You know that getting Lean means eliminating waste. But in order to know how much waste exists, you have to measure it, right? True. However, there are a lot of enterprises that actually generate more waste by the metrics they use to determine whether or not they're reducing waste. It can be a real catch-22: To reduce waste, it has to be measured, but measuring it creates more waste.

There are ways to avoid that. In picking up on the information from our previous issue, there are a few more things to consider when it comes to creating your metrics. First, stop measuring and see what happens. What? You read that correctly - stop measuring. Chances are you have some reports (or sections of reports) that are generated that you suspect no one, or very few, put to any real use. Pinpoint those and stop creating them for a week or a month. Then see what happens. If they really matter, they'll definitely be missed. You will have confirmed their value and know you have a solid metric. But, if as you suspect, they're not being used, they won't be missed. If they're not missed, why collect the data or create the reports? It's waste. Get rid of it.