Next Player Up

Another NFL season football has come and gone, and the big game did not disappoint. It was a game for the ages, among the most entertaining in our modern football era. However, I considered turning the game off after halftime as Atlanta appeared to be coasting to victory. Fortunately, I was steadfast and told myself to just watch one more series after another, hoping it would get better, until it became not only interesting, but captivating.

As I reflect back on the game and season, I am struck by several observations that are relevant to all of us who are focused on operating our businesses and positively affecting our areas of responsibility. Like in football where you strive to outscore your opponent, we are all laser focused on improving our bottom lines. How do we transform raw ingredients into the highest quality finished goods with less overhead, optimal material, and labor costs all the while maximizing the usage of our assets in the process? We not only have to compete with others in the open market, we have to continuously improve relative to our historical performance in order to position ourselves to be successful.

When I consider the reasons why the New England Patriots have been so dominant over the last decade, I am left with one conclusion. While the easiest assumption would be to attribute their success to having arguably the best quarterback to have ever played the game, I prefer to think it is more fundamental than simply one player. Like any organization, football is a team sport. While you need quality players, perhaps even a few stars, you need everyone working together as a unit, towards one goal: winning championships.

Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi once said, “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.” Today’s successful teams preach a message of next player up, focusing on the philosophy that success is not solely about an individual, that it is really the team that is fundamental to winning. Players get injured, others are lost to free agency; however, the winning teams seem to doggedly focus on the process of developing, training, and maximizing the talents of each of their individual players to perform as a team. When unfavorable personnel events happen, these teams are positioned to continue winning in spite of the personnel challenges.

As in football, we often lose our players for one reason or another, and we must guard against losing the momentum we have worked so hard to achieve. Each successful organization has a goal and vision of where they want to be at the end of each quarter, each year, or even five years. A team approach is critical in meeting the challenges along the way. When an organization faces the inevitable turnover of seasoned workers, it must guard against losing its ability to compete and win. It really is next man up.

As you focus on equipping your team on driving the results that define wining for your organization, please keep in mind that you have a partner in Aptean. Factory MES is a powerful tool, providing the essential real time metrics needed to make intelligent decisions to improve your operational activities; however, due to turnover, your team may be faced with a gap in proficiency with the system. We want to work together with you to help you achieve your goals, and be best prepared when it becomes time to rely on the next man up, we want to help with any training needs you may have. Please reach out to us and we will work together to develop and deliver training that is specific and tailored to your needs.