Key Note - Lean Kanban France 2013 - Kanban Evolutionary Management

Kanban
and Evolutionary Management

Presenter:
David J. Anderson
Lean Kanban France
Paris
October 2013
Release 1.0

dja@leankanban.com @lkuceo

Lessons we
can learn
from Bruce
Lee’s
journey in
martial arts

The End of Methodology


Is Kanban heralding in a new era?
It’s the end of methodology!*

Reflective Improvement
Frameworks** are the
future!

Alistair Cockburn

Kanban is such a Reflective
Improvement Framework

* http://alistair.cockburn.us/The+end+of+methodology
** Cockburn’s suggested name for this new class of methods

A methodology defines behavior
• A software engineering methodology is a
description of techniques
– what to do
– how to do it
– When to do it - sequences or workflows
– Who does what - definition of roles and
responsibilities

• Ideally, a methodology should tell us why and
give us a context to define its appropriateness

Many styles of software engineering
emerged over several decades
• Some just personal preferences
in style (e.g. PSP versus XP), but
others for specific contexts or risk
profiles (e.g. the many risk
profiles captured in a 2dimensional grid in Cockburn's
Crystal methods).
• Some styles came in schools or
movements - such as the Agile
movement
• While others came as large
frameworks such as Rational
Unified Process designed to be
tailored to a context


Motivation for the Kanban Method


The Kanban Method was born out of
frustration with these many styles
In 2002, I was questioning whether
the specific methodology really
made that much difference
The question wasn't whether a
methodology worked or
not, or whether
appropriateness of context had
been assessed correctly or not,
the problem was organizations
were being seduced into pursuing
changes that were too large and too
ambitious. These change initiatives
were beyond their capability and
maturity to manage them

Managing change has greater leverage
than picking the right methodology
I came to the conclusion (circa 2002) that the important
issue in creative knowledge work wasn't the selection of the
right methodology

Instead the bigger challenge with the greater
leverage on outcome was learning to
manage change in the organization

Traditional Change is an A to B process
Designed
Current
Process

Defined
transition

Future
Process

• A is where you are now. B is a destination.
– B is either defined (from a methodology definition)
– or designed (by tailoring a framework or using a model
based approach such as VSM* or TOC TP**)

• To get from A to B, a change agency*** will guide a
transition initiative to install B into the organization
* Value stream mapping, ** Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes
***either an internal process group or external consultants

Change initiatives fail (even) more often
than projects
Change initiatives
often fail (aborted)
or produce lack
luster results
They fail to
institutionalize
resulting in
regression back to
old behavior

Daniel Kahneman has given us a simple
model for how we process information
Learning from
theory

Learning by
Experience

SLOW

FAST
But slow to learn
System 1
Sensory Perception
Pattern Matching

But fast to learn

Daniel Kahneman

System 2
Logical Inference
Engine

How we process change…
I logically evaluate
change using System 2
I adapt quickly

I feel change emotionally
using System 1
Silicon-based
life form

I adapt slowly
Daniel Kahneman


Carbon-based
life form

Changing methodologies challenges
people psychology & sociologically
• New roles (defined in a methodology) attack their identity
• New responsibilities using new techniques & practices
threaten their self-esteem and put their social status at
risk
• Most people resist most change because individually they
have more to lose than to gain
• It is safer to be conservative and stick to current practices
and avoid shaking up the current social hierarchy
• Only the brave, the reckless or the desperate will pursue
grand changes

The Kanban Method…
• Rejects the traditional
approach to change
• Believes, it is better to avoid
resistance than to push
harder against it – Don’t
install a new methodology
• Is designed for carbonbased life forms Evolutionary change that is
humane

The Kanban Method…
• Catalyzes improvement
through use of kanban
systems and visual boards*
• Takes its name from the use
of kanban but it is just a
name
• Anyone who thinks Kanban
is just about kanban (boards
& systems) is truly mistaken
*also known as "kanban" in Chinese and in Japanese when written with Chinese characters

The Kanban Method is a new approach
to improvement

Kanban is a
method
without methodology

Bruce Lee’s Journey in Martial Arts


Bruce Lee rejected traditional teaching
and styles of Chinese martial arts
• There are some parallels
in the story of Bruce Lee
and the emergence of his
approach to Kung Fu
• Lee rejected the idea of
following a particular style
of Chinese Martial Arts


