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The Lean Post / Articles / Super Bowl 2014: It’s All About the Coaching

Super Bowl 2014: It’s All About the Coaching

Coaching

Super Bowl 2014: It’s All About the Coaching

By Tom Ehrenfeld

January 31, 2014

LEI Senior Editor Tom Ehrenfeld gets ready for the super bowl the only way he knows how: looking for lean metaphors and lessons from sports.

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It’s nearly impossible to avoid seeking lean lessons in sports. Nothing like reflecting on something that we don’t consider work to gain a few insights about work. And with the upcoming Super Bowl, a game in which teamwork, a game plan, and constant adjustment plays a huge role in superior performance, I got to thinking about which of the two head coaches (The Seahawks’ Pete Carroll and The Broncos’ John Fox) this year would be considered more “lean” in his approach?

After a bit of unscientific research, I came up with neither. My candidate, based on this interview, tilts me towards Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly.

Here we have a guy who didn’t base his NFL success on the same plays that brought him college accolades. Rather, he imported his key principles, based on a scientific approach. As noted in the article, “there was obviously a philosophy of being inquisitive” to Kelly, who is seen as “someone who challenged the obvious.” And—this will sound familiar to anyone who’s worked with lean leaders who have been exposed to serious practice—Kelly doesn’t provide answers. Rather, in contrast to every other job candidate who sought to dutifully answer all the questions, Kelly volleyed back with questions to the questions, examining the situation at all times. Why? And, why?

Sounds like the qualities we look for in lean leadership. How about the two chief engineers of the Seahawks and the Broncos? Who in your opinion is playing the lean game and why? And of course by lean game, I mean who’s in it to win?

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Written by:

Tom Ehrenfeld

About Tom Ehrenfeld

Tom Ehrenfeld is a writer and editor living in Cambridge, MA. A former writer/editor with Inc. Magazine and Harvard Business Review, he is the author of The Startup Garden: How Growing A Business Grows You. He works as a consulting editor for LEI and with many other lean authors. Nine of his edited books have won the Shingo Research…

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