Market Dominance

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In spite of the fact that I told my staff that I would lay off cycling for a bit, now that the tour is over, we did receive a comment this past weekend from a reader whose support of Armstrong may not be entirely enthusiastic.

“Do you have any idea on what Armstrong said to Candel Evans after he sneaked in front of him and taking the 11th place on the last Tuesday stage? “Why have you done that?” It is known that Armstrong intimidates the other riders and that anyone who does not obey, as Candel did, is punished? Years for now, after each tentative escape from the peleton, Candel will be followed by the Discovery team, which will lead the peleton into Evans’ annihilation. Now, that’s the “team spirit”, and Armstrong kicked T-Mobile asses because they dared to walk outside the leadership of the Great Lance. ”

It is my intent to link this discussion to relevant management issues, and as I read the posted comment, I remembered a conversation I had with a South African fellow named Gideon Malherbe. We were talking about those companies who maintained a strategy of Market Dominance. Seven tour wins reminds me of market dominance, though we were talking about Wal-Mart and Microsoft. Gideon’s parting thought to me was, “If you are the 800 pound gorilla in a market and not stepping on some toes, then you are missing the point.”

I am curious, what do you think? -TF

The Finish

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As the Tour de France wound down, there was little left to be decided. Jan Ullrich (TMO) pounded an incredible time trial on Saturday that moved him into third place overall. Mickael Rasmussen (RAB), dropped from third place to seventh place as his wheels came off (literally). He crashed twice and by some counts was on his fourth bike by the time he crossed the finish. Lance Armstrong (DSC) swept by Ullrich’s time trial pace by 23 seconds capturing an unprecedented 7th Tour victory. Sunday was Lance’s day on the Champs-Elysees. Protocol dictated that he go unchallenged in the final stage.

Tuesday, Managementblog will be back in its form, with the race behind. We will continue to talk about teams and leadership, building organizations that are stronger and more productive. Teams that can sustain an extended competitive effort and grow stronger. Teams that can be challenged and put at risk. Teams that have to regroup and come back with a different strategy. Teams that, in the end, can bring home the Yellow Jersey. We will talk about your teams. -TF

Don’t Know How to Run the Press

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Cindy’s assignment was simple. As a successful supervisor in another division, she had been transferred to a line unit that was having trouble keeping up. After her first meeting, she wasn’t so sure she was up to the task.

From the back of the room, “So, tell us about your background. Have you ever run one of these presses before?”

She admitted that she had not. “So, how do you expect to be our supervisor when you don’t know the first thing about how we do the job?” She had never been challenged so directly. Worse, it was a perfectly valid question.

Now Cindy was in my office. “Here is the central issue,” I asked. “How can you bring value to their thinking and their work?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know how to run the press, but does that really matter? How do you bring value to their thinking and their work? How do they know when they are doing a good job? How do they know when they are doing a poor job?”

“Funny, I know the ops manager was complaining that they did not meet the production quota last month. But those numbers were never broken down on a daily basis so the line never had a clue whether they were ahead or behind. The last two days of the month, somebody came out and yelled at them to pick up the pace, but it was too little, too late.”

“So, you can bring value to the work by giving the floor feedback on daily production runs, perhaps accelerating things a bit, but avoiding a hysterical crunch at the end of the month.”

One month later, Cindy’s crew was ahead by 150 units, yet had worked no overtime, even taken the press down for a half day of preventive maintenance. Every morning, Cindy had a two minute huddle meeting and posted the day’s production goal. At ten and two she posted updates with a final count at 3:30 when the line shut down. Though she had never touched the press, she was bringing value to the thinking and work of her production crew. The skills to be a successful supervisor are quite different than the technical skills of the crew. -TF

It Takes a Team to Win

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This year’s Tour de France never looked easy. Lance Armstrong (DSC) always considered Jan Ullrich (TMO) from Team T-Mobile to be his fiercest competition. While America cheered for Lance, there was no slack in the energy to unseat him. Ullrich publicly stated that the Tour de France was not worth winning unless Lance Armstrong was competing. Indeed, T-Mobile put together a dangerous team. The treacherous trio of Jan Ullrich, Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Kloden came to bury Lance, no love lost.

I said it would take a team to win.

