When the pressure is on with change, interest rates, energy costs, economic down turns, the easy things, the squeaky wheel is what gets attention.

The real issue ... what's not squeeking is where the money can be saved.

We can see garbage, excess packaging, stock on the shelves and in the warehouse but the real waste in business is invisible, and largely ignored.

At the first sign of a down turn the easy solution is to put people off, instead, managers should focus on getting a better handle on their cross functional or business processes and allowing their own staff to identify waste or non-value adding activities that can and should be eliminated. By removing waste as opposed to cost will mean that the business is not being damaged in any way and will, in fact, be in a better position to serve its customers in the market upturn.

Being productive is more about effectiveness than efficiency. You can be doing all the wrong things in the most timely and efficient manner and in the process causing your business to go down the proverbial drain.

The invisible cancerous waste that eats away at business is harder to find but when owners discover the outcome of cutting out that waste, the business changes, staff become more involved in decision making that is meaningful and effective, they feel valued and in many cases challenge each other to find waste.

Discovering and reducing waste is about making positive change and you can actually share with your staff money saved, which you can't do with money not spent. Which process creates a positive challenge for your business?