5 Arguments Against Kanban

ARGUMENTS against KANBAN@NickOostvogels

Kanban is on the riseSource : VersionOne - State of Agile Survey 2011

When introducing new ideas…http://www.flickr.com/photos/smannion/3385144016/

People compare it to what they knowhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/4815422633/

… and start to criticizehttp://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 Industryhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/scania/2869199313/

In Software Development Change Management approach that employs a WIP limited pull systemhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/adelcambre/2768856149/

1. Start with what you now2. Agree to pursue incremental, evolutionary change3. Initially, respect current roles, responsibilities & job titles Source : limitedwipsociety.org

then adopt the core practices1. Visualize2. Limit Work In Progress3. Manage Flow4. Make Process Policies Explicit5. Improve Collaboratively Source : limitedwipsociety.org

For me …Kanban is a wayto change your process into onethat focuses on end to end valueand getting stuff delivered.

And that’s hard to sell !

Available soon on

5 tough questions1. We lose our ability to plan2. It will take longer3. Things will get stuck4. Stakeholders don’t care about feeding the flow5. We will lose team cohesion

we loseourabilityto plan http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/

Noestimates?http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

Customers

Managing people http://www.flickr.com/photos/lambdachialpha/3795728748/

Release planning Translation intoInitial requirementsspecs Estimation Review Release estimations Plan

Issues• Not a repeatable process• Never built something alike• (educated) GUESSING• Software dev = Creative process

Kanban : measuring

Different sizes ???http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaydedman/2593673396/

Use a scale compare

Keep features small

Why sizing? http://www.flickr.com/photos/lawdeda/4094259672/

Planning withmeasurements

Reduce variation 1. Reliable planning 2. Fast response 3. Stabilize the process 4. Base for continuous improvement

Small releasesKanban != continuous deployment

Small releasesKanban can lead to continuous deployment

Won’t this annoy our users?http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

Small releasesNO, because…• Updates will be smaller• Risk for bugs is lower+ Releasing early creates asense of urgency

options for Re-planning1. Reprioritize the input queue2. Cadence3. Pull a planning meeting

it willtakelonger http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/

Nodeadlines?http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

Parkinson’slaw“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 KanbanManaging by measuring

Healthy balance in KanbanHelping to improveinstead of command & control

Theory ofConstraints for process improvement http://www.flickr.com/photos/96dpi/3371440496/

the weakest chain determines the rate of the entire system

the WIP Limits will let you feel the TOC and do something about it

Flow • Only work on customer orders • Reduce guessing to avoid waste • Limit WIP to reduce inventory, cost & riskhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/23945877@N05/2623633694/

WIP limits createa pull system

Isn’t this inefficient?http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

NO, it reduces risk & waste!Not pulling = risk of No WIP Limits = starting something cost of waiting + that doesn’t match risk of getting expectations obsolete

Things willget stuck,we can’tkeep WIPlimits! http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/

“Our testers can never keepup the pace of ourdevelopers.Developers would be idle forhalf of the time!”

Remember:Kanban doesn’t focus onmaximizing utilization ofpeople

End to end flow efficiencyhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/serdar/125457544/

WIP limits will always cause bottlenecksThat’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

Collaboration

Stakeholdersdon’t careabout feedingthe flow http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/

Prioritization doesn’t have tobe on task level

Clear rules makeprioritization 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 Investmenthttp://www.flickr.com/photos/59937401@N07/5929491095/

Stakeholder collaboration

focus on economic decisions instead of fighting for capacityhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/jpeepz/6236688/

Expectationmanagement

we willloseteam cohesion http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/

Won’t the team turn into factory workers?http://www.flickr.com/photos/psit/5207166416/

WIP limits lead tocross-boundarycommunication

Good teams have acommon goal http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicshed/161716498/

Vertical organizedcompanies lead to teamswith conflicting goalsThat’s why cross-departmental functionswere created

in Kanban, everybody contributes to the end 2 end processhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/saamiam/4203685689/

this is a powerful changemanagement approach• no theoretical frameworks• no new job descriptions• only some basic rules

What about creative thinking?http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

The focus on improvingflow stimulates creativity• Team will start to investigate• Limit back-cycles• Lead & Cycle time measuring stimulates close collaboration

Will it cause a death march?http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

Measurements are used tounderstand reality& have a base for improvement http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnavy/6083504722/

Not pushing to go faster but improving end 2 endhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/rwp-roger/3854246685/

Now you have a response!1. We lose our ability to plan2. It will take longer3. Things will get stuck4. Stakeholders don’t care about feeding the flow5. We will lose team cohesion

Thanks!@NickOostvogelswww.SkyCoach.be

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5 Arguments Against Kanban

by Nick Oostvogels

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