Introduction: Lean Is Not Just About Cutting Costs
If you think Lean Management is all about cutting costs and squeezing out every drop of efficiency, think again. The original intent of Lean was never to burn people out or obsess over eliminating every scrap of “waste.”
At its core, Lean is a human-centred, value-driven approach to continuously improving the way we work. And that requires balance.
This article is part of our ongoing series on Lean for growing organizations. Last week, we explored how Lean puts people first. This week, let’s look at the full picture of the Lean Management 3M approach: muda (waste), mura (variability), and muri (overburden). When growing fast, understanding and managing these three forces can make or break your operations.
What Is Waste (Muda)? It’s Anything the Customer Won’t Pay For
Let’s start with the most familiar of the Lean Management 3Ms: waste.
In Lean, waste is anything that doesn’t add value in the eyes of your customer. That means:
- Moving parts from one station to another (transport)
- Excessive stock on hand (inventory)
- Waiting on approvals or decisions (delay)
- Making more than you need (overproduction)
- Repeating steps or fixing errors (rework)
- Tasks done more than once (over-processing)
- Misusing people’s skills (underutilized talent)
- Producing products that are not respecting the expectation (defects)
As Taiichi Ohno said, waste is “the needless, repetitious movement that must be eliminated immediately.” (1)
The first step? Map your value stream and separate what truly transforms your product or service (value-added) from everything else (non-value-added). If you’re in manufacturing, VA activities might be when raw materials are turned into finished goods. In a service business, it could be turning raw data into insights your client can act on.
What Is Variability (Mura)? It’s the Unevenness That Breaks Flow
Variability isn’t always a bad thing—customers will always want different things at different times. But unmanaged and excessive variability is the silent killer of productivity.
It can look like:
- A rush of last-minute orders to close the month
- An uneven flow of client requests or support tickets
- Prioritizing volume over process stability
These fluctuations create stress in the system, and often result in overburdening teams or underutilizing resources.
The antidote for this Lean Management 3M of Mura is predictability: better planning, clearer communication, and systems that can flex with demand without breaking.
What Is Overburden (Muri)? It’s the Hidden Cost of Growth
Overburden can take a toll on operations. It impacts people and equipment. And both can have lasting effects.
People
When your team is working overtime, skipping breaks, or firefighting every day, you’re seeing the effects of muri—the third M. It refers to overburdened people and machines pushed beyond reasonable limits.
And the cost? It’s massive:
- Burnout and disengagement
- Increased errors and safety incidents
- Higher absenteeism and turnover
- More defects and equipment breakdowns
Studies have shown that productivity drops significantly after 50 hours of weekly work, and injury rates climb.
Equipment
More often then not, equipment is made for a certain volume of activity. Therefore, when it’s push it beyond its capacity thus creating overburden, complications can occur:
- Excessive wear and tear
- Increased downtime and unplanned repairs
- Increased maintenance costs
It can also lead to increased defects being produced, thus creating muda.
When scaling, this often happens subtly: pushing a little harder each week until breakdowns (human or mechanical) feel normal. But that’s not sustainable. Lean reminds us to respect people and build systems that support them, not crush them.
The Power of Balance: Lean Is Like Pizza (Yes, Really)
Think of Lean as a pizza (humour us here). The dough is your process foundation, the sauce is your problem-solving mindset, and the toppings are tools like 5S, kanban, or JIT.
But the real magic happens in the balance. Too much of one topping and the whole thing collapses. Just like Lean: if you only focus on waste, you might ignore the burden your team carries or the chaos variability creates.
The right balance depends on your:
- Customer expectations
- Supplier capabilities
- Inventory needs
- Team capacity
- Product mix
Let’s say you carry more inventory of Part A than Part B. Is it waste? Maybe not. If Part A is critical to multiple high-volume products and your supplier is far away, it might be a smart buffer. Context matters.
Bringing It All Together
Growth doesn’t have to mean chaos.
By applying the Lean Management 3M approach, you can:
- Cut unnecessary steps without harming your people
- Smooth out demand to reduce firefighting
- Protect your team and equipment from burnout
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s progress.
When we help clients integrate this thinking, we often find that the biggest insights come from their frontline teams. They know what works. Employees feel the strain. Team members see the waste. Give them the tools and trust to lead the change.
Next Up: Lean’s Spicy Toppings
In our next article, we’ll explore how Lean’s tools (like pull systems and standard work) can bring the 3M approach to life.
“The inevitable result is that unevenness creates overburden that undercuts previous efforts to eliminate waste” Jim Womack.(4)
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About Veronica B. Marquez
I help growing manufacturing and service organizations scale without chaos—by turning operational challenges into sustainable performance gains. My superpower is making strategy real at every level of the business: connecting people, processes, and purpose to drive productivity, engagement, and resilience. I bring clarity to complexity and help teams execute better, faster, together. Through a proven lens of operational excellence, continuous improvement, and supply chain optimization, I work with leaders to align efforts, simplify execution, and create systems that actually support growth.
Named one of the Top 50 Experts in Operational Excellence by the PEX Network, I bring over 20 years of experience across sectors like manufacturing, distribution, mining, and public services. I teach Lean Six Sigma at the executive education level, lecture on service design in a master’s program, and host a LinkedIn Live series focused on Excellence in Industry 5.0. Ready to explore how operational excellence can transform your business? Reach out https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronicabm/.
Photo Credit: Gidon Pico de Pixabay
Sources:
(1) Ohno, T. (1998) Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production. New York: CRC Press.
(2) Pencavel, J. (2013) The Productivity of Working Hours. Standford University. https://siepr.stanford.edu/research/publications/productivity-working-hours
(3) Liker, J. K. (2004) The Toyota Way. New York: McGraw-Hill.
(4) Womack, J. (2006) Mura, Muri, Muda? Lean Enterprise Institute. https://www.lean.org/womack/DisplayObject.cfm?o=743
