Library/Leak 10
Repeated questions and tribal knowledge
People interrupt the owner repeatedly for answers that don't change.
How you know you have it
“What do people interrupt you to ask? What's the question you answer most?”
What kind of leak it is
How to measure it
Annualized the same way everywhere: duration × frequency × people × 52.
Typical range — illustrative
An order of magnitude to prime your eye, not a statistic and not a claim about anyone's result. The only number that matters is the one you measure.
The move — Standardize
Where it lands in a Time P&L
How long a fix takes
What to do about it
Tools that fix this
- T-01Why Me?
For everything that reaches the owner, ask why it had to be that person.
Vest · Exit (open) - T-02Decision Rights Map
Write down who decides what, so decisions stop defaulting upward.
Vest - T-04Responsibility Map (RACI)
For each step of a workflow, name who does it, who owns the result, who is consulted and who is told.
Subtract · Vest - T-06Information Flow Map
Trace where a piece of information is entered, copied, asked for and stored.
Subtract · Automate - T-07Single Source of Truth
Decide the one place each kind of information lives, and make every other copy read from it.
Subtract · Automate - T-08The Toil Test and the Rule of Three
Decide whether a recurring task should be automated, delegated or left alone.
Automate · Vest