Basics

In the 1980s, the Toyota Motor Corporation sparked the worldwide Lean Manufacturing movement. Lean Management followed. The Lean Movement gained international recognition for improving productivity by eliminating waste from industrial and business processes.

 

In the 1990s, information scientists defined poor data quality in terms of inconsistencies in information representing their real-world situations. They defined these inconsistencies, also types of waste, by using the following four intrinsic attributes: meaningless, incomplete, incorrect and ambiguous.

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It should be obvious that the four intrinsic attributes of data quality also define information waste. Information is data in context. Waste-free information is consistently actionable. It is easy to access, act on, share, and govern.

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Using attributes from data quality rather than process improvement is easy to apply, measure, and manage. Lean Information principles are technology-independent and universal across languages, cultures, information, and data. People only need to use their common vocabulary and information skills.

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Metrics for the economics of wasteful and lean information include time, money, and risk. For example, a production team using lean information can save time and money through increased clarity, generate revenue through satisfied customers, and prevent misunderstanding.

 

Lean Information is not only less information. It is just the information that the receiver needs to understand and act on, not more.