As I work to prepare the agendas for the fall schedule of the Denver chapter of the Association of BPM Professionals (ABPMP), I thought it would be timely to step back and define BPM. First, let’s get the acronym expanded correctly. I still hear some say BPM is Business Process Modeling or Business Performance Management. …
Lean BPM
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 …
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 …
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.
How to Survive the Downturn
Is a downturn inevitable? Given all the talk in the past couple months, it seems that a downturn can no longer help but to become a self-fulfilling prophecy if it has not already set in. The only question is how long and how deep? How should companies approach these uncertain times? Most of the companies …
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: …
Development Kanban
I was recently reviewing a presentation from David Anderson on Kanban from Agile 2007. I love some of his ideas on sizing work, especially in separating work in process (WIP/story point) management from the release cycle. He summarizes his approach in 4 bullet points for success: Focus on Quality (fourth law of development) Reduce or …
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 