Daves random mumblings…

Football (the round ball version) seems to have a couple of major hurdles left to overcome to really become a mainstream sport in the US.

First, attract the top level athletes early and have them stick with the game.

From my experience the US youth development system seems to be aimed at preparing players for college. By the time a player has a couple of years of college it’s too late, very few clubs will invest the effort to develop 20 year old players.

There are a few good players that come out the college system, but generally they look unprepared for the professional leagues. I think the key is to create a real academy system tied to the club sides, identify the really talented players at 14 to 16 years old and give them the intense quality training that only a professional setup can.

The US has a few potentially world class players, Howard, Adu, Altidore and Johnson come to mind. I believe Altidore, who is only 19, may have the potential to be the best player yet to come through the US youth system.

Howard was spectacular against Spain the Confederation Cup semi, probably the best performance in a team that overall had a great game. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the four players I names all play in Europe, and maybe more importantly most moved there early in their professional career.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, promote the game and create more of a demand for the game from the public.
While there are some MLS success stories (Sounders rather spectacularly leading the way, LA and one or two others), there are some other teams playing some good football but drawing less than 10,000.

A win in the Confederation cup could have helped in really establishing the beautiful game in the minds of US sports fans. A win over one of the strongest football nations would have increased the momentum from the Spain win

Don Garber (MLS commissioner) Said “We’ve always believed we deserved more respect than we receive, in sports you’ve got to earn respect, you can’t just ask for it, and we’ve earned some respect this past week.

Europe has always looked down a little on US football, despite being 14th in the FIFA ranking and consistent qualification for the World Cup (something my England can’t always claim) drawing the US always thought of as a relatively easy game by European fans. I think the win over Spain and taking the game to Brazil will cause more people to take the US national team, and by association the MLS a little more seriously in the future.

Garber followed up by adding “Today we proved that we can compete at the highest level, for 45 minutes, we had one of the best teams in the world shocked and on their heels.”

Tags: Footy // Add Comment »

Football is an easy game to both play and understand. Two goals, one ball, some friends and an open space. The aim of the game is equally simple, white round thing in the goal, really nothing too it.

Let me be clear I’m not very good at football, having the coordination of a drunk puppy may have something to do with it, but I love the game. Despite two bad knees and a dodgy shoulder I still occasionally play pick up games in goal, I prefer playing indoor football because the goal is smaller and I don’t have to run so far

I’ve been involved in football in Seattle as both a player and youth coach. When I coached I could not believe how organized it all was, websites with the rosters, pitch rotations, snack rosters, set practice times, paid referees (for 6 year olds playing games where no one keeps score…), trophies and so on, and so on, and so on. Just to register a player you have to provide a birth certificate and sign an endless pile of paper to ensure them your child really was the age you said they were
and that should they make contact with another kid (in what is after all a contact sport) that the league does not get sued.

The whole set up is total overkill, as all most the kids want to do is kick a ball around. The rest would rather make pick daisies and daydream rather than actually play, but that’s a whole other rant.

It’s bizarre, parents throw down a decent wedge of money to enjoy the hassle of registration, buying kit, dropping kids off at inconvenient practices, dragging folding chairs to wet and muddy fields in the back corners of Snohomish in November so their 5 year old can play 15 minutes of 3 v’s 3 “Micro soccer” eight or nine times and receive a trophy just for participating… I know a child whose team has never won a game in three years, but has three trophies lined up to make herself feel good.

We’ll explore how I feel about that another time…

Maybe because of all this organization, no one would ever think about calling a few friends, going to the park, throwing down two sweaters for a goal and kicking a ball about for an hour.

This is supposed to be a game, played for fun. Where is the passion, the spontaneity? As an 8 year old I would head to the park, meet my friends and kick a ball around for a few hours, come home dirty, tired, occasionally bruised having had fun. No organization, no parents hovering and keeping track of how many minutes have been played compared to the other kids.

This over organization mixed with parental pressure is not restricted to football, it seems to be common to many kids activates in the US. It creates an atmosphere where lip service is paid to equality, but the parents see winning and loosing as all important. This seems to have taken the fun out of being a kid.

You start playing for various reasons, parents, peers, interest, what ever. And keep playing because they have fun. Take that fun away and kids quit.

Then the game looses too.

Tags: Footy // Add Comment »

There is that fleeting moment, it’s the split second where you know it’s all gone terribly wrong, but the full extent of the trouble has not played itself out yet.

When you feel the front tire of the bike go flat on the downhill…
When you feel the back of the race car step out when you turn into the corner…
When you see the football heading towards your head…
When you catch the ball and the biggest forward on the other team is about to hit you…
When the jump turns out to be bigger than you thought…

Time slows down, senses become much sharper and you notice the details that would have normally passed you by….

