In our last post in our series on lean, we introduced the seven wastes. Why does waste matter? Waste matters for a number of reasons, though the top three for me are listed below: It’s damaging to the environment It’s expensive It’s slow It wastes human lives and potential I’m going to cover the first…
We’ve previously discussed the importance of focusing on value creation. I like to think of value creation as the importance of rendering service to another human where profit is the thing that lets you do it again. From there, we discussed the entire value stream and the importance of ensuring that your value stream flows…
Today’s post on lean has to do with a topic that’s often misunderstood: perfection. The lean enterprise should pursue perfection. It should continuously improve and work to make each processes leaner along the way. Perfection is a tricky goal, however, as it is a continuously variable goal and one that, by definition, you will never…
All lean thinking begins with value as the basis. Lean defines value from the customer’s perspective. Whatever you think is worthwhile or important is irrelevant. What matters is what the customer thinks. And, more specifically, what the customer is willing to pay you to do (which is at the essence of value). Beginning with the…
Here’s a quick tip for you: Life is hard. Life will never stop being hard. The type of hardships will change, but they will continue to persist from birth until death. No matter the path you choose, life will continue to be hard. Running is hard; heart disease is hard. Quitting smoking is hard; getting…
Once in college I went to the gym. And then I never went again. I decided that me and the gym just weren’t meant to be. My decision was aided partially because I felt deeply uncomfortable there. In college, there’s a lot of super ripped dudes showing off for the ladies. As hyper-skinny, tall, lanky guy, I…
Daniel Diffenderfer 