It’s funny, but when a bunch of lean thinkers gets together, they tend to be on the lookout for small improvements. Cumulatively these little issues give us headaches, and regrettably sometimes have far more serious consequences. Call this mental muri, every bit as stressful as physical muri, the lean waste that occurs when people or machines are pushed beyond their limits. Although that type of muri gets a bit more attention in the lean world, cases of mental muri are all too common.

Take as an example the following humorous misdirection that a participant at our recent Northeast Region Shingo Prize Conference pointed out. Forgiving the poor photo exposure, can you see the inconsistency? Bathroom confusion. I watched for a while, noting pauses and near misses, but happily no mistakes.

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