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Criterion
Value Stream Mapping workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Delivery
Value Stream Mapping
Paper illustration for Waste Analysis.
Operations
Waste Analysis
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Purposedifferent
When delivery work dissolves into wait times, handoffs, and hidden effort, Value Stream Mapping makes the actual flow visible. The method exposes bottlenecks, idle time, and feedback loops so lead time and improvement levers become tangible.For a process that keeps people busy but creates little value, the method exposes waste. It directs attention to unnecessary movement, waiting times, rework, and overdelivery.In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures.Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowLowLow
Timedifferent
1-3 h45-120 min20–45 min45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
4-102-8Small cross-functional group2-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck listWaste Map, Prioritized Waste, Improvement BacklogRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan
Tagsno overlap
LeanFlowWasteDelivery
WasteLeanProcess improvement
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
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