Last Saturday, T-Mobile launched a new strategy. Break up Discovery and isolate Lance from his team. It almost worked, except for one thing. T-Mobile, themselves, could not work together as a team. Though Ullrich has been the legacy chieftain, both Vinokourov and Kloden carried an agenda to contest his leadership. They did not work together and Lance survived (well, more than survived, he kicked their ass).

Wednesday was the day the wheels came off. Kloden abandoned the race (after suffering an injury on Tuesday) and Vinokourov announced he was leaving T-Mobile at the end of the Tour. Ullrich, now by himself, remains the leader. Their tactics might have worked, but for the lack of a team.

Team Discovery took another Stage win on Wednesday (Stage 17) when Paolo Savoldelli (DSC) escaped with the first breakaway group. George Hincapie (DSC) captured Stage 15 on Sunday and Yaroslav Popovych (DSC) is ahead in the Young Rider competition. Lance Armstrong (DSC) maintains a 2 minute 46 second lead over Ivan Basso (CSC).

Thursday is 189km with two category 3 and two category 2 climbs. Small skirmishes may erupt as this may be the last opportunity for a shakeup before the time trial on Saturday. Outside of the time trials, if Lance is to make a run for a Stage win, this might be it. -TF

Overall Standings after Stage 17

1 001 ARMSTRONG, Lance USA DSC 72:55:50.000 00:00:00.000

2 021 BASSO, Ivan ITA CSC 72:58:36.000 00:02:46.000

3 057 RASMUSSEN, Mickael DEN RAB 72:58:59.000 00:03:09.000

4 011 ULLRICH, Jan GER TMO 73:01:48.000 00:05:58.000

5 031 MANCEBO, Francisco ESP IBA 73:02:21.000 00:06:31.000

6 164 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA GST 73:03:25.000 00:07:35.000

7 019 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ TMO 73:05:28.000 00:09:38.000

8 044 EVANS, Cadel AUS DVL 73:05:39.000 00:09:49.000

9 066 LANDIS, Floyd USA PHO 73:05:43.000 00:09:53.000

10 101 MOREAU, Christophe FRA C.A 73:07:57.000 00:12:07.000

Back on Your Desk

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Nicole was exasperated, “I try to delegate, but I always seem to end up with the project back in my lap.”

I was curious, “Tell me what kinds of things do you try to delegate?”

“Some small stuff, but I really try to delegate projects or phases of projects. These are significant responsibilities, not just petty stuff I am trying to dump off.”

“Nicole, when you delegate a project, how does the conversation sound?”

“I don’t know, I get with the person and hand them the file, or whatever and give them a deadline. I always give them the deadline.”

“So, where do you think the breakdown is?”

“Even though they know the deadline, I don’t think they start fast enough. Or they need help, but don’t even know they need help because they didn’t start the project early enough to find out. Then it ends up on my desk, half finished or half assed, one of the two.”

I pressed for a different approach. “Nicole, what one thing should you change to get a different result?”

“Maybe I should frontload an extra meeting within 24 hours of the delegation to make sure they started the project and to find out what problems they have.”

“Indeed.” -TF

Tour de France Update

Turns out many readers are depending on this blog to get their Tour updates.

Tuesday’s race saw the leaders content to hold their own while small skirmishes broke out for standings in the lower part of the top ten. Cadel Evans led a breakaway group that succeeded to the end. That moved him into 7th place overall. The closest person to Lance Armstrong (DSC) is Ivan Basso (CSC) marking 2 minutes 45 seconds behind. After almost 67 hours of racing, two minutes doesn’t seem like much, but it is likely to be impenetrable. Lance just has to stay healthy and not fall off of his bike.

Once out of the mountains, the flat stages will see attacks off of the front, but if any of the leaders have that in mind, Lance will be right there to cover. There is still one time trial to go. We might see Lance go all out as he begins to make his exit from the Tour.

