Knowing that you can attack the value stream over and over again is quite comforting to many people. Having a picture of the future gives employees a way to “see” the future. And when change happens in small bites, the workforce has time to absorb and understand the change prior to more changes being forced on them. As you start this journey by mapping a value stream, you will face many challenges. To succeed, you must be able to convince the employees of the need to change. You must be able to show the workforce what the current state looks like. Employees must be able to see and understand the current world in which they live. The future state provides the vision for what the process can and should look like. It provides the blueprint for change. And if a longer-term vision is necessary, you can create an Ideal State Map. This ideal state is the ultimate, no-limits vision of the future. But you must remember: this is only the beginning. Value Stream Mapping is not a “one and done” tool used at the beginning of the journey, never to be repeated. Value Stream Mapping, just like so many other continuous