5 arguments against kanban
DESCRIPTION
While Kanban is gaining more and more traction in the tech industry, we start to experience the same challenges as when the popularity of Agile started to rise. People get interested and ask "What is this Kanban thing I see popping up everywhere?". As soon as they learn the basics about it, the human brain does what it always does when processing information. It compares to what it already knows. This is where we lose our ability to learn something without prejudice. We come up with arguments why these new idea are not as good as the ones we are used to. In this presentation, I will cover 5 of the most common arguments against Kanban and explain why they are flawed, by exploring Kanban in depth. You will learn how to respond to these questions and get a more profound knowledge on the foundations of Kanban.TRANSCRIPT
ARGUMENTS
against
@NickOostvogels
KANBAN
Kanban is on the rise
Source : VersionOne - State of Agile Survey 2011
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smannion/3385144016/
When introducing
new ideas…
People compare it
to what they know
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/4815422633/
… and
start to
criticize
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-g-uk/3913466332/
Kanban is hard to
explain
briefly
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalmums/6310508350/
That’s normal
• Kanban is a change
management approach,
not a process
• Less prescriptive
• It’s roots go all the way back to
lean thinking
What is Kanban?
In Industry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scania/2869199313/
In Software Development
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adelcambre/2768856149/
Change Management
approach
that employs a WIP
limited pull system
1. Start with what you now
2. Agree to pursue incremental,
evolutionary change
3. Initially, respect current roles,
responsibilities & job titles
Source : limitedwipsociety.org
1. Visualize
2. Limit Work In Progress
3. Manage Flow
4. Make Process Policies Explicit
5. Improve Collaboratively
Source : limitedwipsociety.org
then adopt the core practices
For me …
Kanban is a way
to change your process into one
that focuses on end to end value
and getting stuff delivered.
And that’s hard to sell !
Available soon on
5 tough questions
1. We lose our ability to plan
2. It will take longer
3. Things will get stuck
4. Stakeholders don’t care
about feeding the flow
5. We will lose team
cohesion
we lose
our
ability
to plan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/
No
estimates?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daren/241192712/
Customers
Managing people
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lambdachialpha/3795728748/
Release planning
Initial
specs
Translation into
requirements
Estimation
Review
estimations Release
Plan
Issues
• Not a repeatable process
• Never built something alike
• (educated) GUESSING
• Software dev = Creative
process
Kanban : measuring
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaydedman/2593673396/
Different
sizes ???
Use a scale
compare
Keep features small
Why sizing?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lawdeda/4094259672/
Planning with
measurements
Reduce variation
1. Reliable planning
2. Fast response
3. Stabilize the process
4. Base for continuous
improvement
Small releases
Kanban != continuous deployment
Small releases
Kanban can lead to continuous
deployment
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/
Won’t this
annoy
our users?
Small releases
NO, because…
• Updates will be smaller
• Risk for bugs is lower
+ Releasing early creates a
sense of urgency
options for Re-planning
1. Reprioritize the input queue
2. Cadence
3. Pull a planning meeting
it will
take longer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/
No
deadlines?
Parkinson’s
law
“The amount of time which one has
to perform a task …
… is the amount of time it will take
to complete the task.”
Management by cost
Healthy balance in
Kanban
Managing by measuring
Healthy balance in
Kanban
Helping to improve
instead of command & control
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96dpi/3371440496/
Theory of
Constraints
for process
improvement
the weakest chain determines
the rate of the entire system
the WIP Limits will let you feel the TOC and do something about it
• Only work on customer orders
• Reduce guessing to avoid
waste
• Limit WIP to reduce inventory,
cost & risk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23945877@N05/2623633694/
Flow
WIP limits create
a pull system
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/
Isn’t this
inefficient?
NO, it reduces risk & waste!
Not pulling = risk of starting something that doesn’t match expectations
No WIP Limits = cost of waiting + risk of getting obsolete
Things will
get stuck,
we can’t
keep WIP limits!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/
“Our testers can never keep
up the pace of our
developers.
Developers would be idle for
half of the time!”
Remember:
Kanban doesn’t focus on
maximizing utilization of
people
End to end flow efficiency
http://www.flickr.com/photos/serdar/125457544/
WIP limits will always
cause bottlenecks
That’s a good thing!
It drives continuous improvement towards end to end efficiency
Being idle due to uneven flow distribution drives people crazy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annayanev/3491617954/
Ex. 1 - Requirements
Ex. 2 - Defects
Ex. 3 - Deployment
Ex. 4 - Emergencies
Ex. 4 - Emergencies
Collaboration
Stakeholders
don’t care
about feeding
the flow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/
Prioritization doesn’t have to
be on task level
Clear rules make
prioritization easier
• What is the type of feature? (new,
bug, enhancement, ...)
• What is the business value?
• What is the cost of delay and which
type?
• Any dependencies on other
features?
• …
it forces stakeholders to do
their homework!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cayusa/2194119780/
building an MVP
Stakeholders care about Return on Investment
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59937401@N07/5929491095/
Stakeholder collaboration
focus on economic decisions
instead of fighting for capacity
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpeepz/6236688/
Expectation
management
we will
lose
team cohesion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psit/5207166416/
Won’t the team turn into
factory workers?
WIP limits lead to
cross-boundary
communication
Good teams have a
common goal
http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicshed/161716498/
Vertical organized
companies lead to teams
with conflicting goals
That’s why cross-
departmental functions
were created
in Kanban, everybody
contributes to the
end 2 end process http://www.flickr.com/photos/saamiam/4203685689/
this is a powerful change
management approach
• no theoretical frameworks
• no new job descriptions
• only some basic rules
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/
What about
creative
thinking?
The focus on improving
flow stimulates creativity
• Team will start to investigate
• Limit back-cycles
• Lead & Cycle time measuring
stimulates close collaboration
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/
Will it
cause a
death march?
Measurements are used to
understand reality
& have a base for improvement
http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnavy/6083504722/
Not pushing to go faster
but improving end 2 end
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwp-roger/3854246685/
Now you have a response!
1. We lose our ability to plan
2. It will take longer
3. Things will get stuck
4. Stakeholders don’t care
about feeding the flow
5. We will lose team cohesion
Thanks!
@NickOostvogels
www.SkyCoach.be