A central component of Kanban is to make invisible knowledge work visible. However, you will notice quite often that you very often cannot work, but are blocked. Waiting for the test environment, requirements unclear, or missing customer information are only a small part of blockages that prevent us from continuing to work. These blockages are in most cases not a singular event, but have a systemic cause. In other words, it is very unlikely that a blockage occurs only once in the history of a company. Normally the same blockage occurs again and again. What can one do about it? Jumping out of the window in despair would be a possible approach. Another idea would be to see the blockages for what they are: Treasures of improvements. In this session, we show you how to harvest these treasures and to improve sustainably your working system. In addition, we will present a model that shows with the help of a few simple number games, which blockages need to be removed to achieve the greatest possible leverage.

1. Dr. Klaus Leopold
web: www.LEANability.com
blog: www.klausleopold.com
email: klaus.leopold@LEANability.com
twitter: @klausleopold
Blockades - Treasures of Improvement
Lean Kanban Central Europe Conference, November 2014, Hamburg, DE
Troy Magennis
web: www.focusedobjective.com
blog: www.focusedobjective.com/news
email: troy.magennis@focusedobjective.com
twitter: @t_magennis

2. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
(3)
ANALYZE
IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE
(2)
DEVELOP
(2)
TEST
(4)
DEV READY
VERIF. UAT
READY 2
DEPLOY
(∞)
??
What could
we do?
—> increase WIP limit in DEV
—-> solve problems

3. @klausleopold, @t_magennis

4. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
BLOCKERS
•
Text and photos
for reservation
page missing
(MyBooking)
DAYS BLOCKED

5. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
INTERNALEXTERNAL
Caused by us
Example: waiting
for review.
Caused by others
Example: waiting
for customer info.

6. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
INTERNALEXTERNAL
customer
clarification
others
test env.
not ready
no time for
review
others
131 days
47 days
23 days
12 days
waiting for
backend
87
days
7
days

7. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
INTERNALEXTERNAL
others
test env.
not ready
no time for
review
others
47 days
23 days
12 days
waiting for
backend
87
days
7
days
content
missing other
clarifications
109 days
22 days

8. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
test env.
not ready
47 days
waiting for
backend
87
days
content
missing
109 days
FOR EACH CLUSTER
1. Understand the problem
- I love asking WHY - it
performs miracles!
2. Find solutions
- What can YOU do?
It’s usually NEVER a lack of solutions.
The problem is implementing solutions
without understanding the problem and
without understanding the impact!

9. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
content
missing
109 days
?- WHY is content missing?
!- The customers don’t send it.
?- WHY don’t they send it?
!- Often they don’t know what we need.
?- WHY don’t they know what we need?!- We don’t tell them always.
—> Maybe it’d be smart to tell them ALWAYS…
1. UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
2. FIND A SOLUTION
Add an item to the Definition of Done checklist in
the Analysis step:
—> INFORM CUSTOMER ABOUT CONTENT DELIVERIES

10. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
test env.
not ready
47 days
waiting for
backend
87
days
content
missing
109 days
WHICH SOLUTION
SHOULD WE
IMPLEMENT?
repeat this for all
blocker clusters!

11. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
HEURISTIC FORBLOCKER REMOVAL
2. THOSE THAT BLOCK
A CONSTRAINED SKILL
OR PROCESS FRIST!
hard to solve
moderate
easy to solve
lowmediumhigh
3
1 2
4
5 6
7
8
9
SOLVABILITY
qualitatively
assigned
time blocked
1. If it costs more to fix a blocker
than it costs in delay, then it
SHOULD NOT be fixed
3.

12. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
test env.
not ready
47 days
waiting for
backend
87
days
content
missing
109 days
hard to solve
moderate
easy to solve
lowmediumhigh
3
1 2
4
5 6
7
8
9
time blocked

13. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
Defects

14. (3)
ANALYZE
IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE
(2)
DEVELOP
(2)
TEST
(4)
DEV READY
VERIF. ACC.
READY 2
DEPLOY
(∞)
defect!
@klausleopold, @t_magennis

15. (3)
ANALYZE
IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE
(2)
DEVELOP
(2)
TEST
(4)
DEV READY
VERIF. ACC.
READY 2
DEPLOY
(∞)
@klausleopold, @t_magennis
DON’T ALLOW
RETURN TRAFFIC!

16. defect fixing is no new work!
your work item is still WIP
you only uncovered a problem
(3)
ANALYZE
IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE
(2)
DEVELOP
(2)
TEST
(4)
DEV READY
VERIF. ACC.
READY 2
DEPLOY
(∞)
@klausleopold, @t_magennis
YOU WIN THE
OPPORTUNITY TO
IMPROVE YOUR SYSTEM!!

17. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
BLOCKERS

18. ?- WHY are we blocked by UAT?
!- Customers are not satisfied with what wedeliver.
?- WHY aren’t they satisfied?
!- There’s a mismatch on what they want andwhat we deliver.
?- WHY is this mismatch?
!- …
1. UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
2. FIND A SOLUTION
-After analysis we’re doing a review of the
requirements with the customer, developers and
testers.
UAT not
passed
92 days

19. ?- WHY are we blocked by UAT?
!- Customers are not satisfied with what wedeliver.
?- WHY aren’t they satisfied?
!- There’s a mismatch on what they want andwhat we deliver.
?- WHY is this mismatch?
!- …
1. UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
2. FIND A SOLUTION
-After analysis we’re doing a review of the
requirements with the customer, developers and
testers.
UAT not
passed
92 days
Do we want to
implement this
solution??

20. ECONOMIC SIMULATION

21. download it for free: www.focusobjective.com

22. <forecastDate startDate="01-Nov-2014" targetDate="01-Jan-2015"
costPerDay="1.000€"
revenue="5.000€" revenueUnit="week" />
Completes Days Staff Cost
Cost of
Delay
Days
Late
Baseline 20.Feb.15 79 € 79,000 € 35,714 50
Halved 13.Feb.15 74 € 74,000 € 30,714 43
Eliminated 30.Jän.15 64 € 64,000 € 20,714 29
ECONOMICS

23. Total Saving Total Cost
Baseline € - € 114,714
Halved € 10,000 € 104,714
Eliminated € 30,000 € 84,714
€ 0
€ 5.000
€ 10.000
€ 15.000
€ 20.000
€ 25.000
€ 30.000
Baseline Halved Eliminated
X
X
X

24. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
WHAT ELSE COULDYOU LEARN FROM?
support
requests
production
defects
process
violations
depen-
dencies
outliers
in lead
times
everything
“abnormal”

25. @klausleopold, @t_magennis
BLOCKER CLUSTER WRAP-UP
- Blockers are opportunities for
improvements!
- Don’t only solve single blockers,
work on the root-cause(s)
- Prioritize which ones you fix.
- Make financial arguments.
- Complex systems are difficult to
predict. Simulation helps.

26. www.kanbaninit.com
to appear in EN in Feb. 2015
Troy Magennis
web: www.focusedobjective.com
blog: www.focusedobjective.com/news
email: troy.magennis@focusedobjective.com
twitter: @t_magennis
Dr. Klaus Leopold
web: www.LEANability.com
blog: www.klausleopold.com
email: klaus.leopold@LEANability.com
twitter: @klausleopold
www.focusedobjective.com