lean
The Source of Dirt
In Amazon’s 2008 letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos shares about a Kaizen event he participated in:
At a fulfillment center recently, one of our Kaizen experts asked me, “I’m in favor of a clean fulfillment center, but why are you cleaning? Why don’t you eliminate the source of dirt?”
I’ve spoken numerous times about Bezos on Lean Thinking, some of which are here, here, here and here but there are many more — just browse shmula.
Process Bloat, a Hidden Indigestion
The Hidden Factory is a term that refers to activities in an operation that were not designed into it, but grew over time as workarounds for the current process. Most organizations have some form of a Hidden Factory and being able to “see” these hidden factories in an organization requires learning to see what waste is and understanding that waste in any operation — service or manufacturing — can be a substantial drain on the bottom line, top line, on employee morale, shareholders and, most importantly, the customer.
Purposeful Simplicity, Unthoughtful Complexity
Most people or organizations do not, by design, create a product or service with the goal of “making the most complex product that nobody can use”. In other words, rarely do we see purposeful complexity but instead we see much unthoughtful complexity.
i am going to create the most complex product or service and nobody will be able to use it! i’ll make sure that after my customers experience my product or service, that they feel deflated & completely unsuccessful.
Goodbye eBay, Hello Backcountry.com
I resigned from eBay and I’m happily joining Backcountry.
I covered the company in this post back in February 2007. I was intrigued by the company then and have continued my relationship with them over the years. I know and respect the management team and I am especially impressed by and attracted to their core values, which they genuinely follow:
- Never compromise in hiring.
- Never accept an asymptote – there’s always a better way; we can always do better.
On Queueing, Oil Change, and Customer Experience
Earlier this week, I went to Jiffy Lube to get my oil change. I once worked for a person responsible for the redesign of many waiting rooms in various industries, so I went with an observant eye, looking for the items that he taught me about in his ethnographic work. It was a very interesting 30 minutes. Here’s what I saw and learned.
This person taught me a few things about observational research:
- Look for the ordinary, not the extraordinary: “ordinary” is what you are there to observe
Customer Service and the iPhone
related update:
In some organizations, the Customer Service function is largely viewed as a cost center, draining resources of the firm. I maintain that this viewpoint is largely false and is one that less mature companies support. I believe that Customer Service is an accurate litmus test of the overall health of the firm — indeed, Customer Service can play a very strategic role in the overall health of the product, service, and Firm.
Mind Before Money, Creativity Before Capital
My Kung Fu brother and I spoke last week and he taught me something that remains with me:
I continue to do Wing Chun because it allows me to create
In a business setting, how many of us can say that we enjoy what we do because it allows us to create? In fact, from my experience, when something becomes too difficult, businesses all-too-easily pull out their wallets and hire a consultant, preventing any need to think and creatively solve their own problems. This is analogous to good-hearted-but-misguided parents that do everything for their children, robbing their children of precious life-lessons.
