Hi,
“My mother was my biggest role model. She taught me to hate waste. We never wasted anything”
- W. Edwards Demming
I have been thinking, learning, and focusing on waste. Professionally, I ran my first online value stream mapping workshop with a rowdy and fun group of folks. I have continued my war against waste around my midsection and have been thinking a lot about avoiding wasted days and a wasted life.
I hope you find them useful and thought-provoking:
0 WASTE IS A FUNCTION OF WHAT YOU VALUE
1 GO WITH WHICH FLOW
2 WASTE AROUND THE MIDSECTION
2 A WASTED LIFE
3 MENTAL MODEL WORTH ADOPTING: WHO NOT HOW
5 (REMINDER) NO SAX NOVEMBER
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0 WASTE IS A FUNCTION OF WHAT YOU VALUE
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“The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize.” – Shigeo Shingo
Many of you have heard me tell the story of when I first met Craig Larman years ago (Co-Founder of LeSS and bolo-tie wearing wanderer). I was challenging what he was saying in his class when he finally had enough, and asked me what I did. When I told him what I thought was a lofty title, he said: “Oh wow, your job is an unnecessary waste and that makes me sad!”
During a recent online value stream mapping workshop, there was negative tension when defining a value-added activity vs a wasteful activity. “Are you saying my job is waste?” Needless to say, I know how they felt.
Based on the generally accepted definition of what was in the lean cannon, the answer is yes. Some being necessary waste, and most being unnecessary waste.
While the focus on waste is important and emotive, I believe that it has detracted from an even higher-order question: What is value?
Is building great products really from the customer? My experience is, no. To remove the real waste, you need to first define what you truly value.
Read more: https://ahmadfahmy.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aadbc63746f4524e239f73939&id=0378637b56&e=ec41401d11
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1 GO WITH WHICH FLOW
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“To be a good manager, a manager tries to constantly fight to reduce waste.” -Eliyahu Goldratt
Another popular idea in Lean is Flow. The name of the GAME, maximizing the flow of value to the customer in the shortest amount of sustainable time. Anything that impedes that flow is waste. But what GAME are we playing?
Is the initial creation of a product, the R&D phase, the same as scaling a product? Are the wastes that impede flow during the R&D phase the same as during the mass production or scaling of the product?
I contend that maximizing flow during the R&D phase of a new product is a completely different problem set. The waste that will impede the creation of the first iPhone is very different from scaling the production line. For the simple reason that you are creating something new, it's more art than science. The flow that is required here is flow state. The wastes that impede flow state are quite different from lean waste.
Read more: https://ahmadfahmy.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aadbc63746f4524e239f73939&id=f016d676f3&e=ec41401d11
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2 WASTE AROUND THE MIDSECTION
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I have been waging war against the weight I have gained during quarantine over the past 3 months. My current protocol has been effective for both shedding the fat and keeping it off.
I know it’s involved, but no one said war was easy.
-Glass of water with apple cider vinegar
-Green tea w/mint
-Fasted cardio
-Contrast shower post cardio
-First meal at noon
-Stop eating at 6. (I track my fasts using the Zero app)
Note: I have also noticed improvements in my sleep but stopping eating at 6pm.
Contrast shower: https://ahmadfahmy.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aadbc63746f4524e239f73939&id=034f631062&e=ec41401d11
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2 A WASTED LIFE
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Very rarely do I reread a book. In this particular case, I reread The War of Art three times. I am a master procrastinator. To the outside world, I can seem productive - I have excelled in what I call constructive procrastination, doing constructive things that do are not the very things I should be doing. I avoid what I should be doing with both constructive and destructive habits. Stephen Pressfield calls this, Resistance. His book The War of Art discusses how to wage war on Resistance. Below is a spreadsheet that contains an ideal week based on what I value. It allows me to track waste. My goal is not to eliminate all the waste, it's to try my best to avoid too much waste.
What an ideal week looks like for me: https://ahmadfahmy.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aadbc63746f4524e239f73939&id=97e7f1ee7d&e=ec41401d11
More notes: https://ahmadfahmy.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aadbc63746f4524e239f73939&id=8d8c03a5b7&e=ec41401d11
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3 MENTAL MODEL WORTH ADOPTING: WHO NOT HOW
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When you set a goal bigger than yourself, the standard mental model is usually to ask yourself: How can “I” achieve this goal, what steps do “I” need to take. A far more effective mental model is to ask: “Who can help me achieve this goal?”
To many, asking “who” is almost cheating. Dan Sullivan argues it's an artifact of our education and rewards systems.
A close friend and highly successful entrepreneur Amr has this mental model intuitively. Whenever he sets a goal, he asks immediately: “Who can help me”
8 months ago at the age of 55, overweight with two herniated disks and bad knees, he set the goal of doing an Ironman 70.3. He asked who can help him achieve this and found them. He asked me to pace him. Yesterday, we crossed the finish line. He is a powerful example of who, not how.
Watch the podcast for more: https://ahmadfahmy.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aadbc63746f4524e239f73939&id=5cfa71f8d2&e=ec41401d11
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5 REMINDER | NO SAX NOVEMBER
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For November:
-All electronics off by 9pm
-No Social media
-Dinner together
-No screen time outside of work/classes/homework
Would you consider joining me? https://ahmadfahmy.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aadbc63746f4524e239f73939&id=b6ed039916&e=ec41401d11
Warm Regards,
Ahmad
PS You are receiving this email because you have either attended one of my courses, workshops, are a coaching client or you subscribed via my site.
PPS Many thanks to Sarah, Mark and Unays for making this email better
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