Then the impact occurs, you hit bike/ground/car/tree and just for a fleeting second you think that maybe you got away with it, that its not going to hurt as much as you thought…

Then reality smacks you upside the head and it hurts, oh my it hurts…

I was rallying with JB Niday in California a couple of years ago. The notes read “50 Jump 100 Big Jump 350”, translated that’s a jump followed by a short straight that led to another bigger jump, again followed by another straight.

Others slowed for the second jump, we did not, and hit the crest of the second jump at a little over 80MPH. That was the moment we both knew our day had taken a turn for the worst.

It seemed like we were in the air for an age, I had enough time to drop my notes, assume the crash position of putting my chin on my chest and holding onto my shoulder harness to stop my arms flapping around if we rolled.

I then had time to look up once again, see we were still in the air and I recall the ground being a lot closer than it was previously. We were in the air for 164 feet (we went back and measured it) and landed heavily, very heavily, nose first. It was not pretty, but we got some cool pictures of the accident.

http://www.davekean.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/p5070015.JPG

This is my favourite photo, the front had landed, the back was still in the air with dirt auguring off the front, and the best bit… The brake lights are on.

Tags: Rally // Add Comment »

I spent some time today with the Value Stream Maps of a couple of processes identifying the steps that the customer (the production floor) really cares about and those that don’t add value.

Here are my thoughts after identifying a number of steps that don’t add value to the customer, but are still essential part of the process.

Non-Value Added (NVA) - any activity that is not required by the business or the customer willing to pay for. The NVA list is extensive and includes storing, moving, reworking, obtaining multiple approvals or signatures for the product. As I said the list is extensive.

Value added activities can be divided up into two categories -

Customer Value Added (CVA) - this is the stuff the customer cares about, turning aluminium into airplanes, writing code and adding functions that provide additional features that the end user cares about. If the activity changes the form, fit, function, interchangeability or adds a feature then it probably adds value to the customer. Additionally any work we do that provides a competitive advantage, for example eliminating defects, reducing price or reduction in flow time, falls under this category.

Process Value Added (PVA) - activity or expense that is required to operate the business and the customer does not care about. There are a considerable number of tasks that are required (or even essential to the process not breaking down) but don’t add anything to the product.

It’s obviously important to eliminate NVA activities. There is inevitably some low hanging fruit that’s easy to remove, however it’s important to delve deeply into the process and really understand what each step in the process adds and eliminate all NVA tasks and steps.

Recognizing PVA and separating them from the NVA can be difficult. You are required (by law or by some form of regulatory body) to perform there steps, but they don’t add anything to the product. First step is to confirm the step is required, then look a little close of see if it’s performed as efficiently as possible, this may require contacting a subject matter expert to really understand. Ideally you’d like to eliminate PVA, but that’s typically impossible for a true PVA step. Then you are required to ensure the cost of these steps is reduced as far as possible.

Tags: Work // Add Comment »

The PMBOK definition of a project is very straightforward, on page 5 it says

“A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.”

The PMI then goes on to define the difference between operations and a project.

“The project concludes when its specific objectives have been attained, while operations adopt a new set of objects and the work continues.”

While I understand what the PMI is trying to say, I don’t necessarily agree and find the line to be far more blurred. My knowledge is mostly in aero, and a lot of what PMI defines as “operations” are in fact just continuous improvement lifecycle projects.

The development of a new product (software, airliner or widget) is often seen as a discrete project. However when you look at the program in many ways it’s closer to the operational model as defined by PMBOK, than the project model.

For example, while I’ve worked at Boeing we’ve produced over six hundred individual 777 airliners. The last of those has the same basic airframe as the first, but has surprisingly little else in common.

This came out very clearly when customer wanted a new build aircraft delivered in 2009 to be a similar configuration to the aircraft we last delivered to the airline in 1999. The 777 product had evolved so far in the intervening decade that we were unable to deliver what the customer wasnted in a surprising number of areas.

The issues were not because of parts obsolescence, some minor changes driven by updated certification requirements, but the vast majority (over 90%) of the changes we were forced to make to the 1999 configuration were because of this ongoing evolution of the basic design.

Most of these changes were put in place over the years to support the ongoing efficiency improvements being made in the Boeing Production System. The 777 is not unique in blurring the project/operations line.

So where does the project/operations line get crossed?

My thoughts…

Using the PMBOK definition a project is non-value added. It does not produce something until the project is complete.

Conversely the operations lifecycle is over when an item stops adding value.

If we accept this then it would seem obvious that the project phase should be made as short as possible, using all available resources to expedite the project and get to creating value for the owner as early as feasible.

Using that as the criteria, when did the 777 move from the project to operations phase? When the engineering was complete? The first airplane rolled off he production line? When serial production was underway? Or perhaps When the development costs had been covered?

