You add value when you convert raw materials to finished goods. You add value from your knowledge and skill. The opposite is adding waste. Ohno wanted you to just observe and look for waste to eliminate but it is not easy to identify waste.

Ohno didn’t always know where waste was hidden. He often went over to a manager and just asked for the impossible. “You have 10 people in your department. Run it with seven and do it in three months.” He would never tell you how. He just demanded the impossible and left it up to you. He was powerful, ruthless and great and led Toyota to become one of the largest auto manufacturers in the world. Just do what Ohno did and demand the impossible.