¿What If We Stopped?

The drive for process efficiency is relentless in many operations. Getting the work done faster, more efficiently, with less waste of resources is a never-ending push.

One way to gain efficiency is to stop doing some tasks.

To identify targets ripe for a cease and desist action, ask these questions of everything that consumes time, energy, or money:
• What if we stopped doing this?
• Who would notice?
• Would customers be affected? How would not doing this impact our customers' perceived value of what they receive from us?

No matter how diligent your attention to process and work design has been, there's almost always some work in the system that is there by force of habit or default.

When you think you have squeezed every last bit of play out of your operation, consider the likely impact of "vigorous inaction."

Sometimes the best thing to do is not to do.

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Don Blohowiak, a management consultant and popular conference speaker, is the author of several business books. The executive director of the Lead Well® Institute in Princeton, NJ, he may be reached at http://www.LeadWell.com/.

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