Karl Scotland – Using Agile to Deliver Value
Traffic Jams
One of the metaphors I use when I talk why a kanban system has work-in-progress (WIP) limits, is traffic jams. The greater the WIP, the lower the throughput, and this effect can be seen when too many cars clog up a motorway. Watching the BBC’s “Britain from Above” last night, they had an interesting section on this subject, including a nice simulation on how a bottleneck ripples back as it frees up, explaining how traffic jams can seem to appear and disappear for now apparent reason.
You can seen the clip here – the simulation is about 3 minutes in.
I expect you get the same effect in software development value streams, although I would also expect that software development value streams are short enough for the effect to be unnoticeable.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Karl on August 11, 2008 at 3:35 pm, and is filed under Agile. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
No comments yet.
No trackbacks yet.
A Pattern for Using Scrum and Kanban
about 1 month ago - 5 comments
I’ve noticed a pattern that I’ve found myself using recently when I’ve worked with new teams that makes use of both Scrum and Kanban ideas. I’ve already said that I believe the two are complimentary, and this should help show how. I’ll often begin with a “Canonical Scrum” implementation. This gives a relatively simple introduction More >
Does A Kanban System Eschew Estimation?
about 1 month ago - 5 comments
I was recently involved in a brief twitter conversation which started when Mike Sutton tweeted: estimation is not about the number that pops out. It is about exploring effort and discovering that you don’t know stuff. Paul Dyson responded: spot on! This is fundamentally what I don’t like about the kanban “if people find estimation More >
Aspects of Kanban in Methods and Tools
about 2 months ago - 1 comment
I wrote an article on “Aspects of Kanban” which has just been published in the Summer 2010 issue of Methods and Tools magazine. Download it, have read, and let me know what you think! Alternatively, there is now an html version available.
Kanban and Scrum – Intention and Implementation
about 2 months ago - 3 comments
In my last post I introduced the idea of a PVC System – one which exemplifies Pull, Value and Capability – and closed by posing the question as to whether Scrum could be considered to be a PVC System. In answering that question myself, I realised that there is another distinction which I will describe More >
Facilitating A Kanban Konversation
about 5 months ago - 2 comments
As I mentioned in my Scrum Gathering Musings, I came up with a twist on the Goldfish Bowl format which I used during the Kanban Exploration Deep Dive. Here are some more details. The Goldfish Bowl format works really well for facilitating a focussed discussion with a large number of people. It keeps the active More >
Process Safeguards and Ski Slopes
about 7 months ago - 11 comments
One of the joys of working as a coach for EMC Consulting are the regular opportunities to have deep conversations on various topics with my colleagues when we are in the office together. For example, earlier this week myself and Simon Bennett began to discuss way of talking to our clients about process such that More >
Kanban Trail Markers
about 9 months ago - 2 comments
When talking about Kanban Systems for Software Development, I always try to emphasis that the Kanban System is more than the tool, and is a System that should be owned by the team, rather than being imposed upon it. By owning it, and being part of creating it, a team are more likely to evolve More >
Outcomes and Sync Steps
about 10 months ago - 4 comments
I met up with Jean Tabaka last week for a coffee and we chatted over various things, including Lean, Kanban, “The Don”, Tufte, and Systems Thinking. One of the other areas was around the origins and original intents of Scrum. Jean mentioned an early paper(*) by Jeff Sutherland, written before the current terminology became standard, More >
Is Kanban A Relabeling of Scrum?
about 10 months ago - 17 comments
Firstly, this post is not an attempt to be divisive or competitive. Instead it is meant to be exploratory. What would it mean for the statement in the title to be true? Actually, the full statement was “People have so misunderstood Scrum, that they’ve reinvented it and called it Kanban”. It was made by Jim More >
5 Steps to Kanban in Cambridge
about 10 months ago - No comments
I’ll be talking about 5 Steps to Kanban at Software East on November 19th. From the website: This event will take place at Red Gate Software, Newnham House, Cambridge Business Park. See the location map for Red Gate Software. BOOK NOW for this event. Tickets (including light buffet) £15 if booked on or before 16th More >
