Eliminating Defects

Our last of the Seven Mudas is eliminating wasted time and resources due to defects.  From a business standpoint, this is when You have products that require rework because they are not functioning the way they were designed to. Every step in production after the finished product will have to be delayed because the product has to go back and be repaired or redone. It’s good to get the kinks out when starting, but when your system is up and running and you have to stop because things aren’t working out right, delays will cost you time and money. 

 

In our personal lives defects are a little different. There are 3 areas I wanted to focus on for this one. Defects are the mistakes or flaws we have in our thinking, results of our actions, and attitude towards life in general. 

 

Remember it all starts with a thought. In our thinking, we’ll often develop defects due to the information we are feeding on. This is why it is important to check sources of info, and also the motives behind those sources. Most people believe in and act on those things they believe in because they feel that the information they have on a particular subject is true and lines up with their belief system.

 

Now, if the thought process is flawed, next will be the actions. We will say and do things that will line up with the thoughts produced. Many times if we look at our actions or things we have said and believe them to be flawed or defective, we can trace it back to where we got the information from. What was the intention of the foundation of that belief? Just a thought.

 

Those thoughts and actions will make up the attitude towards life and others. This is where we circle back to our main focus in this life we are living: Wabikigai! Wabi-sabi, Ichigo ichie, ikigai.

 

Wabi Sabi: appreciating and finding perfection in imperfection. 

 

Ichigo Ichie: Enjoying every moment and meeting as a once in a lifetime event

 

Ikigai: finding the reason for being, and allowing that to be the source for a long, fulfilled life. 

 

With this, always check for defects or flaws, and make sure the lessons life is teaching you are being learned. Many of the defects we experience are the very things we are to correct to make us better versions of ourselves.