This document discusses using Kaizen, or continuous improvement, to improve software development processes. It outlines three steps: 1) Reduce Waste by identifying unnecessary steps and motions in processes. 2) Assure Process Usage by standardizing work and establishing pull-based workflows. 3) Define Controls by establishing measures and accountability to ensure improvements are sustained long-term. The document provides examples of applying Kaizen principles like identifying different types of waste, conducting Kaizen events to generate improvements, and using the Kaizen cycle of focus, evaluate, solve, and act. The overall message is that incremental, daily improvements to processes can significantly increase organizational value over time.

1. Product & Process Development Kaizen
for Software Development, Project, and
Program Management
Glen B. Alleman
Vice President, Strategy and Performance Management
Lewis & Fowler
www.lewisandfowler.com
303.241.9633
galleman@lewisandfowler.com
LPPDE, Denver Colorado April 21–23, 2008
1

2. 2
Product Development Kaizen Is A Full Contact Team Sport

3. 3 Steps to Product Improvement Using Kaizen
Reduce Waste
Assure Process Usage
Define Controls
3
Increasing
value to the
organization
Copyright © 2008, Lewis & Fowler, All Rights Reserved, Do Not Use without written permission

4. Three Steps to Product and Process Improvement
4
Defining the Controls … That Assures Process Usage … Results in Reduced Waste
The existing process,
development, and operational
controls assessed for
effectiveness, efficiency and
applicability.
These incremental
improvements are made using
the principles of Kaizen guided
by eliminating the 7 Wastes.
Control applications applied to
standard work. Standard work
does not mean constrained,
over controlled, draconian.
It means “what we do for our
customers as a firm is known,
defined, and adds value in
ways acknowledged by all
participants.
Using Kaizen as well as other
process and product
improvement process, search
for, remove, and replace Waste
Reducing process, products
and service.
For process, product, and service improvements to take place, be sustained, and add value to the
customer and the firm, a continuous improvement process must be in place. This process can not
be OUTSIDE the normal business process …
IT MUST BE THE NORMAL BUSINESS PROCESS PERFORMED EVERYDAY
This is the brilliance of Toyota – innovation is an incremental, never ending process in
which the goal is NOT to make huge sudden leaps, but rather to make things better on a
daily basis. “The Open Secret of Success,” New Yorker, May 12, 2008, p. 48

5. Doing PDK does not require learning
Japanese
§ 改 (kai)
–Change or
the action to
correct
§ 善 (zen)
–Good
5

6. Process Development Kaizen
Kaizen is a
Japanese word
which roughly
translates into
“continual
improvement”.
Kaizen is about fine–
tuning processes
that already exist
6

7. The Three Core Principles of Kaizen
§ Consider a process and the results, the
products (not just the results) so that
actions to achieve the desired outcomes
are surfaced.
§ Systematically think of the whole process
and not just what is immediately in view.
§ Learn through a non-judgmental, non-
blaming approach and intent allows for
the re-examination of the assumptions
that resulted in the current process.
– Blame, judgment, rehashing the past and
all that “we used to do it this way” are
wastes (無駄 Muda)
7

8. Making the outcome clear
§ Define the deliverables in visible
and measures terms – what does
“Done” look like for this round of
effort?
§ Connect effort, duration, and risk
with these deliverables
§ Arrange them in a sequence that
assures increasing maturity along
the way to completion
§ But in fact we are never complete
in the conventional sense – we
are always continually improving
8

9. Turning the process
from a linear,
waterfall
development
approach;
To an iterative,
incremental,
continuously
improvement set of
activities;
That delivers
continuous value to
the stakeholders.
This is the
theoretical basis of
all Agile
development
methods
9

10. Conducting a PDK Event
§ Flush out opportunities at multiple
levels
§ Point out waste visually through
process flow diagrams
§ Determine impact on overall
business and / or business units
§ Create buy-in “on the spot”
§ Incorporate change management as
part of overall improvement strategy
10

11. The Kaizen Event from a PMO Point of View
11
Kaizen Activity Questions that need answers in order to improve
A structured product and
process maturity
assessment
Where have we come from? What worked in the
past? What didn’t work? What can be improved?
What can be used from AS IS for the TO BE?
Evaluate risk and probability
for success
If we attempt to make improvements, what are the
inhibitors to success? What mitigations can be
taken?
Visibly track the increasing
maturity of products and
services
How can we recognize we’re actually making
improvements? What are the units of measure?
Provide visibility to sponsors
and stakeholders
Can we have the sponsors concur we’re making
improvements?
Have the discipline to follow
through to rollout and
operations phase
What accountabilities need to be in place for us to be
successful? Can we make this accountabilities
appear at this time? If not now, when?

