Structure, operate and improve your activities, connections and flows

If we learn the language of activities, connections and flows, we will see things differently as we walk through the office, the warehouse, the factory, or any organization. This is the language of the lean organization just as credits and debits are the language of accounting. We must learn to talk about activities, connections and flows, think in terms of them, and act on them. Utilizing the four rules while designing, operating and improving activities, connections and pathways is where the bulk of the work of lean transformation should be focused. This will be the makeup of your overall business system. You should be using the same principles when making design decisions as you do when making improvement decisions. Your activities must be structured to the minutest level of detail. Your relationships must be connected as binary customer / supplier links. All goods, materials and information must flow through simple and specific pathways.