ARE YOU LAZY?

Full disclosure: I am (just ask my wife) and I am proud of it.

What about you?

Before you get offended and think I am insulting you, we need to agree on the proper definition of the word. For far too many people lazy means that they are trying to get out of doing things that need to be done. “Shirking” might be another word for it. We can probably agree that this is generally not a great personal trait.

What I mean by lazy, especially in a work related context has nothing to do with shirking. It had nothing to do with getting out of things that need to be done. The real question is; what really needs to be done?

In his terrific short story “The man who was too lazy to fail” a boy who grew up and went through life always looking for an easier way to do things. In the process he went to school because it was easier than working in the fields and, as a Naval Aviator invented an autopilot because it was easier than flying the plane. The moral of the story is summed up as “All progress is made by a lazy person looking for an easier way.”

We can find lots of examples in industry. Henry Ford grew up on a farm and invented (more or less) the auto and tractor to make life easier for the masses of people in the US and the world. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone to make it easier for his deaf wife to communicate and so on.

On the plant floor I frequently challenge people to be lazy and find easier ways to do their jobs. This often means looking for tasks that are being performed that have no value. If you stop and think about it, you can probably find lots of examples in your own plant.

One thing I almost always find is unnecessary walking. Spaghetti diagrams are a useful tool for identifying this. To make a spaghetti diagram, pick an operator, mechanic, material handler or someone else out on the plant floor. Get a floor plan of the work area and follow them around for a day. As they perform their normal daily tasks, make a map on the floor plan showing their movements. Yes, that is why it is called a spaghetti diagram.

Now take that diagram and see how much unnecessary movement can be eliminated by reorganizing the workflow, locations of parts, tools and materials and so on. Simplify, simplify, simplify.

In one plant, when a quality inspector was needed, the operator had to leave their work area and track them down. They took a tip from the local grocery store checkout and put a light outside the room. Now the operator flips a switch and the light tells the inspector they are needed.

Look around your plant. I am sure you will find lots of opportunities to apply a bit of creative laziness.

And this weekend, when you are chilling in the hammock, show your spouse this article and explain that you are practicing. (No, it doesn’t work with my wife either but you are welcome to try.)

If you would like a Be Lazy/Find an easier way button, drop a note to johnhenry@changeover.com