Incrementalism and the Paradox of Zero
Fundamental to Lean methodology is the concept of kaizen or continuous incremental improvement. Incrementalism is often used to set annual targets of a percentage change compared to a baseline, with small, frequent improvements adding up to big gains over time.
But production goals and sustainability goals aren’t always analogous. When you are measuring reductions (less water, less energy, less pollution) even if the percentages stay the same, each year’s improvement gets smaller and smaller. Incremental reduction begins to feel less and less productive, as you are working harder for smaller gains to get closer to goals you can never quite reach.
What’s needed is to redefine the problem. “Zero water” feels impossible. “Net-zero water,” on the other hand? That we can tackle. Net-zero carbon, net-zero energy, it all comes back to one big question: How can we change our business processes so that we provide as many resources as we consume, if not more? Each element (carbon, waste, water, etc.) has its own challenges, but there is a way to get to zero and it doesn’t require some earth-shattering invention to solve it for us.
When we start looking beyond the diminishing returns of incrementalism approaching zero, we can set audacious goals for truly sustainable business practices while still following the Lean method of incremental improvement. That is what Lean Green Way is all about.
Read more about how Toyota started down this path, or contact us to see what we can do for you (ryan@leangreenway.com or 1-657-345-4270).