Kung Fu Panda simplified the art to only
four styles
Mantis
Snake

Tiger

Monkey

There are in fact very many styles…


“Dry land swimming” provides a false
sense of capability

• The only way to learn is to train with a live opponent
• Lee rejected the many styles of martial arts for various
reasons, mainly that they gave the practitioners a false sense
of capability, putting them at risk in real combat situations
• He was against Kata (learning patterns without an opponent)
and described them in derogatory terms such as "dry land
swimming.“

Lee wanted to start from first principles
and core concepts
Four ranges of combat
•
•
•
•

Kicking
Punching
Trapping
Grappling

Five* Ways of Attack***
• Single Direct Attack (SDA)
• Attack By Combination (ABC)
• Progressive Indirect Attack
(PIA)
• (Hand) Immobilization Attack
(HIA)
• Attack by Drawing (ABD)
• Single Angle Attack (SAA)

*Apparently still called the Five Ways, there are actually now six **with the later inclusion of SAA
**The fact that The Five Ways has six elements is evidence of evolution in action
***Incorporated core ideas such as "center line" and single fluid motion from Wing Chun and parrying from Epee Fencing****
****Not a Chinese Martial Art and hence evidence of "no limitation as limitation"


Lee’s approach still needed a name
• He named his approach
Jeet Kune Do - the way of the
intercepting fist - after one of
the practices taught in his
method
• He was quick to point out that
it was just a name, a way of
communicating a set of ideas.
He was passionate that
practitioners shouldn't get
hung up on the name or the
inclusion of any one move or
action.

Jeet Kune Do

Having no
limitation as
limitation

Using no
way as way

Jeet Kune Do encourages development
of a uniquely personal style

"absorb that which is
useful“
discard the remainder

• a framework from
which to pick &
develop a personal
style
• an evolutionary
approach where
adoption of
maneuvers is
learned & reinforced
by training with an
opponent
• Nothing was sacred

Training with an opponent provides the
core feedback loop to drive adaptation
Lee pursued ever
more elaborate
approaches to
protected real
combat training
to enable the
closed loop
learning that was
core to the
evolutionary
nature of JKD

Kata are not adaptive

In comparison with JKD, patterned styles of martial
arts taught with "kata" were open loop and not
adaptive. There is no learning from practicing kata


Water flows around the rock
“be like water”

the rock represents resistance

The Kanban Method


Kanban should be like water*
In change
management,
resistance is from the
people involved
and it is always
emotional (system 1)
To flow around the
rock, we must learn
how to avoid
emotional resistance
* http://joecampbell.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/be-like-water/

Principles of the Kanban Method
• Start with what you do now
• Agree to pursue evolutionary change
• Initially, respect roles, responsibilities and job
titles
• Encourage acts of leadership at all levels
The first 3 principles were specifically chosen to
address System 1 objections, to flow around the
rock of emotional resistance in humans

Kanban’s Core Enabling Concepts
Kanban is based on some simple concepts for
managing work
• service-orientation
• service delivery involves workflow
• and work flows through a series of information
discovery activities

Kanban would be less applicable if a serviceorientated view of work were difficult to conceive
or the work was without a definable workflow

6 Practices Enable Process Evolution
The Kanban Method
Visualize
Limit Work-in-progress
Manage Flow
Make Policies Explicit
Implement Feedback Loops
Improve Collaboratively, Evolve Experimentally
(using models & the scientific method)


Start with what you do now
• The Kanban Method evolved with the principle
that it “should be like water” - enable change
while avoiding sources of resistance
• With Kanban you start with what you do now,
and "kanbanize" it, catalyzing the evolutionary
process into action. Changes to processes in use
will occur
• Evaluating whether a change is truly an
improvement is done using fitness criteria that
evaluate an external outcome

Fitness Criteria


Fitness criteria are metrics that measure
observable external outcomes
• Fitness criteria are metrics that
measure things customers or
other external stakeholders value
–
–
–
–

Delivery time
Quality
Predictability
Safety (conformance to regulatory
requirements)

• or metrics that value actual
outcomes such as
– customer satisfaction
– employee satisfaction


Net Promoter Score is a Fitness Evaluator but
is it the only metric we need?
• Steve Denning has proposed
that Net Promoter Score
(NPS) is the only metric that
business should care about
• NPS is interesting because
it is a fitness evaluator. It
Steve Denning
will indicate whether a business (or product) is
likely to survive & thrive
• But is it the only metric we need?