Standings after Stage 16

1 001 ARMSTRONG, Lance USA DSC 66:52:03.000 00:00:00.000

2 021 BASSO, Ivan ITA CSC 66:54:49.000 00:02:46.000

3 057 RASMUSSEN, Mickael DEN RAB 66:55:12.000 00:03:09.000

4 011 ULLRICH, Jan GER TMO 66:58:01.000 00:05:58.000

5 031 MANCEBO, Francisco ESP IBA 66:58:34.000 00:06:31.000

6 164 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA GST 66:59:38.000 00:07:35.000

7 044 EVANS, Cadel AUS DVL 67:01:32.000 00:09:29.000

8 066 LANDIS, Floyd USA PHO 67:01:36.000 00:09:33.000

9 019 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ TMO 67:01:41.000 00:09:38.000

10 101 MOREAU, Christophe FRA C.A 67:03:50.000 00:11:47.000

Out of the Pyrenees

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Tuesday is the last day in the Pyrenees, with a Category One (more difficult) and an Out of Category (HC) climb (most difficult). After today, the Tour de France says goodbye to the peaks that border between France and Spain. It is now that we see the physiological differences between the riders. After 17 days, the weak riders are cracking and peeling off. The field of 189 now stands at 158. Even Monday’s rest day cannot help 31 riders who have blown out.

Yet, the strong riders are getting stronger. Their lungs are fuller, muscles grown larger, their hearts are pumping more blood than the first day down the ramp at the opening time trial.

And I thought about teams, teams at work, your teams at work. Here is what I see. Most teams, under pressure, prolonged pressure, begin to crack and peel away, burnt out. Yet, a few teams get stronger.

And I began to ponder, “What’s the difference?” What are the elements of a team that doesn’t get burnt out, that goes the distance and emerges stronger than when they started? Think about teams you are a member of. What is the critical element that makes that team strong?

I have a book, The Power of Attitude, autographed by the author, Mac Anderson, for the best post. See you tomorrow after Stage 16. -TF

Building a Team, Quickly

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Saturday was a scary day for Team Discovery. One man cannot win the Tour de France, it takes a team. As the pace churned up, T-Mobile maneuvered successfully to separate Lance Armstrong from his team. Their three top riders, Jan Ullrich, Andreas Kloden and Alexandre Vinokourov blistered ahead, dropping all but the elite riders. Lance was separated alone against three. The strategy from that point was simple. The three T-Mobile riders could simply rotate attacks, forcing Lance to catch them, eventually wearing him down. Lance was alone with no team members in sight.

Levi Leipheimer, also an American, but riding for Team Gerolsteiner, found himself in the same boat. In the middle of an attack, without water in a scorching heat, Levi had to make a decision. Stay with the attack or drop back and fetch water. Either way, he risked getting blown out of the race. Head down, against the melting pavement, he drove forward to catch.

Lance reached down and handed Levi a bottle. Lance needed a team. Levi needed a team. Floyd Landis (PHO) offered another bottle and now they were three Musketeers against the trio from T-Mobile. They wore different jerseys, but they swore a short allegiance to fend off the attacks.

Ultimately, Lance was successful on the day, gaining significant precious seconds on Jan Ullrich. If he had not stopped for a small bit of teambuilding, things might have been very different. You can read the entire story from reporter Michael Dugard with Florida Sports.

Tuesday marks the last day in the Pyranees. Lance is one step closer to Seven. -TF

Standings after Stage 15

1 001 ARMSTRONG, Lance USA DSC 62:09:59.000 00:00:00.000

2 021 BASSO, Ivan ITA CSC 62:12:45.000 00:02:46.000

3 057 RASMUSSEN, Mickael DEN RAB 62:13:08.000 00:03:09.000

4 011 ULLRICH, Jan GER TMO 62:15:57.000 00:05:58.000

5 031 MANCEBO, Francisco ESP IBA 62:16:30.000 00:06:31.000

6 164 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA GST 62:17:34.000 00:07:35.000

7 066 LANDIS, Floyd USA PHO 62:19:32.000 00:09:33.000

8 019 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ TMO 62:19:37.000 00:09:38.000

9 101 MOREAU, Christophe FRA C.A 62:21:46.000 00:11:47.000

10 014 KLÖDEN, Andréas GER TMO 62:22:00.000 00:12:01.000

Reserve Power – On to the Pyrenees

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Three people have worn the Yellow Jersey through Stage 12 of this year’s Tour de France. David Zabriskie (CSC) was the first immediately out of the prologue, besting Lance Armstrong (DSC) by 2 seconds. He crashed in Stage 4 and abandoned the race in Stage 9. Armstrong took the jersey from Stage 4 to Stage 8, when he handed it over to Jens Voigt (CSC). Voigt’s reign was short-lived losing 31 minutes to Lance in Stage 10. Voigt was eliminated from the race in Stage 11 by time disqualification. Stage 12 also saw the exit of Tom Boonen (QST) who had captured first place in Stages 2 and 3 and second place in Stage 5. The carnage continues.

