Four Steps to Lean
Author: Jurgen Appelo
Everyone wants to make a meaningful impact through their work. Yet, most of our efforts prove to be not beneficial, overly complex, and time-consuming, slowing progress and wasting people’s time. The Four Steps to Lean sequence is an adaptation of Elon Musk’s “Five-Step Algorithm,” the ESSA Framework, and the “Four Steps to Freedom” model.
Whether you’re involved in product development, service delivery, or business process design, it’s smart to consider expert insights in product innovation, process improvement, and personal productivity. I’ve distilled their wisdom into a four-step process, a component of the new unFIX BRAIN starter kits I’m developing. (More details to follow.)
Step 1: Clarify & Eliminate
Before altering your process or product, clarifying each step and requirement is essential. Actual progress becomes possible when we acknowledge that while all processes and requirements may be flawed, some are less so. Embracing the humility to recognize our limited knowledge is crucial.
Elon Musk has highlighted the risk of uncritically accepting requirements from seemingly knowledgeable individuals, stating, “It’s particularly dangerous if a smart person gives you the requirements because you might not question them enough.” This brings to mind common scenarios where decisions are dictated by the highest-paid person in the organization (HiPPO), without room for questioning their mandates on new processes and requirements.
“You should never accept that a requirement came from a department, such as from ‘the legal department’ or ‘the safety department.’ You need to know the name of the real person who made that requirement.” - Elon Musk
Achieving clarity involves associating each process step and product requirement with a specific individual’s name. By asking, “Who requested this?” and identifying the person involved, it becomes easier to critically assess the necessity and sensibility of each process or requirement, no matter how smart or powerful the people behind it are.
Question the validity of each element by asking, “Is this really necessary?” Evaluate whether each process or feature truly adds value to the organization or its stakeholders and fulfills a specific business need. The goal of such scrutiny is not merely improvement but, where possible, the complete elimination of unnecessary elements. Elon Musk advocates for aggressive elimination, suggesting, “If you’re not adding things back in at least 10% of the time, you’re clearly not deleting enough.”
For instance, I recently questioned an event organizer’s request to include a liability clause in my standard workshop agreement. After inquiring about the rationale and the person behind the request, the requirement was dropped, revealing it was just a “standard request” from the legal department with no real relevance to the workshop. I eliminated the requirement.
Challenge yourself to eliminate aspects so thoroughly that you occasionally need to reinstate something. Do not simplify, automate, or delegate anything you can eliminate altogether!
Start with why.
Learn to say “No.”
The best processes and requirements are those that don’t exist.
Step 2: Simplify & Accelerate
What we cannot eliminate, we should simplify.
We often attempt to optimize overly complicated systems, resulting in excessive process steps and components and clutter of links, buttons, and widgets throughout our products.
Simplifying doesn’t compromise outcomes; it’s about achieving more with less—fewer steps and components lead to simpler solutions, reducing quality issues and enhancing structural integrity. Not to mention happier employees and customers, as dealing with complicated processes and products makes people feel unproductive and frustrated.
Ask yourself, “Is there an easier, faster way?”
Elon Musk points out a frequent oversight: retaining quality assurance steps in a process even after it has stabilized. Initially, it’s crucial to closely monitor new processes and products to identify and address any defects. However, once a process is established, it’s more efficient to consolidate quality checks at one final stage.
This makes a lot of sense. In the early stages of a process, when changes are frequent, it’s wise to implement various tests and checklists. After all, the earlier you catch a new problem, the better. However, intermediate tests and checklists only weigh down the entire value stream when your process has stabilized. In that case, it’s better to have one simplified end-of-line check before a product leaves the building.
Simplification speeds up processes, increasing productivity and output by limiting ongoing tasks. Your production goes up when you limit your work in progress. Those who want to go fast are best served by simplifying any process step or product feature that weighs them down.
For example, I’m streamlining my blog post-writing process. I was bogged down by using too many writing tools, juggling numerous drafts, and managing multiple platforms. It all weighed me down and made me slow. I don’t want to eliminate my writing, but I can simplify and accelerate it by taking an axe to the clutter of tools and channels.
