When someone hears the word "Lean" in a business setting they may respond with ugh. No need however. Even as this discipline is essential to the survival of companies in the new world economy, it is also an exercise in common sense. Well herein lies the problem. What is common sense to one is not necessarily common sense to another.

I have been told by colleagues in the field that I was blessed with the "lean" version of common sense. As I continue my life long journey of learning all things "lean office" I would tend to agree. But not everyone's brain works like that. Do not get me wrong, I am glad. Without those people who are visionaries, dreamers, artists, etc. the world would not go around. But there needs to be people to translate those ideas into action. In other words, implementers. Idea without action is just an idea. Action without the end in mind is useless activity. So there is a symbiotic relationship between the idea and realization of the idea.

Case in point, I am working with a client that we are creating the infrastructure from the ground up. This is a fantastic exercise in common sense because we can create with the end in mind. We want the quickest most efficient way to get this "stuff" done. There are no smoke and mirrors only what is the best way to meet the customer demand. That is the driving factor of the whole value stream map. In our last session we fine tuned again while developing the database map. The client and I stepped back from our map and rejoiced in the simplicity. Every new portion we added to the mix all went back to serving the customer in a timely efficiently manner. This allowed us to not get bogged down in over engineering the process.

Now that I explained that let me get to the most important point, competitive edge. By doing the above we were able to determine how to fulfill orders and support the customer base with the least amount of waste. Think about that. What would your bottom line look like if you were doing things in the most efficient manner possible? To not only fulfill your customer's order but do it when and how they want it. How would that affect your competitive edge? How about increase your profit margin at the same time because you are doing it cheaper than you were before. All this by using your customer as the barometer.

When you examine your workflow ask yourself can I do this better and quicker. Now the next question is how. Remember to always focus on the customer as your driving force. You will be amazed at what you discover.