MLB’s first month with robot umpires gave us a 7.3% jump in walks, a five-minute increase in average game time, and a series of headlines asking you to have an opinion. Most of the leaders I respect would shrug. That…
What Pickleball Taught Me About Kindness, Kaizen, and Culture “Don’t worry about your mistakes–you’re learning.” That’s what an instructor said during my first 1×1 lesson at a local indoor pickleball center. It was my second time ever playing the sport.…
Leadership isn’t about avoiding mistakes–it’s about responding to them with honesty and humility. This week, Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn offered a clear example. After quarterback Jayden Daniels suffered a dislocated elbow late in a blowout loss (read more),…
tl;dr: Headlines say kickoff returns are “dramatically up” in 2025, but Process Behavior Charts show this isn’t random fluctuation. The NFL’s new dynamic kickoff rules created a true signal — proof that system changes drive performance, just as Lean teaches…
Scroll down for how to subscribe, transcript, and more My guest for Episode #514 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Hugh Alley, an author and consultant. He divides his time between coaching senior operational leaders in continuous improvement, training…
Two data points aren’t a trend–but headlines, executives, and analysts keep treating them like one, whether the topic is Olympic TV viewership or business performance. Two data points are not a trend. Let’s start with an example from a recent…
Imagine an NFL team that has been on a decades-long streak of winless seasons. The owner, who has been at the helm for most of that period, always believes that finding the right coach will solve the team’s woes. But…
Two-Year Comparisons in Major League Baseball Stats: A Strikeout, not a Homer tl;dr summary: Year-to-year MLB stat comparisons are misleading. Using long-term data and Process Behavior Charts shows that most 2024 trends–runs, hits, doubles, and home runs–are normal variation, while…
tl;dr summary: This post examines the trend of Tommy John surgeries in MLB and MiLB using Process Behavior Charts, revealing that the perceived surge in injuries is within historical variation. The data suggests shifts in patterns rather than a sudden…
Last year, I looked at the free throw statistics of Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons. News headlines talked about how much he had improved his free throws, so I looked at one of his performance metrics (free throw percentage) to see if the increase was "signal" or "noise."
Why write about basketball? Well, there are lessons that we can learn and apply to our own workplace metrics, as I write about in my book Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More.
tl;dr: In the blog post, we delve into MLB’s ongoing struggle with slow and lengthy games, analyzing recent rule changes aimed at reducing game time. Special focus is given to the newly enforced pitch clock for the 2023 season, its…
tl;dr: This blog post analyzes the unusual incentive clause in the contract of Iowa football’s offensive coordinator, Brian Ferentz, which mandates a minimum average of 25 points per game for his contract to be extended. It questions the efficacy and…