One of the largest wastes of time, energy and money that I frequently observe is the up front analysis. Don't get me wrong, analysis needs to be done. We need to know where we've been and where we are in order to develop a successful roadmap to where we need to be. However, I believe that way too much is put into approaching this, as if the client and the employees of the client don't already know what's wrong. They may not be aware down to the finite details, but believe me, everyone has a fairly good idea. I find that data mining, fact checking, review of P&Ls etc., can all be taken as a parallel or even secondary action. The first and foremost approach is to talk to the people doing the job. Really talk to them.....and listen. Most often, everyone already knows what's wrong, or has a general idea. They are simply frustrated because they don't have the resources to deal with it. That can be budgetary, manpower or equipment related etc. In an operational environment, resources are hard to come by and improving a process or eliminating waste can seem like an impossible task. This results in an external resource being brought on board where weeks of time and thousands of dollars can be wasted arriving at a conclusion that was already somewhat apparent - at least to those already in the mix and working the process on a daily basis. Processes can be optimized and results achieved much more quickly by working directly with the employees doing the jobs, the folks on the frontline. This also achieves direct buy-in and long term success because the people who own the process had a direct role in defining the necessary improvements.