Too Many Notes

VeraSage Founder, Ron Baker has often used Snow White and Seven Dwarfs to illustrate the problem of applying efficiency to knowledge work.

“A LEAN six sigma guru would have advised Walt Disney to make Snow White and the Three Dwarfs as it would have improved efficiency by over 50 percent,” he intones.

Recently I was reminded of a scene from the Academy Award winning film Amadeus where the Holy Roman Emperor Jozef Franz (or was it Franz Jozef) criticizes Mozart’s opera for having, “Too many notes.”

Unfortunately, the clip cuts off before Mozart’s brilliant response, “Which few did you have in mind, Majesty?”

Knowledge work cannot be LEAN six sigma-ed. Once again, effectiveness trumps efficiency!