Just when you thought everything was under control, someone asks you about something that isn’t even on your radar. Our perceptions can be deceiving and are not always as accurate or reliable as we think. This is nicely documented and demonstrated in this article and video that we found on Yahoo today: The Invisible Gorilla.
If the above link doesn’t work, cut and paste the following link into your browser: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/yahoocanada/100713/canada/_invisible_gorilla__test_shows_how_little_we_notice
What does this mean to the lean practitioner? Waste and other factors that can influence the performance of our operations are not always where we expect to find them. Similarly, too much focus on one area can cause us to miss out on many other opportunities as well.
Often times a fresh eyes approach can reveal simple opportunities that are easily overlooked as the complex solution is being sought after. We highly recommend using video as an integral part of the process review and assessment. It is so much easier to play it back and review than attempt to recall our perception of the events of interest.
What we perceive may deceive if we aren’t careful with our analysis and the conclusions we are looking to draw. Yes you may find what you were looking for but … what did you miss in the process?
Until Next Time – STAY lean!
