Data mesh can be understood as a response to lean wastes identified in data organisations. I paired with Ned Letcher to present this perspective at the LAST Conference 2021, which was much delayed due to COVID restrictions.
Lean wastes including overproduction, inventory, etc, may be concealed and made more difficult to address by centralised data systems and team architectures. Conversely, data mesh may make these wastes visible where they exist and provides mechanisms for reducing these wastes.
The presentation is written up in this article, and the slides are also available.