The Algorithm
Core Protocol
1. Question the requirements
2. Delete the part or process
3. Simplify and optimize
4. Accelerate cycle time
5. Automate
The order matters. Automation comes last because automating a bad process preserves waste at scale.
Step 1: Question Requirements
Every requirement should have an owner and a reason.
Ask:
- Who asked for this?
- What problem does it solve?
- What happens if this requirement disappears?
- Is it based on physics, law, customer reality, or preference?
- Has the requirement become stale?
Rule: treat requirements as recommendations until proven necessary.
Step 2: Delete
The best part is no part. The best process is no process.
Delete:
- Features nobody uses
- Meetings that do not change decisions
- Handoffs that add delay
- Requirements that exist from habit
- Components that solve imaginary edge cases
Heuristic: if you do not need to add back some of what you deleted, you probably did not delete enough.
Step 3: Simplify and Optimize
Only simplify what survived deletion.
Focus:
- Fewer interfaces
- Fewer dependencies
- Shorter path from input to output
- Clearer ownership
- Lower cost, mass, complexity, or latency
Step 4: Accelerate
Speed is a system property.
Accelerate by:
- Reducing batch size
- Running daily constraint reviews for critical work
- Moving decision-makers closer to reality
- Doing independent work in parallel
- Measuring the bottleneck, not average activity
Step 5: Automate
Automate only after the process is necessary, simple, and fast.
Bad automation smell:
complex process + automation = faster complexity
Good automation smell:
necessary simple loop + automation = compounding throughput
Checklist
- Requirement has a real owner/reason
- Non-physical constraints challenged
- Parts/processes deleted before optimized
- Remaining process simplified
- Cycle time improved
- Automation considered last