Let’s get rid of value stream maps. I can hear it now: “Why would you say such a thing? Value stream maps are great. We can’t see waste without them.”

Precisely.

Value stream maps have developed an outsized importance in relation to other types of basic information that one gathers when trying to understand the current state of a process. And they have helped turn kaizen, a doing activity, into a planning activity, where workers spend a lot of time drawing value stream maps—and getting approvals from managers—before any improvement can happen. Focusing on value stream maps as the one expression of the current state slows improvement.

Except in rare circumstances, no person or team should spend more than one or two days gathering current state data—including creating current- and future-state value stream maps (which are not truly needed to begin with)—prior to kaizen.

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