Is there such a thing as necessary waste?

Under Lean Thinking, waste or muda for the Japanese is the perpetual villain for any manager worth their salt.

- REY ELBO

It's the uninvited guest at your productivity party, stealing time, talent and treasure. Lean activists tell us to eliminate waste ruthlessly. Cut it. Burn it. Send it to a witness protection program where it can never be found again.

But here's the twist: Some wastes are like an eccentric uncle at family gatherings who thrills everyone with war stories. You can't get rid of him because, deep down, he's actually needed. These are called "necessary wastes" or, in consultant-speak, necessary non-value-added.

They don't directly make your customers' hearts race with joy, but they keep your operations from imploding.

Think of them as the cholesterol medication of your business—no one's thrilled to take it, but skipping it could land you in intensive care.

Let's break down the usual suspects:

1. Inspection and quality checks. From a Lean Thinker's view, quality inspection is a waste. If your process were perfect, you wouldn't need to check anything. Unfortunately, most companies are still living in the "close enough" era.

The solution is a "build quality from within" program so that each worker produces the best product or service without requiring quality inspectors to check it for them.

2. Compliance-driven paperwork. If you think customers are excited about your quarterly regulatory report, then think again. They don't care. Compliance paperwork, unless required by law, is a special type of waste.

It produces zero value for the customer, but the government insists you do it, or they'll fine you into oblivion.