I realize that I'm not doing well on personal inventory management when I'm sending out Mothers Day cards with Christmas stamps! At least that's just a few bucks worth of inventory the drawer. I don't send “snail mail” much anymore, at least with online bill payment. I guess that's lean, as long as I dont' repeat this mistake.
Whenever I have to mail a package, though, thank goodness for the USPS online shipping website. I can pay and print my postage label at home, which helps avoid the huge queue at the physical Post Office. I could avoid keeping stamp inventory altogether by using an “e-Stamp” service like my dad does, but again I don't mail much.
What good or bad inventory practices do you have in your own home? Here's a reminder about our “Everyday Lean” contest that continues through the end of the month.
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Mark's new book is The Mistakes That Make Us: Cultivating a Culture of Learning and Innovation.
He is also the author of Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More, the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, and the anthology Practicing Lean.
Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus.