Most of us have been spared the chore of winding up water from a well. This task can be very tedious if most of the waterleaks from the bucket on the way up. This frustration gave us the word picture of a leaky bucket. Nature is a lot like a leaky bucket or herding cats. Every time we try to corral it into accomplishing a task, it dissipates our effort.
Sometimes our way of looking at a task clouds our vision as to how to measure efficiency. In the simple analysis, the hydraulic cylinders of an excavator efficiently deliver the applied engine horsepower to lifting the dirt out of the trench. Obviously the width of the boom sets the minimum width of trench that you can dig. The inventor of Ditch Witch wondered why you needed to dig a 12 inch wide trench to lay a 2 in diameter pipe. He invented a chain of buckets similar to a chain saw to slice a narrow trench. In my town they are adding in fiber internet using horizontal drilling. In true disrupting the disruptor fashion, efficiency is simply removing the dirt where the pipe goes saving all the restoration and inconvenience of trenching. A light bulb is a much easier to understand efficiency example. Edison was extremely happy that his device generated light. The fact that it was a very leaky bucket changing 90% of the input energy into heat was of little concern at the time. Technology is all about corraling in nature. A 14 watt LED bulb can produce the same light as the original 60 watt incandescent bulb. Engineers notice technology details. The LED street lights that were just installed, no longer shine in my window affecting my sleep. Lean efficiency is all about concentrating the applied energy on the desired task.In this case the LED light is targeted at illuminating the street.
Computers are an even more dramatic example of how technology advance changes efficiency. Most of us have seen room size Univac Computers shrink into credit card size raspberry pi. Unlimited wants apply, we would like Dick Tracy style smart watches with one week battery life. The heroics of open heart surgery will disappear because stent are more effective. The operation was a success but the patient died from complications during the recovery. As we endeavor to support more people on a finite size planet, lean efficiency will be a controlling feature of our lives. We will learn that all losses from our leaking buckets are opportunities to improve.