Change Point Management, Accountability and the Seahawk’s Defense

In a few short years, the Seattle Seahawks’ defense has gone from being historically great to the worst ever in terms of yards allowed, through the first half of the 2020 season. Fans are agonizing over this, calling for the heads of one coach or another, blaming injuries, predictable play calling and so forth. These are all contributing factors, no doubt. However, if we put on our lean management glasses we can see some systemic and process-oriented issues which require their own approach.

What is Change Point Management?

Change points are the inputs to a process that are variable and can affect the outcome. A common expression is the 4M for the four elements of manpower, machine, material, and method. Changes to personnel, equipment, materials or methods often result in changes to quality, output or lead time. Based on the type of work we can add product mix, environmental conditions, regulations, measurement systems, or others to the list of change points.

Change point management is the practice of setting standards for the 4M+ elements and checking regularly that we are meeting these standards. Often the control points or checklists are visualized at the workplace. Leaders verify them in person during the day, and they take countermeasures when there are deviations. Process confirmation is another term associated with the practice of change point management.

Change Point Control: Recovery Time

Where can we see change point control, or the lack thereof, in evidence in the Seahawks’ 2020 season? One example is the unintended consequence of the Seahawks’ dynamic offense that scores early and often, mainly through the air. In past years, Seahawks would take off seven or eight minutes by running the ball more. This kept their defense on the sidelines to rest and recover. With fewer extended drives powered by clock-eating runs, the defense finds itself back on the field with less time on the sideline to rest and recover.

Change Point Control: Opposing Team’s Run-Pass Balance

The Seahawks’ offense puts up more points than in past years. The opposing team is often forced to pass more, attempting big plays to catch up. This puts more pressure on the Seahawks pass defense, exposing one of their known weakness further. This negative feedback loop is not unknown to football, but it appears the Seahawks didn’t plan for it.

Change Point Management: Officiating

Every year the National Football League office changes the rules. Sometimes this is openly, through the competition committee to improve safety, increase scoring or resolve other balance issues. There are obvious though not openly-admitted changes to how penalties are called.

This year, the League appears to have told its officials to call fewer holding penalties on the offense. As a result, offenses are having an easier time, scores are higher, and viewers enjoy a more dynamic game. A better entertainment product results in higher ratings and increased advertising revenue.

Teams didn’t plan for this change. It was only obvious after a few weeks of gameplay and officiating. It is a regulatory change that all defenses are adjusting to now.

Change Point Management: Crowd Noise

Crowd noise affects the offense’s ability to communicate pre-snap, making adjustments based on how the defense is lining up. When the defense is playing a home game, the fans in the stadium roar in an attempt to disadvantage the visiting offense. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the stadiums are empty or near empty. The League has set artificial crowd noise at a standard 70 decibels to keep it fair to all teams. This puts defenses accustomed to playing in loud stadiums at a disadvantage. The Seahawks fans routinely exceed 70 decibels, setting a world record at 137.6 dB on one occasion.

Change Point Management: Personnel

Every team experiences some degree of change to their personnel every season. Rookies must learn to play against new opponents, in a new system at a faster speed. Injuries require adapting the plan. Sometimes when dynamic new players are added on defense, it changes how other parts of the defense function, for better and for worse. It’s the job of the management, scouts and coaching staff to find and fit new talent into their scheme. It’s the job of the coaches and players to make sure they are developing as a high performance team. People are the most important element since it’s up to people to set control points, check them and hold each other accountable.

Daily Accountability Process

An essential element of sustaining operational excellence in any business, including sports, is following a daily accountability process. In the case of American football this cadence may be daily for practice and weekly for retrospectives on their matches. Even during a win, the Seahawks defense has at times looked lost on the field. This makes one wonder what lessons they are learning by watching their own tape.

After perhaps their best performance of the season on Week 11, the Seattle Times article reported that a factor in the Seahawks defense’s turnaround was ‘a meeting of accountability’ among players. The defensive coach organized a meeting so that each player had the chance to speak up. They were asked to detail their responsibility in the base defense and their understanding of the play calls.

We don’t know exactly what the players said, but we do have an eyewitness account, from head coach Pete Carroll who reminded the team, “To make sure that they realized what had just happened, because it was a big statement about everybody knows exactly what they need to do, and also that they’re willing to go do it and how they’re going to do it. And all of that’s such important stuff.”

All of the above is a reminder that there is something that any team, in sports or in business, needs to have in order to remain competitive. This is, in Dr. Deming’s words, an appreciation of a system. The team composition, the approach to each football match, and even the ebb and flow of a season must be viewed as an integrated system. There are interrelated connections and interactions between them. The offense, defense, special teams are not discrete and independent units that can be sub-optimized or directed with independent chains of command. Only when a team understands the connections and interactions between its parts, identifies key processes, and manages the control points can it win forever.

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