Archive for September, 2006

Performance improvement at NASCAR

I have been sent this picture on a couple of occasions now in the Just Sell newsletter. The man in the helmet is a NASCAR pit mechanic, practising his wheel changing routine. Sam Parker from Just Sell snapped the picture on his cellphone:

NASCAR pit mechanic practising wheel change

This crew member was practicing his job – removing and installing lug nuts on the wheel of a race car — approaching the details with full commitment in a sport where less than a quarter of a second (less than the time lost to a dropped lug nut) can translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars in added winnings.

By practicing, I’m sure he tends to perform better .

What I find really interesting is not the practising in itself, but the sophistication of the rig the mechanic is working on, and the presence of a dedicated observer by his side. Clearly, he and his team are serious about performance improvement.

This picture really speaks to me in my periodic role as a trainer. Challenging exercises and accurate feedback are the keys to performance improvement.

1 comment September 13th, 2006

Solid shampoo for air travellers

Frequent flyer, Dwayne Melancon, wrote recently about his , now that security restrictions prevent his carrying gels and liquids in his carry on luggage.

Regular air travellers might want to check out Lush . Lush offer, among other solid alternatives, solid shampoo . There are Lush branches all round the world.

PS This post is inspired by Dwayne in more ways than one. He is visiting the UK again next week and we plan to meet at Bedales, with James Governor. The last time we met up, James and Dwayne gave me a hard time about my “quarterly” blog posting schedule. As it is six months since my last post, I need to squeeze in a couple of posts to maintain even that meagre average.

1 comment September 13th, 2006