JIT for sustainability!

What do you see in the pic... 

Some may respond, "I see... 

- two paper cups \ glasses of water, 

- One of the cups \ glasses half full, the other one empty! 

- cups \ glasses waiting to get disposed!" and so on!

Can you make a story of it!

(Immediately after boarding a flight) I'd asked for half glass of HOT WATER!

The airhostess promptly fetched me a full glass of lukewarm water!

Second time after a while, while she was on a service round, I 'showed' her the old cup and indicated to fill in it half (glass of) HOT WATER again!

She (ignored the old paper cup &) served me lukewarm water (by mixing cold water in it) in a fresh paper cup!

What's the learning!?

My learning is: 

1.. Ask for what you want (here the HOT WATER) clearly specifying (in this cup "please" &) not to mix cold water in it! Merely showing the cup may not be enough. The supplier need to clearly communicate her inability, if any, to supply as per specifications.

2.. Never take the customer's specification for granted. Always confirm specifications of her need!

3.. It's good to share such stories to train your own staff back in your office as also at your home about the - importance of customer specification\s in the JIT¹ way as in point-1 above! - need for sustainability (to re-use) specially when the customer has specified so! - need to express inability, if any, to supply with justified reasons in an honest, caring & gentle manner - importance of observation power and alertness to learn from each moment & from each happening around in order to generate opportunities for improvement (OFI) in self if not in others. The latter may be out of one's control!

4.. Although the above behaviours look commonsensical, they rarely happen. So change in attitude is needed at personal level reflecting it in the desired behaviours.

5.. Rather than being a mere spectator, an observer around may take lead in appreciating such desired behaviours. Positive reinforcement thereby may help recurrence of such desired behaviours!

By the way, this is not a story! 

It's an actual customer-experience. It actually reinforces - how much waste (here the cup & the water served in excess over the demand) gets generated in each of such transactions between a customer and a supplier! - how badly there is a need to educate and train people to reduce waste and help the sustainability movement in order to reduce global warming!

¹ JIT is - Just (i.e. exactly) what's needed, - Just (i.e. exactly) when it is needed, - Just (i.e. exactly) how & how much amount is needed! JIT approach to work provides unending OFI's or Kaizens as done by many companies the world over.

Hoarders Of Filthy Hoardings

Recently, once again, the Honorable Mumbai High Court pushed Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) to remove hoardings.

Contempt of such court orders has been shamelessly going on for past so many years. Both the BMC as well as so-called 'leaders' creatively ignore court orders.

Now a days even school going children appear on the hoardings. The day is not far when family tree of a few generations appear on the hoardings alongwith 'sonography' pictures of their 'expected' children as well.

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, every human being has a mental need to get recognised.

In case of Hoarders-of-filth it has become a mental disease. For such people such a need seems to have become a desire ('want') since they don't have anything that public will willingly recognise. Perhaps that's why they put hoardings of their birthdays, publicity of work that they have not done, and for many more in-explainably creative reasons. They don't even bother that apart from defacing the town, at some places such hoardings create blind-spots or distractions prone to accidents as also create fire hazards: Typically 3D: Dirty-Danger-Difficult like situations.

So good that the court has initiated various actions on inaction of local municipalities.

I think in order to make such actions sustainable by making municipalities more accountable they should be asked to create a portal where the public can upload pictures of hoardings. Corresponding municipality should statutorily be made to submit a monthly-return accounting for actions taken against the number of such pictures uploaded. This will be a sort of measure of performance for their accountability.

The actions reported in the Return should go beyond the first-aid that of bringing down such hoardings within say 48 hours of uploading the pictures (by the public). The cost/consequences/punishment to the concerned officials should necessarily be preventive in nature.