X: How big a problem is waste in IT?
Me: Huge but it's not just IT, there's huge waste throughout the organisation. Conservatively I'd argue that for most over 90% of what we do is waste.
X: That's ridiculous!
Me: Yes, but understand the causes ...
Me: Huge but it's not just IT, there's huge waste throughout the organisation. Conservatively I'd argue that for most over 90% of what we do is waste.
X: That's ridiculous!
Me: Yes, but understand the causes ...
... the number one cause is not understanding user needs and doing the wrong. It's quite breathtaking how few companies actually understand needs ... 
... the next set of causes come from not understanding the details. Again, most organisations seem to have a details problem. This leads to all sorts of effects ... 
e.g. if you don't understand the details and you can't communicate it (i.e. use a map) then you end up with horrendous duplication. It's not uncommon to find companies with 100s of groups doing the same thing. 
The next problem is people keep failing to remove bias i.e. they focus on things like efficiency of flow rather than are we effectively doing this thing. It's a real shocker how much commodity stuff is custom built for no good reason. 
After this, you just starting get used to the cavalier nature of organisation. They tend to use big contracts rather than break things into component (see FIRE) and this causes another headache ... 
... which is one size fits all. People love their magic one size fits all methods - outsource everything! agile everything! It causes oodles and oodles of waste / cost overrun / inefficiency 
... now if this wasn't tearing your hair out then procurement comes along with another brand of one size fits all - causing even more waste piled on waste. 
... however, have no fear, as more waste is then added on as we pile into big structures, big matrix organisations etc rather than small teams ... 
... which of course, naturally we don't design to evolve and instead try to slap on a one size fits all culture ... 
... and to cap it all off, onto these many layers of waste upon waste we then add some meme laden strategy based upon zero situational awareness and no mechanism of learning.
In practice, it would probably be quite hard to design a more wasteful organisation than the modern corporation. They are generally marvels of ineffectiveness.
... so yes, over 90% of what we do as waste is a conservative figure. Oh, and the above is just the tip of iceberg. You should look at modern accounting practices if you want a real laugh.
X: What's wrong with modern accounting practices?
Me: No context. Even something as simple as revenue has context i.e. the revenue of product which is being industrialised has a materially different future worth from the revenue of product in an earlier stage of evolution.
Me: No context. Even something as simple as revenue has context i.e. the revenue of product which is being industrialised has a materially different future worth from the revenue of product in an earlier stage of evolution.
