This document discusses managing projects and initiatives using lean and agile principles. It advocates for limiting work in progress, visualizing and measuring flow, prioritizing based on cost of delay, making decisions with uncertainty in mind, and focusing on continuous learning over predetermined destinations or best practices. The overall message is that complex domains with human involvement require an adaptive approach focused on transparency, collaboration, and experimentation over rigid plans.

1. One, No One & One Hundred Thousand
Projects
Uno, Nessuno, Centomila
Progetti
Gaetano Mazzanti
@mgaewsj
Agile42

2. “doing, doing.
doing just for the sake of it,
without even seeing
what you are doing,
why you are doing it”
L.Pirandello
“fare, fare. fare per fare,
senza vedere neppure
quello che fate,
perché lo fate”

3. one
no
product/project
project (continuous delivery,
support, maintenance, …)
many
projects/initiatives

4. same(wrong?)questions,
difficult/wrong/no
answers
?!

5. ?!
how much will it
cost

6. ?!
how
long will it take

7. ?!
who
will work on that

8. ?!
what to do
next

9. ?!
what
options do we have

10. ?!
what will be the
value

11. what is the
?!
cost of delay

12. the key question
why
?!

13. should
it all boil down to
economic based
decisions
$$$

14. however…

15. he who yells
the loudest…

16. HIPPO
HIghest Paid Person Opinion

17. AN IMPORTANT
CUSTOMER
EUROPE DEMANDS IT

18. push

19. build
100%
utilization
myth
learn
measure
planning
fallacy

20. the end result is…

21. multitasking

22. queues

23. firefighting

24. failure & frustration

25. so?

26. economic based decisions
a transparent mechanism
for balancing
demand and supply
with a clear
selection mechanism
$$$

27. if you can’t see it
you can’t manage it

28. understand the system
do you really know where you are?
what’s going on?

29. make work visible
source Pawel Brodzinski

30. expose dysfunctions

31. balance
capacity
demand

32. limit WIP

33. WIP limits
out
ab
ions
rsat
nve
co
rce
fo
to…
hat
w
now
on
ork
w
one
stp
po
drop
source David J Anderson

34. service oriented mindset
service delivery
implies flow

35. let work flow
let
work
flow

36. pizza delivery
what matters
to customers
fast delivery
accuracy and
quality
predictability

37. metrics that matter
most
are
end-to-end
functional
here!
no
yes
matter to customers

38. visualize flow
ideas
do
elaborate
A
C
E
D
F
B
validate
delivered

39. visualize flow
ideas
elaborate
do
C
validate
delivered
A
B
E
D
F

40. measure flow
ideas
G
H
I
elaborate
F
do
D
E
validate
delivered
C
A
B

41. flow efficiency
ideas
G
H
elaborate
F
do
D
E
validate
delivered
C
Z Z Z Z Z
I
flow efficiency = touch time / lead time
usually really bad (5%-20%)
i.e. lead time = 10 days, touch time = 2 days
A
B

42. (flawed)flow
Z Z Z Z Z
Z Z Z Z Z
Z Z Z Z Z

43. decision making in
uncertainty
balance:
risk/return
short term/long term
etc.

44. decisions… when?
decisions
risk
knowledge
time

45. keep your options open
pull

46. selection
vs
prioritization

47. selection
?!
what to do next
what to finish next

48. Cost of Delay
Cost of CoD /
Duration
Delay
T
A
B
5
2
3
2
0.6
1
A duration
A
If CoDA/ TA ≤ CoDB / TB
do B first
Delay Cost
A CoD
B
B CoD
B duration

49. Cost of Delay
Cost
CoD /
Duration
of
T
Delay
A duration
A
Delay Cost
A
B
5
2
3
2
B
A CoD
B
0.6
1
B CoD
Delay
Cost
B duration
TA* CoDB = 10
TB* CoDA = 6
A

51. “fine, but what’s in it for me?”

52. what about humans?
we decide collaboratively
we share/show progress
required
we create a safe to fail environment

53. experiment:
measure & learn
build
learn
measure

54. many small steps,
some are discarded
others embraced

55. no known destination
to?
to…
from
to?
to?

56. if humans are involved
the domain is complex
sorry, there are
no
best practices!

57. more in depth…

58. demand analysis
where does work come from?
how is value assigned (and verified) to
initiatives?
is arrival rate predictable? (usually not)

59. estimating & forecasting
?!

60. probabilistic forecasting
reduce estimation effort (guesses)
using historical data
connect risks impact/likelihood to
tracking
check Troy Magennis’ work

61. control chart
knowledge work
has high variability
16
14
12
average cycletime
UCL
LCL
cycle time
10
8
6
4
time!

62. CFD
Cumulative Flow Diagram
“Houston…”

63. monitoring progress
is usually
90% complete
meaningless
90% of what?
remaining 10% could take forever

64. monitoring progress
output
time

65. cost of delay &
classes of service
cost
time
cost
time
cost
time

66. classes of service, WIP,
expedite lane
ideas
J
I
6
1
1
M
F
L
O
Q
validate
delivered
E
H
G
2
do
elaborate
C
D
B
K
N
P
A
EXPEDITE LANE

67. limiting WIP
by # of initiatives
by size
by team capacity
by space available
by conversation
…
(size matters)

68. limiting WIP
by # of initiatives
by size
by team capacity
by space available
by conversation
…
(size matters)

69. limit WIP by
team capacity / space available

70. staff liquidity
no dependencies on specific
people
allocate people with fewest
options first
people with most options coach
and help others

71. enough…

72. ask yourself
the right questions
?!

73. One
No One
One Hundred Thousand
Projects

74. inspired by Joakim Sunden

75. Gaetano Mazzanti
@mgaewsj
gaetano.mazzanti@agile42.com