A problem solving activity....LEAN & BJJ?!?

I just read Dave Penn's article about John Danaher. http://sidecontrol.blogspot.com/2010/03/meet-john-danaher.html
What really piqued my interest was Dave's blog and this quote from John Danaher -
“[Fighting] is a problem solving activity, and the people who do best at it tend to be people with rational, inquiring minds,” Danaher says. “And so, the relationship between philosophy and mathematics has to do more with human beings using their rational faculties to solve problems, rather than, in the case of jiu-jitsu, blind strength, anger and aggression.”
Danaher's words drew me in. And I want to learn more.
In my work life, I'm a pharmacist that is functions as a safety officer in an organization that follows LEAN manufacturing methodologies. We utilize LEAN for everything from structuring meeting, to strategy deployment and project management. LEAN is the use of systematic problem solving techniques - Plan, Do, Check/Study, Act. Understand the root cause to the problem and act on the root cause. Its easy to act on the surface defect, and that is the problem.

Problem solving requires life long learning. Really.
Quick example of working a root cause. - Ask the 5-whys to get there.
I was late to work so I need a new car to get me to work faster. Serious? Let's get to the root cause.
Why were you late to work? - I left home later than normal.
Why did you leave home later than normal? - My alarm clock didn't go off.
Why didn't your alarm clock go off? - The clock wasn't plugged in.
Why wasn't your clock plugged in? - I unplugged the clock to charge my phone.
We could keep going - the solution will probably be to charge the phone elsewhere to not disrupt the alarm clock. A cheaper solution that makes more sense than getting a faster car.

I always was interested in understanding why Jits is a life long activity as well. Well Danaher's words put it in perspective a bit for me.

What do noobs do - at first we're spazzy elbows, knees and exposed necks waiting to be grabbed on to.
This first time I got caught in an arm bar, I thought that it was obviously because my opponent was stronger than me. Let's problem solve.
Why did you get submitted in that arm bar? I used my arms to push my opponent away.
Why did you push your opponent and leave your arms open that way? I thought that I could bench press my opponent off of me. I pretty strong.
Why did you think that strength matters? I was panicking because I'm not used to my opponent being so tight on me.
Why did you panic? I haven't practiced in this live manner before.
Solution - instead of pumping iron, live rolling and an awareness of my body positioning and the need for my opponent to obtain proper positioning is key to obtaining/negating a submission attempt.

It is PDCA on the mat - what is the problem (the root cause), what is the plan to solve that problem, do the work to implement that solution, test that work, and act on any gaps that still need work.
LEAN and BJJ. This is still bubbling in my head! I got to really work out the parallels in this. I know why I love this game so much.

Dinner tonight!

Try this one for size. Homemade pizza crust, rubbed with garlic grapeseed oil, alfredo white sauce, spinach, bacon, parmesan and mozzarella.

Yummy.

Gracie Bullyproof Blog

http://graciebullyproof.tumblr.com/

Ryan Ball and his daughter's blog of the Bully Proof program. Me and my kids have had a ton of fun doing these games "drills" as well.
The kids can't get enough.

My daughter's rendition of me an my crutches.

Workplace accomodations

Non-weight bearing office accomodations.

Medication Safety Officer: Back at work

I'm finally back to work.
I had my injury on February 19th, saw my primary doc the same day and saw the orthopedic surgeon on 2/22. Had my patellar tendon repair on 2/24.
Two weeks later or so I'm back to work on 3/9. And I'm so thankful for that. I've been slap happy at home, and I know that I was driving my wife, kids and dog crazy.
I never realized how much I traveled in my job.
I travelled so much between the different hospitals, and corporate offices. Some days would involve travelling between campuses 3 or 4 times in a day. What a waste.
With my injury, I cannot drive and depend on my wife to shuttle me to and from work. The meetings at different campuses during the day have to stop right now. Early morning meetings are taken from home on Go-To meeting or conference call.
Week one back to work is in the bag.

Rehab:
Rehab has been slow going. This injury requires enough time for the tendon to knit to the bone. Of course it is reinforced with hardware, but that is not enough by itself. I'm basically supposed to be non-weight bearing on my right leg for 6 weeks and no quadricep firing for 6 weeks. I'm stuck sleeping with the brace for a few weeks more, but may require the brace for walking around until August.
I've been working on strengthening all of my other leg muscles with exercises that limit and quadricep involvement. SUPER HARD to do that. But I do hundreds and hundreds of reps at night to keep the other muscles, tendons, and ligaments in motion. Even with that, my leg is shrinking.
My passive range of motion exercises are coming along. I can move my leg/knee to about 45 to 55 degree of motion with just a little bit of tension on the knee. I have to do that every hour. Next week I'd like to be up to 65 to 70 degrees and then 90 degrees after that.

I'll just keep plugging along.

16 puppies in need of help

I'm following a new blog about some wheatie puppies (16) that were recently saved from a puppy mill.
Why would anyone do such things to another living thing?

http://www.wheatensinneed.info/blog

Freddie takes advantage of my bum leg.

Freddie my dog checking out my food and sitting on my leg! What does my wife mean he doesn't beg!