Over processing is a big waste and too often we lose sight of who the customer is and what they really need.
I grew up on 14 Mile Rd in Warren, MI, (a 5 lane street with a 45 mph speed limit) and our lawn always looked nice when you drove past.
If you parked in the driveway you would notice that it was composed of 50% weeds and 50%....other weeds, but they were "green weeds" and that's all that mattered to my dad.
My father knew who his "customer was"
At church people would tell my mother what a beautiful front yard we had and how green it was. She would say "it's full of weeds". The response was always..."well you can't tell."
This was dad's customer, the people driving past the house at such high speeds the difference between green weeds and green grass was imperceptible.
Over processing happens when you don't know the VOC (Voice of the Customer)
My dad could have spent $1000's of dollars in yard upkeep, chemical treatments and landscaping to make the front yard beautiful...but few people would have ever noticed.
Companies make this same mistake time and time again. Work without the benefit of the VOC has just as much chance of being a "value added" benefit to the customer as it does being a wasteful expenditure of effort and cost to the company.
The VOC can change and your processing should change with it.
2 years before he put the house up for sale he started paying for lawn treatments. His customer was going to be people now parked in the driveway looking at the house in detail. A change in the VOC warranted the extra cost for a beautiful yard.
Even today I use this test when I'm getting ready to purchase an item or fix something in my own house. I use it in training exercises for companies and when looking at helping other people improve their processes.
Unfortunately for me I live in a subdivision on a 15 mph street so my grass has to look a little nicer than my dad's.
