From One Win to the Finals: How We Applied Celonis’s Framework to the Tug-of-War Competition

Every year, the streets of Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Yurakucho come alive with an unlikely spectacle: office workers in business attire pulling a rope with everything they've got. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Nakadon Tug-of-War Tournament — a lunchtime tradition that's become one of the defining quirks of the Marunouchi business district.

Celonis Japan entered the fray again this year, and we came back with a very different story from last summer.

In the previous qualifying round, the Celonis team won just one out of four matches and went home early. This year, we swept the qualifiers, knocked out a team widely considered a top contender in the playoff bracket, and punched our ticket to the finals.

So, what changed? Looking back, the answer is surprisingly simple: we applied the same three-step process improvement framework Celonis uses every day — Analyze, Design, Operate — and we did it with discipline.

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Step 1: Analyze — Honestly Asking, "Why Did We Lose?"

In the words of Go Harada (Principal Ecosystem Solution Manager):

“I wasn't at last year's tournament; a customer visit came up, and I had to sit it out. When I heard the team went 1-3, I’ll be honest — part of me thought, "Well, it's just tug-of-war." But when we started preparing for this year's competition, there was a lot more to dig into than I ever expected.”

Our preparation began with a review of footage from last year's matches to examine our form and movement. Next, we dove into the official competition rules and guidelines to figure out exactly what we were missing. After pulling together research on winning techniques, we used NotebookLM to consolidate everything into a set of clear, actionable takeaways that became our internal study guide.

What mattered here wasn't the effort — it was the approach. We based our assessment on data and video, not gut feelings. That's exactly what the Celonis platform does: instead of relying on assumptions about how a business operations system works, you get a data-driven understanding of what actually happened.

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Step 2: Design — Map Out How We’re Going to Win

With the analysis in hand, we designed our game plan.

We worked out a clear plan in advance—every detail from proper stance and pull timing to precise roster positioning and pulling order—and shared it with the team as structured reference material.

One area where we were incredibly deliberate was communication. This year's team included several non-native Japanese speakers, so we conducted our briefings in both Japanese and English. For a teammate who is more comfortable in German, we even put together a tactical tips video with German narration. We often tell our customers, “If the information doesn’t reach the people, the designed plan doesn't work,” and that rule applied here just as much.

Beyond team tactics, we asked our team captain to do some homework: watch videos of national-level tug-of-war coaches and study how they command a squad and deliver instructions mid-match. The goal was total clarity: clear roles, clear responsibilities, and clear preparation.

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Step 3: Operate — Keep Improving as You Go

We didn't have time to practice, which meant our in-game execution plan had to carry all the weight.

Right up until the whistle blew for each match, we were actively reviewing assignments and movements. Crucially, after every single pull, we instantly reviewed the video footage to do a quick debrief: What worked? What didn't? What do we adjust for the next round?

This was continuous, match-by-match course correction. In the Celonis world, "Operate" doesn't just mean executing a static plan — it means actively monitoring live execution and making adjustments in real time. Tug-of-war turned out to be no different.

Early in the tournament, some teams didn't take us seriously. But as we kept racking up victories, the atmosphere shifted. People on the sidelines started saying we had a "strong, methodical way of winning." By the bracket's end, we were no longer the underdogs — we were a real contender.

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Go Harada

Principal Ecosystem Solution Manager at Celonis