Here is one reason that we think so many people have put so much effort into imitating the Toyota Production System and still we find Detroit in such a mess.
One of the cornerstones of the Toyota Production System is the commitment to eliminate waste. But “waste” in this context doesn’t mean what most people think it does.
Value and waste are interpretations, shaped by the concerns of the cultures and enterprises in which they appear. The most important wastes (and values) of the last 100+ years were shaped by industrial era concerns for conserving physical and economic resources, financial capital, and production capacity.
The most important values and wastes for the era we have entered are not the same.
Many of those hell-bent on eliminating waste are “looking for love in all the wrong places.”
The central wastes of the new era will be shaped by our concerns for building effective relationships to deal with the challenge of coordinating in this continuously changing, globally connected world.
Have you got examples? Can you see what we are pointing at?
© Copyright 2006, Chauncey Bell and BABDI, LLC. All rights reserved worldwide.