Library/Leak 14
Waiting on external dependencies
Work paused waiting on something outside the business's own control: a client's response, a vendor's delivery, a third-party approval.
VestSimplifyWaitingC · a quarter
How you know you have it
“What's sitting and waiting on someone outside your business right now? How long does that usually take?”
What kind of leak it is
A time leak — it costs hours
How to measure it
elapsed days blocked, separately from any labor hours spent chasing it
Annualized the same way everywhere: duration × frequency × people × 52.
Typical range — illustrative
the labor cost of chasing is usually small; the elapsed-time cost is the number worth naming
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 — Simplify
Build in a default or fallback, or make someone own proactive follow-up on a schedule.
Where it lands in a Time P&L
Waiting
How long a fix takes
C · a quarter
What to do about it