The Lean methodology of process improvement defines at least 7 classical forms of waste. Going through notes, over and over again, as to the root cause of wastes we experience indicates that indecision often drives waste, even if it appears to be a circumstantial cause and not a regular or systemic cause of the system. I argue though, that indecision is not necessarily a special event, but frequently a cultural behavior and is, therefore, a very common occurrence, even if it strikes different processes at different times.
Let’s look and see if my assertion makes sense. The seven classic wastes according to Lean are as follows:
- Overproduction — making too many things or extra output
- Waiting — people not contributing because they are waiting for work or information
- Motion — people doing more work than necessary to accomplish a task, especially moving between information or locations
- Transport — things moving from one step to the next
- Overprocessing — doing more work than necessary to get a specific task complete
- Inventory — incomplete or complete things that are not progressing/developing or selling
- Defects — output that is not correct and must be disposed of or reworked
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