RIng the Bell

While working on my grad school I came across a great concept. 
The concept of "Jidoka"
What does jidoka mean? A common answer to this question is "autonomation" or "automation with a human touch." This is usually illustrated by example of a machine that will detect a problem and stop production automatically rather than continue to run and produce bad output.
The principle's origin goes back to 1902 when Sakichi Toyoda invented a simple but ingenious mechanism that detected a broken thread and shut off an automatic loom. That invention allowed one operator to oversee the operation of up to a dozen looms while maintaining perfect quality. But the system goes much further.
The jidoka pillar is often labeled "stop and respond to every abnormality." This is obviously much more than having a machine shut down. Toyota refers to every process, whether human or automatic, being enabled or empowered to autonomously detect abnormal conditions and stop. The team member pulling an andon cord on the assembly line is jidoka as much as an automatic machine.
  jidoka as a four-step process that engages when abnormalities occur.

Detect the abnormality.

Stop.

Fix or correct the immediate condition.

Investigate the root cause and install a countermeasure.

Jidoka, as applied to manned operations, refers to the practice of stopping the entire line or process when something goes amiss. This has important psychological and practical effects that contribute greatly to "continuous Improvement."

Now how does this apply to leadership???  In Japanese car manufactures they work in a assembly line.  Each station or part in the assembly line has a very important part in the ability to put together a car.  In a manufacturing plant, their is a bell that any one person can ring if they feel their is a problem with the car and completely stop the entire process.  This helps to create a level of quality control as well as an enormous buy in for the workers.  It gives the workers an increased responsibility and pride in their work. 

Every time the bell is rung, the workers stop and must fix the problem.  Putting this into a sports sense, if you give your staff the ability to "ring the bell", then they will have an increased value for you.  It will cause you as a leader to stop and examine how you do things as a coaching staff.  Constantly re-examining and looking at how to improve will lead to greater results when working with your players.