Are you making efforts to simplify what you couldn’t eliminate? Are you reducing, consolidating, and streamlining your tasks? Do not automate or delegate anything that you can simplify first.
Less is more.
Go slow to go fast.
Scale and impact emerge from simplicity.
Step 3: Codify & Automate
Now that you’ve clarified your processes and requirements and streamlined them efficiently, it’s time to explore automation opportunities.
Consider how your process or product can benefit the most people. Is there potential to scale up through automation, utilizing machines or algorithms?
Check with other business units to determine whether similar processes could be codified and standardized. A simple method that’s the same for everyone in the system is scalable, leading to significant productivity gains. The universal adoption of a consistent process is what we call a standard, which requires codifying the approach. When processes get codified and standardized, they become scalable.
With the proliferation of robots, AI, and low/no-code technologies, the options for software and hardware are ever-expanding. Automation is impossible without codifying things first. The alternative to scaling without codification and automation is increasing the size of the workforce, which is often not the preferred route.
Standardization does not imply a lack of customization, as it simply means consistency in the system. Remember, elimination and simplification come first! Never standardize an approach across an organization when local units are better served eliminating or simplifying it. The biggest danger is when we do things in the wrong order: codifying and automating things that should have been eliminated or simplified first.
“[Automate] comes last. The big mistake in [my factories] was that I began by trying to automate every step. We should have waited until all the requirements had been questioned, parts and processes deleted, and the bugs were shaken out.” - Elon Musk
Automation aims to enhance well-functioning processes with technology for scalability. When organizations automate poorly run processes, they automate the wastes in the system. Nothing is more wasteful than introducing hardware and software to support things that shouldn’t be done at all.
For example, I wasted a lot of time automating parts of the onboarding processes of unFIX community and partnership plans when our business model was still in a state of flux. I have many automation scenarios turned off now simply because they quickly became outdated in a fast-changing environment, resulting in wasted effort that could have been directed toward more productive tasks (like writing blog posts!)
Always think before you act.
Set high standards and few limitations.
Are you only standardizing the things that cannot be eliminated or simplified?
Step 4: Specify & Delegate
After streamlining and automating significant portions of your workload, you’re left with tasks that necessitate a personal touch. At this point, consider who is most suited for these tasks. Could you delegate them to a team member, a business partner, or an assistant? Might some processes be outsourced to a shared supplier or subcontractor?
Delegation is central to Management 3.0, servant leadership, and other leadership models. However, what we often forget to mention is when not to delegate things.
We should not delegate work that wastes everyone’s time and is better eliminated altogether (Step 1: Clarify & Eliminate). There are countless stories of people who know that the work they’ve been asked to do has no benefit and no meaningful impact on anyone.
We should not delegate work that could have been simplified (Step 2: Simplify & Accelerate). The one who delegates work to others must understand if it isn’t unnecessarily complicated. Convoluted processes and requirements are a waste of everyone’s time.
We should not delegate work that should be automated (Step 3: Codify & Automate). There is no reason to give work to humans if machines and algorithms can do the same job.
Note: delegation is not the same as collaboration (with team members, partners, assistants, or subcontractors) to eliminate and simplify the work before automating it.
For example, I sometimes say I’ve “delegated” operational work at The unFIX Company to Jan-Paul and Jens so I can focus on the creative work. However, this isn’t entirely accurate. I’ve involved them in a collaborative effort to eliminate, simplify, and automate tasks (in that order). The only work we’ve actually delegated is bookkeeping and accounting. The professionals we outsourced this work to are much better at it than we are.
When delegating, it’s essential to specify the expected outcomes. Having spent time eliminating, simplifying, and defining tasks, the specifications of the remaining parts you’re handing over to others should be pretty straightforward.
But remember, never delegate what you can eliminate, simplify, or automate. Only consider delegating what remains after performing the first three steps.
Sources of Inspiration
The following models provided direct input to these “Four Steps to Lean.”
