One of the clearest mistakes I made early on implementing lean principles was confusing speed with efficiency.
When I was building NerDAI, I became almost obsessed with eliminating anything that looked like "waste." Meetings were shortened aggressively, documentation was stripped down, and decisions were pushed through as fast as possible. On paper, everything looked leaner. In reality, we created friction we didn't immediately see. Teams were moving quickly, but not always in the same direction, and small misunderstandings kept resurfacing as rework.
The wake-up call came from a client engagement that should have been straightforward. We hit deadlines, but the outcome missed expectations because assumptions hadn't been fully aligned upfront. What I learned the hard way is that lean doesn't mean removing thinking time. It means being intentional about where thinking happens.
If I were approaching that situation today, I'd still apply lean principles, but I'd protect a few "non-negotiable" alignment moments. Short kickoff sessions to clarify success metrics, lightweight documentation that captures decisions, and clear ownership before execution begins. Those steps may look inefficient at first glance, but they prevent far more waste downstream.
From an entrepreneurial perspective, lean is less about doing everything faster and more about reducing regret. The real goal isn't speed for its own sake, it's creating flow without sacrificing clarity. That shift in mindset made lean practices actually sustainable for us and for the clients we work with across different industries.
