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Everything about this 50, 000 square foot facility is designed to maximize workflow, connectivity, and communication. Even a building of wood and glass can speak to the synergy of team. Even a building can be designed to move your business and your agenda forward. Have you looked at every aspect from your chairs to your coffee maker to your clothes?

3. A Football Shaped Locker Room

Most locker rooms are built in the shape of a rectangle or a square. This locker room is designed in the shape of a football. The difference? There are no ends. No ends that drop off and allow a player to drop off and not communicate with other players. One TV graces a wall in the locker room. No individual screens, no individual IPod or mp3 stations. This is a space built for interaction not isolation.

Lesson Learned: The locker room, like the entire facility, is a standing monument to basketball, business, and synergy all coming together. The facility boasts connectivity and communication. I asked Campy Russell, former NBA player, what made a good NBA coach a good coach? He answered with clarity, the ability to communicate. Is communication a high priority for you?

4. No Bloomin' Onion Here

Players eat many meals at their practice facility. How much control do the Cavalier's have over what the players eat? David Painter, Facility Manager,

says in this building, 100%. Some players have favorite meals, like Anderson and his egg white omelets. It is clear that the Cavaliers are not eating bloomin' onions when they eat in their "house".

Lesson Learned: The Cavalier management considers every detail important. Most players have their own personal chef. In their case, their body is truly their business. Staying in good enough shape for one more play-off game or one more season can reap huge financial dividends. For all of us, aren't our bodies our business? What do you serve at your meetings and retreats? Food to facilitate learning or food to sabotage learning?

5. Underwater I-Spy
A huge underwater treadmill is a highlight of the rehab wing. Underwater cameras record a player's workout from every angle. The DVD is then sent to the player's doctor to be reviewed: how is the knee, is the ankle holding weight?

Lesson Learned: This union of rehab and technology is one of the few in the NBA. The Cavalier management has looked at every detail and tested rules, strategies, brick and mortar to bend to their philosophy. Do you?

"When design impacts performance, performance returns the favor." This phrase was developed for the introduction of the Infiniti G Sedan. How does design impact performance in your business? Is performance returning the favor? On to the play-offs.

Learn more about this author, Leslie Ungar.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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