ll see Intel’s Site Materials group applying lean manufacturing principles to Albuquerque’s Road-Runner Food Bank. An excellent example of how lean thinking can indeed change the world for the better.

Well done, Intel!

Filed Under: Featured, Lean

Standardization Video

January 16, 2011 By 8 Comments

This video focuses on the extremely important topic of Standardization.

It’s also the first video of Gemba Academy’s latest course focused entirely on the lean concept of Standard Work.

To learn more about this Standard Work course please click here.

Filed Under: Featured, Lean, Video

My Take on Lean and Six Sigma Certifications

January 13, 2011 By 6 Comments

A few days ago I posed the question about whether exam based lean six sigma certifications were legitimate or frauds.

As usual, many of you came through with excellent thoughts and comments.

Some of you supported the idea, others argued against exam based certifications, and others maintained a neutral position.

Here’s my two cents.

Learning is Always Good

First of all, learning is always good.

It doesn’t matter if you read a blog article, book, or watch some handsome fellow wax poetic about lean on video… learning something new is never bad.

To Each His or Her Own

Next, people learn differently. At Gemba Academy we hear of how some folks love to read the PDF summaries of each lesson. Why? Because they like to read.

Other people prefer online videos, DVDs, in person lectures, or a combination of all these.

The point is everyone is different.

What about Certifications?

Now, to the question of certifications.

I am of the opinion that certifications can be good when approached properly.

And by properly I definitely feel some hands on project work should be done in addition to passing an exam.

The idea of completing a “virtual” project or no project at all doesn’t sit well with me at all as it flies in the face of going to gemba, or the place the work is done, to practice what you learned.

Certifications Means The World to Some

Many opponents of certifications live in the West where these types of things don’t matter much since higher education is the norm for many.

But I can tell you this… I have seen individuals from developing countries break down and cry when they received their certification… it meant the world to them.

So, it’s important to remember that not everyone has the same opportunities in life. As such, we should not be so quick to judge others and their accomplishments.

Problems with Certifications

With this said, certifications don’t come without their problems.

  • Resume Builder: Some folks simply approach certifications as a way to strengthen their resume. In other words, they don’t really care about what they are learning. They are only going through the motions to get a piece of paper.
  • One and Done: Another problem is the one and done… whereby someone completes the certification and never uses their knowledge again. Sad, but I have seen this many times, especially with green belts.
  • Elitist Attitude: Third, while not always the case, some certified folks become elitists… they feel like they are smarter and better than others. This flies in the face of respecting people, a pillar of authentic continuous improvement.
  • Learning Stops: Finally, certification sometimes leads to the person feeling as though there is nothing left to learn.  This is, obviously, never the case. 

Do Something

In the end… I come back to the story I wrote about before where my Grandpa was caught in the middle of a busy intersection… frozen with fear.

After a few seconds my Grandma, God rest her soul, finally yelled, “Well do something!”

It’s also like the question I get from my church friends on which version of the Bible they should buy.  My reply is always the same – the one you will read.

So, no matter if you choose to seek certification or not… I encourage you to do something.

In the end I really believe that if you constantly seek knowledge with a humble heart while working to help others… you will not go wrong.

What do you think?

What do you think of my perspective? Do you agree?

Filed Under: Featured, Lean, Six Sigma

Exam Based Six Sigma Certifications – Legit or Fraud?

January 12, 2011 By 24 Comments

The topic of Lean and Six Sigma Certification is one of the most debated topics in the continuous improvement world.

And since I’m never one to shy away from some good old fashioned debate… I’d like to present the following scenario for discussion.

Specifically, Hayley, a reader of LSS Academy, asks the following question regarding six sigma certification:

How legitimate do you feel are Green Belt certifications which don’t call for a project submission and are examination based only? I am trying to get my team of 11 trained and LSS green belt certified, and am looking at all the available options for the best path to take.

Of course I see the need for real world application of the tools and theories learnt in training, however with no assessment standard for projects doesn’t it go against everything that LSS teaches us as far as being measureable and repeatable, to submit a project which one person may deem passable and another person inadequate and have that decision justify your accreditation (or not)?

Shouldn’t the exam show that you are competent at applying what you have learnt?

I will offer my two cents later this week… but I’m very curious to hear your thoughts. So what do you think? How would you respond to Hayley?

Filed Under: Featured, Six Sigma

The Best of LSS Academy – 2010 Edition

January 4, 2011 By 1 Comment

As we welcome 2011 with open arms I thought I’d take this opportunity to reflect back on the year that was.

In 2010 LSS Academy grew far faster than I could have ever expected as we reached more than 11,000 subscribers. Thank you!

And the conversation you all created with your thoughts and comments was outstanding, as always.

So, as we bid adieu to 2010 I thought it would be fun to look back at the most commented articles from each month of 2010. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Featured, Lean

Why Hoshin Kanri?

January 3, 2011 By 2 Comments

In this article we’ll continue our hoshin kanri series.

In part 1 of this series we learned what the words hoshin kanri mean… so be sure to check that out if you haven’t already.

Let’s Set Some Objectives!

As we start 2011 many companies will begin to focus on setting “objectives” for all employees.

Well, actually, what most companies seem to do is wait until around March to review 2010 objectives before finally setting vague and poorly aligned 2011 objectives by April or May.

The obvious flaw of this ever so broken performance management process is that employees know most managers are simply going through the motions because they have to.

Furthermore, by the time the employee gets their new “objectives” the year is usually 25% complete (sometimes more) and they realize they simply need to play the game without making waves and things will work out OK.

Why Hoshin Kanri is Better

The good news is there’s a better way.

Companies that use hoshin kanri are able to align objectives throughout all levels of the organization. As such, each and every associate knows that they are working on objectives that really matter.

Furthermore, companies that use hoshin kanri track performance of these key objectives each and every month meaning, in actuality, the end of year performance review can be used for other important topics such as career planning and development.

Long Term Vision

The reason many companies, especially publicly traded ones, are so obsessed with the inefficient management by objectives approach is that it plays nice with their short term “make the quarter” management style.

Conversely, the most powerful, and often hard to grasp aspect of hoshin kanri is how it enables companies to think long term as they identify where they want to be in 3 to 5 years.

From this long term vision the organization is able to work backwards as they set annual objectives that flow down into specific actions and projects that really make a difference.

And once associates realize the work they’re doing does in fact matter… they’ll engage like never before. Add in the fact they’ll be able to “keep score” of how they’re doing on a monthly basis and a recipe for amazing success is in place.

How are objective set at your company?

To wrap this article up, I’m curious to hear how your company sets and reviews annual objectives. 

When do you expect to learn how you did in 2010? Or do you already know? And when do you expect to learn what your 2011 objectives are?

In coming articles we’ll step you through the hoshin kanri process so please be sure to subscribe to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by email and have new articles sent directly to your inbox.

Filed Under: Featured, Lean