Replying to LO25974 --
Dear Andrew,
>I used to have a friend who reckoned that 80% plus of the process
>structure element of his business was waste, "non value added" in the
>latest jargon? If that be so, then of what value is this 'value
>statement'.
The value of this 'value statement' is that of a sharp knife.
First, I try to achieve understanding for the sharpness of this knife: To
establish the difference of 'value added' and 'waste'. 'Value added' is
that, which the customer pays for, everything else is waste. The less
'value added' remains, the sharper the knife becomes. First, people are
becoming uneasy, because more and more of what they are dealing with is
called 'waste': Turning in a screw is waste, only the final click, when
the right momentum is reached is 'value added' - could the momentum be
reached without a screw, it would be ok for the customer. Next, people
start to defend waste as necessary. Some is, other not, I say, but this is
not the point (! the nothing within the all). Finally some usually
unspoken, but feelable respect comes up for what value is and how it
relates to what is not there. I respect this value when I DON'T say: The
value is not in the something but in the nothing.
Then it becomes possible to think about the value of waste and how waste
serves the value. The srew serves to get the required momentum, sharpness
of a knife could not be realized without the material, which sustains it's
sharpness.
When this is understood, someone will speak up to start the next round:
"What we are talking about is interesting, but this is not waste, it is
good to have!" Yes, indeed. I have shown the friendly face of our material
world. (I don't use these words - how I say it depends on who is with me.)
We can design it, shape it, mould it, we can give it form. But as soon as
the form is fixed, it starts to turn into waste. As long as form serves
value, which is ultimately (and far beyond 'what the customer pays for')
formless, such forming is worthwhile human creation. As soon as we humans
start to serve fixed form we are bound, and what binds us is worth to be
called waste.
'Waste' says: It is time for a creative collapse. If it cannot serve as
form for value anymore, it has to become a source for free energy for new
creations.
Liebe Gruesse,
Winfried
--"Winfried Dressler" <winfried.dressler@voith.de>
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