Net Promoter Score is a way of
evaluating customer satisfaction

• In a general sense and at an abstract level NPS tells us whether customers
like what we offer but we cannot know what they truly care about
• For the abstract problem of, “Can we measure customer satisfaction?”
NPV is a reasonably good measure, if used properly


The problem with Net Promoter Score is
that it doesn’t tell you what to do!
• Net Promoter Score (if used properly) will tell you
whether your product or service is likely to
continue selling
• However, it doesn’t give you any clues about
what to do or how to improve
• If NPS is your only metric you’re left to randomly
experiment to generate a higher score
• Like biological evolution, random mutation is
expensive, takes a long time & involves luck

Can we be smarter by using better
fitness criteria than NPS?
• If we have a service-oriented view of the
world, and want to evaluate service delivery
then we already know what customers care
about
– Lead time
– Quality
– Predictability
– Safety (or conformance to regulatory reqs)


If we order a pizza we know what we
care about…
• Fast delivery
– lead time from order to
delivery

• Accuracy and quality
– Pepperoni not Hawaiian
– Still warm on delivery

• Predictable Delivery
– If they say “ready in 30
minutes”, we want delivery in
25-35 minutes

If we need a medical procedure…
• Short waiting time
– Queuing time from diagnosis to procedure

• Short procedure & recovery time
– Fast procedure, fast recovery time, implies minimally
invasive surgery and use of technology to reduce the craft
input and eliminate variability

• Predictability of schedule & outcome
– Procedure should proceed as scheduled
– Outcome should have high probability of success

• Safe
– Low risk of complications
– Regulatory health & safety procedures followed

Don’t believe what people say. Observe
what they do!
• Behavioral economics tells us it is better to
observe what people do and derive models
from actual behavior
• Pragmatic philosophy in action!
• NPS would be a stronger metric if it asked,
“Did you recommend this product/service to a
friend or colleague?” than “How likely are you
to […] on a scale of 0 to 10?”

Validate Fitness Criteria with real
customers
• It is necessary to keep checking that the
fitness criteria we are measuring do indeed
matter to customers.
• Variation in what matters provide the
opportunity to segment demand and offer
different classes of service within your kanban
system
• Will you pay extra to have your pizza delivered
faster?

Business Risks, Fitness Criteria & Classes
of Service should all align
• If your kanban system is designed properly the
classes of service you are offering should align
with the true business risks in the domain
• And the metrics being used to evaluate system
capability, should be fitness criteria that are
derived from the business risk being managed
• For example, cost of delay requires us to
measure lead time

Enabling Evolutionary Management


Institutionalize feedback systems to
enable evolutionary change
Operations
Review
System
Capability
Review

manager to subordinate(s)
(both 1-1 and 1-team)


Standup
Meeting

Business risks, fitness criteria & classes
of service should be transparent
Operations
Review

Lead time
Quality
Predictability

System
Capability
Review

manager to subordinate(s)
(both 1-1 and 1-team)


Use the fitness criteria
at all 3 levels of
feedback
Lead time
Quality
Predictability

Lead time
Quality
Predictability

Standup
Meeting

Other metrics should only be used as
input to models to drive improvement
• Flow efficiency will help us identify wasteful
delay
• Time blocked and blocker clustering will help
identify wasteful delay from specific
assignable causes such as vendor dependency
• Metrics like this help us focus improvement
initiatives to improve the fitness criteria
results – e.g. removing delay improves lead
time

Know why you are using a metric!
• Is your metric a fitness criteria that assesses
system capability and indicates fitness for
purpose and likelihood of surviving and
thriving by satisfying customers?
• Or, is your metric evaluating and guiding a
specific change to improve fitness of the
system?
• If neither, you don’t need it!

Adaptive capability enables sustainable
competitiveness
• Kanban installs an adaptive capability in the
organization
– the style of working - the methodology - emerges
and evolves, adapting gracefully to changes in
business conditions, risks and uncertainties

• Such an adaptive capability makes the
organization robust and resilient and enables
the possibility of continued sustainable long
term competitiveness

Comparing
Kanban with Jeet Kune Do


Kanban is not “Jeet Kune Do” for
software development or IT operations

Center line


• JKD contains a martial art
framework. It contains a core
set of principles based on an
underlying theory of fighting
and vulnerability of the human
body: concepts such as "center
line" from Wing Chun, for
example.

