Limiting work in process (WIP) isn’t easy. Our work is largely invisible, which means it’s hard to notice. It just walks right up, bold and unabashed. It doesn’t have to sneak; we’re simply blind to it. Then, one day, we notice it’s there.

During the last three weeks the Modus Cooperandi team worked with several groups that are shocked when we’ve found hidden WIP. To them, we seem like ghost hunters finding inefficiencies and overload where there was previously only air.

So, how can you find hidden WIP?

It’s easy: Always assume it’s there.

Image from Cecil Goes Wild, which could be used to teach kids about hidden WIP.

When you start from a position of knowing that there’s more WIP lurking, you examine the shadows more closely. Here are three common shadows:

 …