Boring wins Championships

Me and the fam took our annual trip to San Antonio this weekend… my kids love Shamu so we ventured back to Sea World.  Like any good blogger, I had my eyes and ears open for some good material to share with you all.

I saw this monstrous looking Wal-Mart warehouse that had a big message on it that said something like “Our people make the difference.”  I debated on running with that but I am bored of all the Wal-Mart bashing so decided to pass.

Then I realized the most boring team of all time, the San Antonio Spurs, had won their 4th NBA championship.  I am from the Dallas metroplex, and while I am not a huge Mavs fan, I can’t stand the San Antonio Spurs.  And aside from the nice people in San Antonio, and truth be told they are indeed very nice, I don’t know anyone that enjoys sitting down to watch Tim Duncan and Manu, whatever his name, play.

Fundamentals Win

The Spurs are an amazing team, don’t kid yourself.  They are fundamentally sound, play as a team, are not selfish, have amazing leadership, don’t make mistakes, and just win.

They are not flashy or exciting.  This fact is probably why, even though they won’t likely admit it, the NBA secretly wanted LeBron James and his merry men of Cleveland to win it all this year.  While I have not seen the official ratings I hear not many people outside of San Antonio tuned in for the last few games of the series.  I sure didn’t.  This, my friends, makes Mr. NBA Commissioner about as happy as receiving Mark Cuban’s Christmas cards.

Lean is Boring

I think there is an interesting relationship here between lean and teams like San Antonio.  When you walk into a super lean plant things are a bit boring if you want my honest opinion.  People just seem to be working away at a nice steady pace (i.e. takt time).  No one looks too excited or bothered.  There is, however, a sense of purpose and if something does go wrong you know about it immediately.

Just like the Spurs

So as much as it pains me to say it… teams like San Antonio win the same way companies like Toyota and Danaher win.  It’s not flash, or fancy words, or even Michael Jordan like superstars (sorry Spurs, Mr. Duncan ain’t Mike).  It is just mind numbing, terrible for TV ratings, championship play.  It seems boring wins… in basketball and business.

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