How do we Notice?? Part 2

Further thoughts on what we see, following interaction with my friend, Hal Macomber.  Hal makes this point on waste, muda.

You can't eliminate waste that you don't see. We practice teaching about waste thinking that will be enough. We need to shift the concerns people have about waste. Waste is evil. Waste kills companies. Waste depletes the planet. Overstatement? Perhaps.

I don't think it's overstatement at all, Hal.

I ask myself:  Has my view of waste gone "soft"?  Do I regard it as an evil to be eradicated with the same vengeance an oncologist going after the cancer in his patient?  Do I see waste with passion or academic intrigue?

I spoke with some colleagues recently about an increase in work-in-process inventory in a supplier's facility with which we were each familiar.  Did they care? Did they grasp it's negative impact on product quality and delivery time?  Or, as we feared, was it a short-term, knee-jerk reaction to management pressure?  Such that the production team in charge didn't even see it??

Each of the Seven Wastes can kill us.  Nothing less.  Can I see them??  Do I even choose to look for them?

More tomorrow.

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