Stop the Business Obesity!!!

We have a problem. Companies are too fat. They are ingesting extra calories that they can't afford. And I am talking unnecessary, excessively disgusting overhead. And many times they don't think in terms of cost vs. price. Many times its price alone. There is a failure to way out each and every option. Yes this option may be cheaper at the short term, but have you seen the calories in it? 

example (That I know from experience): Run your system on a basic macro command line, yes its basic, but you take extra time to process the command lines. Upgrading tqo a easy-flowing graphic user interface (GUI) could save you 2-3 minutes per process, sometimes more. Yes the basic is cheaper, but when time is money, that is time away from getting more accomplished. This also means less time in handling the next request. 

Another example: I remember going through Walmart late in the evening. The employees were refilling some of the displays in the impulse sections at the store front. I watched as one girl refilled an empty EOS lip balm container. She opened the same exact display box and took the balms from one to the other and then continued to throw out the package. This was an additional 10 seconds taken from other tasks because she didn't simply switch out the packages.

One of the things Chris Gardner, author of Pursuit of Happyness talked about doing during his internship was rather than hang up the phone while cold-calling prospects, he would press the receiver button instead and dial the next number on the list. He would also avoid liquids to keep from running to the restroom. This is thinking lean.

One final example: Some store POS systems handle credit applications in-store to ensure immediate approval. One system I observed has the clerk scan the license and then ask if address is current. Unfortunately, the state IDs don't load the information for some IDs. They would be better going straight to the fields that need information and automatically loading what information it receives from the scan. At that same step they could also include phone and email fields (minus three more steps). Also, when asking about the Account Protection, they can insert a check box on this same screen to eliminate another step. Then to the Social for processing. That is okay, but by merging all these other steps to one screen, the store in essence eliminates extra pages and takes nearly half the workload from the clerk. 

What this all boils down to is are we thinking as lean as possible. Are we burning clean. If you work cleanly, you create an efficient work environment. This means more time with customers, less time tasking, and more. This means more time accomplishing the customers goals and generating repeat business. Are you thinking lean?