Lean Thinking and What it Means to the Agile Mindset
Long before the Agile revolution for software development began, industry had learned that efficient production of goods required intense attention to quality, teamwork, and continuous improvement. These themes of Lean Manufacturing (which was further refined into the Toyota Production System) were never part of the original formulation of the Agile Manifesto, and are rarely mentioned as part of the traditional Agile/Scrum recipe for teams transforming to the new “Agile” mindset. The reality is that the traditional Agile/Scrum recipe is actually a “dumbed down” version of the Toyota Production System, and makes it easier for organisations to grasp and start from. However, if organisations really want to achieve the goal of producing the software they need in a fashion that leads to High Performance Teams and Sustainable Engineering, they will need to understand the principles of Lean so they can incorporate them into their unique process. This session teaches the basics of Lean, and demonstrates how they apply to Agile development.