The winners during Week One finished looking like they had just bounded out for a short morning ride. The face on each of the riders is now looking gaunt and haggard. Yet every morning, they clip in and push each other down the road. The Pyrenees begin on Saturday with two of the toughest climbs, followed by six climbs on Sunday.

The breakaways and the attacks on the lead group continually test their reserve power. At the end, in Paris, it will be the team possessing reserve power, when all the rest are spent, who still can dig for more energy. How does this happen? It is a simple program of testing the body to failure, then resting.

In the organizations I visit, I constantly watch both, individual performers and teams, who possess different depths of reserve power. Those teams who can ratchet up performance to meet demand are those teams who have practiced and trained to failure, then rested. Then trained to failure at a higher point, then rested. They constantly push their maximum. At the other end of the spectrum are those teams whose minimums are practiced, and over time, their minimum becomes their maximum. Where is your team? How do you stretch your team to higher levels of performance? -TF

End of Stage 12

1 001 ARMSTRONG, Lance USA DSC 46:30:36.000 00:00:00.000

2 057 RASMUSSEN, Mickael DEN RAB 46:31:14.000 00:00:38.000

3 101 MOREAU, Christophe FRA C.A 46:33:10.000 00:02:34.000

4 021 BASSO, Ivan ITA CSC 46:33:16.000 00:02:40.000

5 038 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP IBA 46:33:52.000 00:03:16.000

6 061 BOTERO, Santiago COL PHO 46:34:24.000 00:03:48.000

7 164 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA GST 46:34:34.000 00:03:58.000

8 031 MANCEBO, Francisco ESP IBA 46:34:36.000 00:04:00.000

9 011 ULLRICH, Jan GER TMO 46:34:38.000 00:04:02.000

10 014 KLÖDEN, Andréas GER TMO 46:34:52.000 00:04:16.000

Prevent It, Don’t Just Pull It

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Donna was perturbed, “We have a real problem with consistency. I think everything is going okay and then boom, we get hit with a warranty event that uncovers a whole batch of bad product. I already have two people doing random inspections prior to shipping. Still, mistakes get through. I might have to add more inspectors, check everything, just to keep bad product off the shelves.”

“What do you do with the bad product?” I asked.

“Well, we can’t sell it and we can’t melt it down, so we throw it away,” replied Donna.

“Have you used your bad product to isolate the problem production area?”

“Oh, we know the three areas where we have problems, but rather than pull bad product in three places, I thought it best to inspect just before shipping so we can pull all the bad product at the same time, no matter where the problem occurred.”

I winced. “Donna, the purpose of Quality Control is not to pull bad product. The purpose of Quality Control is to identify where the problem is and fix the problem. Consistency doesn’t come from pulling 3 percent of your production. Consistency comes from adherence to systems. The bad product points you to the right area, but when you get there, you have to inspect how processes and people are adhering to system standards. Reduce bad product so you don’t have to pull it.” -TF

Three Things to Start Doing

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Yesterday, we started to look at the conversation between the Manager and the Team Member related to 360 Tool. The conversation is centered around these two questions:

  • What is the feedback?
  • Based on the feedback, how can we improve performance?

Shannon continues with the second question, how can we improve performance?

“This is a question for the Team Member. As the Manager, you probably already know how improvement can be made, but the point of the conversation is for the Team Member to arrive at those same conclusions. I typically ask for three things the Team Member will start doing and three things the Team Member will stop doing? Then I shut-up. My only contributions are to make sure these three things relate to the patterns in the feedback and that they are specific. The more specific, the easier it will be to hold the Team Member accountable.”

So, that’s Shannon’s story. I am curious about other’s experiences with the 360 review process. -TF

PS. On Monday, I asked you to post your comments about a Moral Dilemma. I offered a copy of the book Fierce Conversations to the person with the best insight. Congratulations to Jennifer. The strength of her comment was the insight about the long term nature of the relationship. Lying might capture one order. Telling the truth might lose one order, but capture a lifetime customer.