Lean Thinking
Lean thinking is the management philosophy that emphasizes maximizing customer value while minimizing waste, inspired by the Toyota Production System. Many authors have published their own lists of “values and principles” of Lean. I don’t want to pick favorites here, so I asked ChatGPT instead. It suggests this is the consensus about Lean Thinking across those many sources:
1. Define Value: Identify what value means for a product or service from the customer's perspective.
2. Map the Value Stream: Map out all steps in the production process, aiming to eliminate steps that add no value.
3. Create Flow: Ensure flow by reorganizing production steps and processes to eliminate delays and inefficiencies.
4. Establish Pull: Shift from push-based production to a pull-based system that responds to actual customer demand.
5. Pursue Perfection: Engage in continuous improvement to enhance processes, products, and services.
It is easy to see that the Four Steps to Lean directly contribute to these Lean principles, particularly eliminating waste and improving flow. Though Lean Thinking covers a much broader terrain, the Four Steps to Lean model offers a more detailed and ordered approach to achieve what Lean stands for.
Elon Musk’s “Five-Step Algorithm”
In Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk, Musk’s approach to product innovation is outlined as a “five-step algorithm” consisting of Clarify, Eliminate, Simplify, Accelerate, and Automate. You can say Elon Musk offers the product innovation perspective on having more impact.
Upon reading the book, I’ve come to view the first two steps—Clarify and Eliminate—as inherently linked. The numerous examples within the book illustrate that clarification is essential for identifying which requirements and components can be eliminated. Conversely, effective elimination is contingent upon thorough clarification. Similarly, the steps of Simplify and Accelerate are closely connected. Simplification naturally leads to faster processes, as reducing the number of steps and requirements inherently speeds up any operation. These two steps are so intertwined that they could be considered a single unified step.
Finally, Elon Musk’s “algorithm” makes no mention of delegation. The book shows that Musk is incredibly bad at delegating and prefers as little outsourcing as he can handle. It makes sense that he doesn’t include this in his algorithm.
For a quick summary, check out “Musk’s 5-Step Algorithm to Cut Internal Bureaucracy at Tesla and SpaceX.”
The ESSA Framework
The ESSA Framework, originating from the manufacturing process improvement community, comprises four key steps: Eliminate, Simplify, Standardize, and Automate. This framework provides a structured approach to enhancing efficiency and impact within processes.
Interestingly, the framework introduces Standardization as a step between Simplification and Automation. Yet, in the spirit of simplicity—I practice what I preach!—I see Standardization and Automation as deeply interconnected. Without standardization (codification), automation is challenging, as it’s difficult to automate processes that aren’t clearly defined and consistent. Conversely, once a process is codified and standardized, it becomes a prime candidate for automation.
To maintain simplicity in the model, I’ve combined the Standardize and Automate steps into a single concept, which I call Codify & Automate. This streamlines the framework and adds a touch of poetic flair to the model. :-)
For more information, check out “Proven Strategy for Improving Productivity.”
The “Four Steps to Freedom”
While the origins of the “four steps to freedom” remain unclear, numerous bloggers widely discuss this framework, describing the steps of Eliminate, Simplify, Automate, and Delegate. Some bloggers refer to quotes from productivity expert Tim Ferriss, but it’s unclear if Ferris is this framework’s original source. You can say this model offers the personal productivity perspective on having more impact.
In an effort to enrich this model, I’ve added a word to each step, drawing inspiration from previously mentioned sources. Taking a cue from Elon Musk’s methodology, I expanded Eliminate to “Clarify & Eliminate,” emphasizing the importance of understanding before eliminating. Similarly, Simplify evolved into “Simplify & Accelerate,” reflecting that simplification naturally leads to increased speed. From the ESSA framework, I adapted Automate to “Codify and Automate,” highlighting the preparatory step of standardization before automation. Lastly, I rephrased Delegate to “Specify and Delegate” because I love linguistic consistency. :-)
For more information, check out “Eliminate. Simplify. Automate. Delegate. The Four Steps to Freedom!” and “From Overwhelmed to Empowered: Embracing the Four Steps to Freedom.”