12. Conducting the PDK, means …
12
…Turning on the light

13. The starting point for making
improvements
§ Seek small opportunities for
improvement in the development
process and the product definition
§ Find and root out mistakes of the
past in all activities around product
and service development and
deployment
§ Improve the system not the people
§ Devote time to measuring
13

14. Doing a PDK is an interactive process
14

15. The raw materials of process
modeling …
§ Nouns
– Documents
– Data
– Information
– Evidentiary materials
§ Verbs
– Transformation of nouns into new
nouns
– «Noun» U «Verb» à «Noun»
15

16. Sample process flow in Rummler – Brache
16

17. The Seven Process Wastes (Remember TIM WOOD)
Use these as test questions for Process Improvement or Development
§ Transportation
§ Unnecessary Inventory
§ Unnecessary or Excessive Motion
§ Waiting
§ Overproduction
§ Over or Inappropriate Processing
§ Defects
17

18. Transportation
18
Any movement or
motion from one
place to another that
adds no value
§ Make the distance
over which something
is moved as short as
possible
§ Make review and
approval cycles short
and sweet
§ Reduce artifacts to
only those that can be
directly absorbed into
the production of
products or process –
“executable maps in
BPML”

19. 19
Reduce the amount of
work-in-process within
the system
§ Ensure that work arrives at
the downstream process
when it is required and
does not sit (no in basket
overflow)
§ Use “pull” work stream
management for all
software production and
test
§ Define the “pulled products”
in a maturity map by
working from Right to Left in
the schedule
Unnecessary
Inventory

20. 20
Unnecessary or Excessive Motion
Processing steps that add
no value to the product or
service
§ Avoid looking, searching, or
wasted effort that burdens
the value of the product or
service
§ Have producers hold all
components until “pull”
demand is made
§ Have repositories of usable
components under
configuration control

21. 21
Waiting
Someone or
something waiting
with nothing to do
§ Keep people
productively active
§ Avoid paper, or
decisions around the
paper, from sitting
around before being
processed
§ Provide adequate
staffing at the
bottlenecked operations
§ Minimize non-value-
added transactions by
asking “how does this
effort move the product
or service forward in it’s
maturity?”

22. 22
OverproductionProduction of products,
services, documentation,
or facilities ahead of
demand
§ Establish a flow sequence
to satisfy the downstream
customer – pull don’t push
§ Create workplace
guidelines and standards
for each process and follow
them at all times – pull
don’t push
§ Forward 100% mature
products – no rework
Copyright © 2008, Lewis & Fowler, All Rights Reserved, Do Not Use without written permission

23. 23
Over or Inappropriate Processing
Activities still performed
but no longer needed or
poor planning and
organizational flow
§ Remove unnecessary
steps – make NVA
§ Stop copying
everyone on emails
§ Stop sending reports
and see who
complains
§ Stop unnecessary
signoffs and reviews

24. Defects
24
Activities that result in error,
rework, work arounds, or
quality defects prevent the
customer from accepting
the product or service
§ Error proof the process steps
§ Build robust and fault recovery
products and services
§ Use standardized work
instructions
§ Continuous customer
feedback used to make
incremental improvement to
errors, exceptions, and
recoveries
§ Focus on the avoiding
“exception handling” – this is
where waste occurs and burns
valuable resources

25. Most failures to realize potential return on process and product
improvements starts by committing one of these Seven Sins
The Seven
Sins of
Process
Improvement
Process not
traceable to
strategy
Improvements
don’t involve
the right people
Teams not
given a clear
charter and
held
accountable
Top
management
focused on
change not
improvement
Change to the
people not
considered
Focused on
redesign rather
than
implementation
Failure to leave
measurement
system in place
Improving Performance, How to
Manage the White Space on
the Organization Chart, 2nd
Edition, Geary A. Rummler and
Alan P. Brache, Jossey Bass,
1995

26. Conducting the PDK
26

27. Example – embedded software control system
27
Improve Gases Production System Unit Design and Deployment Process
Mission
Increase profit to cost of development of nonflammable gases design and prototyping cycles of
semi-conductor plant standalone units process control software
Goals
§ Reduce units from design and prototyping work
§ Reduce cycle time for design review and approval to prototype manufacturing for embedded
process controller
§ Improve emergency shutdown integrity of software base
Must Haves Can’t Do
§ Can make decision about improvements in
the software design and integration process
as long as there is no negative effect on
other organizations within the gas unit
interfaces
§ Must get agreement from other departments
prior to executing change if the proposed
change requires adjustment to the
emergency shutdown procedures
§ No impact of sunk labor of this department
or other departments results from changes
to the emergency shutdown software
changes

28. The Kaizen Cycle
28
Focus
Evaluate
Solve
Act
Focus:
§ Build
description of
the target
process
§ Walk through
the target work
process
§ Build the
mission
statement
§ Set goals for
the Kaizen
event
§ Define the Do’s
and Don’t’s

29. The Kaizen Cycle
29
Focus
Evaluate
Solve
Act
Evaluate:
§ Gather
information
§ Analyze
amounts and
sources of
waste
§ Summarize he
results

30. The Kaizen Cycle
30
Focus
Evaluate
Solve
Act
Solve:
§ Generate
improvement
ideas
§ Trim
improvement
ideas
§ Conduct
experiments
§ Select
improvement
ideas

31. The Kaizen Cycle
31
Focus
Evaluate
Solve
Act
Act:
§ Create action
plans
§ Execute
improvement
ideas
§ Measure the
results