The Best Business and Football Two-Minute Drills of 2007: Rapid Improvement is the Name of the Game

San Francisco (PRWEB) February 7, 2008 -- Amid all the negative concerns about the economy, America's Leaders in Rapid Organizational Improvement at twominutedrill.org announce their Best Two-Minute Drills of the 2007 Business and Football Seasons! Judges selected this year's winners in the following five categories of outstanding "rapid scoring" performances in the business world and on the football field. The five categories of "high performance" winners included:

Handling the Pressure

New York Giants 17 - New England Patriots 14: Super Bowl XXXXII witnessed an amazing victory by the lowest seeded team in Super Bowl history as Giant QB Eli Manning executed a gutsy 4th quarter two-minute drill against the undefeated Patriots. Manning led his team on a 12-play 83-yard scoring drive culminating in a 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Buress to become the game's MVP completing 19 of 34 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns while shaking off an early interception.

Quiznos- Denver, Colorado. CEO Greg Brenneman, corporate turnaround artist, took over the helm of the beleaguered sandwich chain and has led a series of highly effective initiatives to ramp up profits, cut costs, launch new products, revamp catering services, expand online ordering and improve franchisee relationships in this privately owned organization of 5,000 stores. His successful moves come at a time when the casual dining industry is experiencing a major downturn nationally.

Biggest Comeback

Boston College 14 - Virginia Tech 10: All-American BC Quarterback Matt Ryan rallied his team by throwing two touchdown passes in the final two minutes of this critical ACC game after being held scoreless for the entire game!

ConAgra- Archbold, Ohio: After a September 2006 corporate announcement that the Archbold plant would be closed, new plant manager Ron Corkins rallied his staff and created rapid performance improvement employing increased labor-management cooperation, lean manufacturing, 5-S, and team-based problem-solving. They transformed the 60 year old facility creating a high performance operation that was taken off the closure list in fall 2007 saving nearly 400 jobs in a community of 3,000.

Staying On Top

New England Patriots 27 - Baltimore Ravens 24: It looked like the Pats 12 game winning streak was coming to end against the Ravens until Pat's QB Tom Brady led his team on a 73-yard scoring drive in the waning minutes of the contest, hitting receiver Jabar Gaffeny for an 8-yard TD pass cementing their come-from-behind win and allowing them to keep their streak alive.

Burger King, Miami, Florida: The world's #2 hamburger chain had a big performance jump in the past year as Burger King CEO John Chidsey led his organization through a series of aggressive initiatives intended to pump up sales capitalizing on the popularity of "The Whopper", a boost in revenue from breakfast and late night foods and several cost containment drives. In the face of a down market, BK is driving significant improvement in both sales and earnings.

Never Give Up!

Dallas Cowboys 28 - Detroit 27: Dallas quarterback Tony Romo led his team to a come-from-behind win hitting tight-end Jason Witten for a 16-yard TD with 0:18 seconds left after trailing Detroit the entire contest. This win lessened criticisms that budding QB Romo could not handle pressure.

Leland International Inc. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Leland International, a niche manufacturer of upscale office furniture, had been struggling in the ultra-competitive furniture business for a number of years. A major and rapid overhaul of their sales and manufacturing processes created a 60% increase in sales in 2007 and had a profound effect on their bottom line performance.

Overcoming Adversity

Chicago Bears 19 - Philadelphia Eagles 16: The Bears found themselves down by four points on their own 3 yard line with 1:52 left on the clock and no time outs. To make matters worse, QB Brian Griese's audio headset in his helmet malfunctioned as he led his team, completing 7 of 11 passes for 97 yards, including the winning touchdown throw to Muhsin Mohammad with 0:09 seconds left in the contest.

Fischer Tool and Die, Inc: Temperance, Michigan. Overcoming adversity in an industry that is disappearing domestically, Fischer Tool and Die has grown over 59% the past two years, coupling advanced manufacturing technologies with a mature, high-powered workforce, entrepreneurial spirit, and a "customer as partner" philosophy that permeates everything they do. Their diversified customer base which includes Honda, GM, Rolls-Royce, and Nissan are lining up to do business with Mike Fischer and his team.

Twominutedrill.org is an organization dedicated to the research and practice of rapid organizational performance improvement. Many of their research findings are documented in their newly released book, The Two Minute Drill: Lessons on Rapid Organizational Improvement from America's Greatest Game (Jossey-Bass, 2007). For additional information visit twominutedrill.org or contact Tolu Babalola at tbabalol @ wiley.com; 415-782-3119.

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