Kanban does offer us a framework for
service-delivery management
• Kanban is really a management method. It directly
addresses service delivery and (evolutionary) change
management
• It creates a mechanism for framing operational
decisions such as
– Risk (or Value) trumps Flow, Flow trumps Waste
Elimination
– Use of pull systems and the consequent concept of
deferred commitment (real option theory)

• Kanban does not contain a framework of concepts for
doing any specific types of work. There are no
techniques for developing software or performing any
other type of creative knowledge work.

Kanban may be analogous to JKD for
Service Delivery Management
• Kanban provides a management framework for
evolving uniquely tailored workflows for
improved service delivery
• Kanban embraces the idea of “using no way as
way” – evolving your own style of service delivery
• Kanban embraces the idea of “no limitation as
limitation” by encouraging the use of models
from many domains to improve workflows and
service-delivery

More Evolutionary Management


The Kanban Method makes a business
fitter for purpose
• The Kanban Method enables a business to
improve its service delivery so that it is fitter
for purpose and more likely to survive & thrive
• The Kanban Method enables an adaptive
capability within the organization so that it
can adapt to changing demands and other
risks in the external environment


Lean Startup is another evolutionary
approach

Build-Measure-Learn
Cycle


• Lean Startup focuses on
validating assumptions about
the fitness for purpose of a
product or service offering
• It does this by “engaging the
enemy” directly using
techniques to create “safe-tofail” experiments
• For example, “Fake a Feature”

Lean Startup makes a product or service
fitter for purpose
• By use of techniques that validate
assumptions early and quickly, Lean Startup
enables a product or service offering to evolve
quickly
• In doing so the product or service becomes
fitter for purpose and is more likely to survive
and thrive


Like Kanban, Lean Startup is a Pragmatic
approach
• Lean Startup suggests that you don’t
speculate about the future behavior of
people, rather you set up experimental
situations and observe what they actually do
• In this respect, Lean Startup is like behavioral
economics applied to product or service
design
• Like Lee’s philosophy in JKD, it engages the
opponent (uncertainty) directly

Businesses need to do both – be
adaptable and adapt their products
• Adaptive capability enables a business to
insure it is doing things right and continuing to
do them well in the face of a changing
external environment
• Adaptive product or service design enables a
business to insure it is doing the right thing
and continuing to offer the right things to a
fickle and evolving market

Together Kanban & Lean Startup bring
the philosophy of JKD to modern
creative knowledge work industries
• Don’t adopt a methodology or patterned style
• Engage the opponent (uncertainty & risk)
directly in a safe environment
• Learn from fast feedback
• Adapt a unique product, service or method of
service delivery that is fitter-for-purpose

Conclusion


The future of creative knowledge work
should be inspired by Bruce Lee & JKD
• Our opponents are uncertainty &
risk. Engage directly. Visualize &
make them explicit
• Teach beginners to set up safe-tofail, learning environments at the
individual, workflow & business unit
levels
• Evolutionary methods are required
to help us manage in complex
Trainenvironments
with live opponents
• If humans are involved the
No kata
environment is complex
No "dry land swimming“
• Fitness-for-purpose & sustainability
come from developing strong
adaptive capability

Thank you!

About

David Anderson is a thought
leader in managing creative
knowledge workers. He leads a
consulting, training, publishing
and event planning business
dedicated to developing,
promoting and implementing
sustainable evolutionary
approaches for management in
21st Century industries.
He has 30 years experience in the high technology industry
starting with computer games in the early 1980’s. He has
led software teams delivering superior productivity and
quality using innovative methods at large companies such
as Sprint and Motorola.
David is the pioneer of the Kanban Method an evolutionary
approach to change and improved service delivery &
business agility. His latest book is, Lessons in Agile
Management – On the Road to Kanban.

David is a founder of the Lean Kanban University, a trade
association dedicated to assuring quality Kanban training
through a worldwide network of accredited trainers and
defined, peer reviewed curriculum.

Acknowledgements
Joe Campbell first blogged about the similarity in philosophy
between the Kanban Method and the teachings of Bruce Lee. He coined
the phrase “Kanban should be like water”.
This presentation was inspired by Alistair Cockburn’s blog post “The
End of Methodology”. My approach to change was influenced by an
observation from Peter Senge, “People do not resist change, they
resist being changed!” “Safe-to-fail Experiment” is a term used by
Dave Snowden in his Cynefin framework. Steve Denning proposed NPS
as the only metric a business needs in his book, Radical Management.

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