Mental Model #1 In Action: Limit Work To Increase Flow and To Increase Finished Work
Jacksonville, Florida. Summertime. In the summer of 2021, my family and I dropped by for lunch at Jollibee.
The line of customers was long… and the wait time was not ideal… in fact, it was insufferable!
The management — sensing customer discontent — put into play, Mental Model #1.
They closed the “intake” of all orders (from online, phone-in, and walk-in). Then the manager directed her staff to focus on finishing the long queue of already “in-flight” orders. Mental Model #1 was invoked: Limit Work at its extreme sense: “Stop starting; start finishing!”
In just 15 minutes, the crew “swarmed” the in-flight work… got caught up completing all outstanding — in-flight — orders.
Thereafter, the crew started to accept all orders… but this time, they have placed “Work-In-Process (WIP)” limit — no more unbridled intake of work.
New Mantra: “Start less, finish more”.
“There is no good in anything until it is finished.” — Kublai Khan
Mental Model #1 saved the day — it established a good, uninterrupted, and fast flow.
It “Calmed the Chaos“… in just 15 minutes.
To be continued …
LPM is on Amazon
