What is value? Value is what the customer is willing to pay for—or what moves us toward our purpose.
In Lean we focus on customer-defined value, not just internal KPIs.
Identify value streams: the steps from idea to delivered outcome.
Remove or simplify non-value-adding steps.
There are different types of value (financial, experiential, strategic) - (to define)
Before undertaking any change (process change, new tool, etc.), ask “How will this change create value for our users or organization?” , “What waste or pain point are we eliminating?”.
For example, an IT operations team might identify that automating a manual deployment process would create value by freeing engineers for more innovative work. By focusing on value, teams pursue changes with meaningful impact.
🧰 Tools & Templates
Value stream mapping let you visualize how value flows to the customer and where waste occurs (add link)
Customer canvas starts with defining the problem/opportunity in terms of customer value. (add link)
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Define Value Early: At the start of any change, write down the expected customer or business outcome. This acts as a north star.
Eliminate Waste: Encourage teams to identify steps in their processes that don’t add value (redundant approvals, waiting times, rework) and target these for change.
Customer Voice: Include feedback from end-users or internal customers when scoping changes. Their input helps validate that what you consider “value” truly matters to them.
Link to Metrics: Tie each change to a value metric (e.g. load time improvement, error rate reduction, user satisfaction score) so you can measure if value was actually delivered.
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📎 Learn More
Video: Intro to Lean Value Thinking
Article: "How to Discover Value in Change"