The Stacked Pizza!!

Long before the Uber Eats days, I once ordered a Pizza from local restaurant. Since delivery wasn’t so common in that area, I went to pick it up myself.

As I arrived at the restaurant, I was surprised to see that my Pizza box didn’t look anything like a Pizza Box. It was a Deep Cuboid Shaped box where pizza slices lie one on top of the other in a stacked fashion.

Me – Why is that?

Manager – Sir, we are running short of Pizza Boxes hence been packing all “REGULAR” Pizzas in these boxes since morning and saving the usual Pizza boxes for our “SIGNATURE” Range.

Me – But that’s not how a Pizza supposed to be packed.

Manager – But be rest assured, the taste is still the same.

Me – Its not just the taste. Its Presentation, Feel, Texture a lot of things.

Manager – I agree Sir. But understand our situation as well, we need to ensure the optimum utilization of our resources. If you insist, we can get it re-assembled and put it back in a REGULAR Pizza box for a nominal cost of Rs.20.

Me – Why the Extra Cost?

Manager – Sir, we are giving you something extra. Don’t you think we deserve an extra buck?

That got me thinking. Was it really something extra? Wasn’t it supposed to be that way, in the first place?

While What he suggested was an IMPORTANT Step to damage control but was it really a VALUE ADD?

That’s where LEAN comes to rescue.

Lean helps us identify the thin line between IMPORTANT Steps and VALUE ADDING Steps. Any step which is IMPORTANT might not be VALUE ADDING, whereas every step that adds Value, is an important Step.

There are 3 Rules of Thumb to identify What’s Value Adding and What’s Not. To consider something as a Value Adding Step, ALL THREE RULES MUST APPLY.

1. There should be some FORM OF CHANGE – The Pizza had changed form. Instead of expected Round shaped and sunny side up, it went to stacked. SO, THE FIRST RULE APPLIES
2. Customer should be READY TO PAY – While it was not ideal, I still agreed to pay to save some time and annoyance. SO, THE SECOND RULE ALSO APPLIES
3. It should be done RIGHT FIRST TIME – This wasn’t done. The Pizza was first disintegrated and then re-assembled. Wasn’t done the first time right. SO, THE THIRD RULE DOESN’T APPLY

This helps us conclude that this wasn’t a VALUE ADDING Step and shouldn’t be considered one. This is a Mental Shift that we as Change Leaders need to inculcate. This will help us prevent fixing defects (maybe deliberate) at an additional cost to the customer.

Happy Learning!!