According to a recent Forrester presentation, Lean is the way to promote BPM. One statistic that surprised me from that is that Agile, while the most common method for delivering BPM initiatives, still comprises only 34% of the approaches. Also surprising is that 20% still rely on Waterfall. Forrester suggests all should use agile. I …
Lean Presentations
As I prepare today to create a training course that I will be presenting on how to demonstrate ROI on BPM projects, I found Tom Perry's post timely. In it, he applies lean concepts to creating presentations. Among his suggestions: Splitting large things up into small batches for focus Applying the “5 Whys” to drill …
Amazing Adventures of Kanban
OK, I couldn't stop laughing at Jon Miller's post taking a creative look at the 60 year history of Kanban. It is as instructive as it is funny. To get a flavor, here's an excerpt: Kanban Gains Superpowers Pokayoke has the power to prevent mistakes. Jiodka frees people to run machines intelligently, rather than be …
Ten Practices for Applying Lean Agile to Other Knowledge Work
Dean Leffingwell has a great post up with the above title. His approach and conclusions fit well with my Laws of Development. I realize I’ve never summarized them on this blog, so I will do that in the future. In the mean time, here’s a summary from Dean’s great work which is very practical: He …
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Lean, Agile – Kanban, Scrum
David Anderson at Agile Management has two new blog posts that got me thinking. The first is How to Start with Kanban which lays out how to implement Kanban for software development in 10 easy steps (I like its simplicity.) The second is Blogosphere Buzz about Lean & Kanban which is a comprehensive review of …
What Happened at Lean & Kanban
The Lean & Kanban 2009 conference, wrapped up this week and there has been a lot of buzz about it. I like a summary by email from Dean Leffingwell over at The Agile Executive. Among Dean’s takeaways on the conference are: I obviously think Lean Software will be big. It will be to the enterprise …
The Process Center of Excellence
It is time for lean six sigma to grow beyond its focus on process improvement and deliver the reality of an agile enterprise. Capping a series of articles, I explore the organizational need for a Process Center of Excellence, how it would work and the agile results it would deliver.
When Lean Six Sigma Works
While titled So What is Lean Six Sigma, I think this article does one of the better jobs of pointing out the strengths and limitations of the practice.
Agile Development is so Old Fashioned
The functioning principles of Agile (and process improvement more broadly) can be found in lean manufacturing and six sigma. These concepts date back to just after World War II and include error proofing, eliminating waste, creating flow, adding customer value, and empowering workers. If you are interested in deeper understanding I suggest reading the above links and: …
Cycle Time as a Primary Measure
Mishkin Berteig has a great post up at his blog titled Measuring Process Improvements - Cycle Time. In it, he eloquently details why development teams should care about and manage cycle time. It complements nicely my First Law of Development and I encourage giving it a deep read.
Horizon Line Group 