Limiting WIP? Or Containing the Work?

I’ve thought for some time now that WIP limits are a special form of explicit policy – one that is called out specifically because it is a core concept behind kanban systems. That has made be uncomfortable with the third Kanban Thinking heuristic; “Limit (with Policies)”. Limits and policies are a means to an end. What is that end (other than the over-arching goal of making in impact)? Further, all the other fuller versions of the heuristics are of the form “<verb> the <noun>”.

  • Study the Context
  • Share the Understanding
  • Limit with Policies
  • Sense the Capability
  • Explore the Potential

We define WIP limits and explicit policies in order to create a boundary within which the system can evolve, and which allows self-organisation to happen. Thus they create a container for the system. That leads to the heuristic “Contain the Work”, which covers both WIP limits and explicit policies.

I also like the notion of containing rather that limiting for another more subtle reason. Limiting, to me, implies applying an external pressure in order to reduce WIP. I used to think this was a good thing, but now consider WIP limits to be an economic choice – too little WIP can have a negative impact if it leads to throughput becoming too low, or a portfolio with not enough variety. Containing, on the other hand, implies a different dynamic where we are trying to resist internal pressure in order to avoid WIP getting out of control.

This all might be semantics! I’d love to get feedback on this alternative to talking about limits. What does “contain the work” suggest to you? What other alternatives would you suggest?

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3 comments on “Limiting WIP? Or Containing the Work?

  1. I’m wondering whether semantically “limit the work” would be ok and not so different to ‘contain the work’ if weallow ourselves to be self-regulating / self-limiting in the same way we talk about being self-organising.. None of the others tells with what / how so, I agree, that limit WITH policies sits strangely.

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    • Also could add another for policies, rather than combine. Although how to express? What real verb means “expliciterize”? Reveal? Define?

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  2. I also vote for ‘limit the work’ rather than ‘contain the work’. The latter implies a situation akin to cat-herding, where you never really get control of the situation and instead just try to keep it from getting too far out of hand. The word ‘limit’ feels more proactive and defining on the part of the actor.

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