Using the PMBOK definition, all the above could be the right answer.

Tags: Work // Add Comment »

I work in aerospace, possibly the most process driven industry around. Most if not all organizations that support the design, build and delivery of products use checklists. Salesmen configuring the aircraft, design engineers preparing a drawing to pilots preparing from the first flight, all use some form of standardized checklist to ensure that things get done in a consistent way and is ready for approval and their downstream customer.

Where the flow of incoming data and tasks is so overwhelming that you have no idea what to do next (called “task saturation”) going to a checklist allows you to focus on priorites and work down a clearly defines list.

At work we have three primary uses of checklists.

• To do checklist – look at the list, do the item, check it off.
• Reminder checklist - complete the tasks, then look at the checklist to ensure the item is complete and ready for the downstream customer.
• Challenge/response - one person reads out the item on the checklist and a second person completes the item and then calls out the correct response.

Content

Chunking - List the items that should be on your checklist. There are a number of ways to group items. Those that share a common factor (location, function) or group by priority.

Flow – examine the chunks and look for a logical progression (moving around your desk, the order in which people need to approve a drawing) to make the list more efficient.

Completion Box – If it’s just one person working down the list then a line that reads “Section complete” and a tickbox is all that’s required. This allows you to move on knowing the previous section or group is finished.

Redundancy – If there are items that consistently cause rejections or are especially critical it’s OK to duplicate them.

Size - Make your checklist as short as possible but as long as needed. The longer the checklist the less likely it will be used and the more likely you will be interrupted while using it.

Design

Font – Use a very clear font, a single font in a mix of upper and lower case is ideal. Italics can be used for emphisis. The idea is the eyes should quickly pick put to what they need to see. Use both upper and lower case letter.

Use black lettering on white paper. Highlighting can be used to define critical items.

Phraseology

Terminology - Use proper terms, as this reduces the chance for error. No vague or ambiguous phrases.
Status - Use the actual status or condition that is desired after each item. For example
“Engineering sign off . . . . . Complete”
“Master Power . . . . . . . . . On”
“Tourque wrench . . . . . . . . To 70 ft lbs”

Checklists are there to ensure things are done in a consistent, systematic way. When we are under pressure to meet a deadline whether it is releasing a piece of design engineering, a plan to the shop floor or a part for delivery to a customer its possible to miss a step.

When I get a request from the shop for help I can meet their needs knowing that I’ve done everything needed. My output will be complete, correct and that my actions and response were thought through when I had time.

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Ticked another off my big ass to-do list a couple of weeks ago – to confidently walk up to a craps table in Vegas and know what I’m doing.

I know compared to starting the Dakar Rally or spending 6 months in India, it’s a small and rather achievable one, but gosh it ended up being fun.

I Walked into Bills Gambling Hall, a little place with $5 tables in the centre of the Las Vegas Strip. I found a table that was sounded like it was having fun, waited for a lull in the action and laid down three 100-dollar bills.

I’m not a big gambler when I go to Vegas and this is without doubt the most I have ever even considered putting on the line. I’d read a couple of books, had a plan, understood what I was doing and felt equipped to if not win, at least have fun and not look like a total arse.

I picked up a pile of $5 (“nickels”) and $25 (“quarters” picking up the lingo already…) chips and stated to play.

I was going for a basic, low risk (according to the books) strategy, play the pass line (bet with the dice), come box and always take odds. With this I’d have a maximum of $45 on the table at any one time.

After 45 minutes I was down a little over $100, but had a decent idea of what was going on and most importantly was having fun. Then I slowly with $10 or $15 a time started to make it back, my stack ebbed and flowed a little, but the trend was up. After about 3 hours of play I threw a couple of chips onto the table for the dealers and walked away with about $500 of chips and feeling rather good.

Went back the following day, started the same way with putting $300 on the table. The luck I’d previous day deserted me, I was down close to $200 and the table was full, but quiet compared to the previous session.

Then I got the dice, I rolled, and rolled, and rolled, and rolled… I had a huge hot streak, the table got loud and I kept rolling. In the end I had the dice for about 30 minutes, the table was yelling and when it was finally I got a huge round of applause for the series.

It was quite the rush and I felt really pumped afterwards. Immediatly I joined 4 or 5 others from the table at the cage to cash out while the going was good. Again I was up, about $100 on the day and almost $300 over the two sessions.

I can see how people stay at the tables looking for that next big roll, when you’re in the middle of the extended hot roll it’s intoxicating, really nerve racking and very, very addictive.

I walked away from the tables after those two sessions, put on my Parrothead shirt and started the Jimmy Buffet pre-concert drinking and had a great night.

Tags: Life // Add Comment »