kanban explained clearly

Kanban“like playing Frisbee … with your dog!”

Andrew Lloyd 6/20/2011 MissedMemo@GMail.com

me

You?

Agenda:

• History: Agile pragmatism/fundamentalism seesaw

• Misconceptions: What Kanban is – and is NOT!

• Mechanics: How & why it works

• Questions, discussion, sample Kanban boards…

Incompetence

is no barrier to success !

V

Commercial^

Dev. Process

Agile Fundamentalism:

"Critics of the first edition have complained that it tries to force them to program in a certain way... I'm embarrassed to say that was my intention... in this edition, I have tried to rephrase my message in a positive, inclusive way“

-- Kent Beck, “Extreme Programming Explained” 2nd ed.

“Agile” defined by Principles

• Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

• Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.

• Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.

• Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.• Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support

they need, and trust them to get the job done.• The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a

development team is face-to-face conversation.• Working software is the primary measure of progress. Agile processes promote

sustainable development.• The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace

indefinitely.• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.• Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.• The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.

• At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

(not specific practices)

Scrum...

Harsh Realities…

“Kanban is not a software development cycle methodology or an approach to project management. It requires that some process is already in place so that Kanban can be applied to incrementally change the underlying process“

-- David Anderson(originator of Kanban)

Kanban

Kanban is Simple!

1. Visual representation of your ACTUAL process

(3 Requirements)

Scrum board (over-simplified):

To Do In Progress…

Done !

AB

C

ED

AB

C

E

D

To Do In Progress…

Done !2

Scrum board vs. Kanban board:

D

Kanban is Simple!

1. Visual representation of your ACTUAL process

2. Limit “Work in Progress” (WIP)

(3 Requirements)

Actual board may have many columns…Backlog On Deck Done !

A

Dev. Test

BC

D

EF

G

HJ

K

MN

(2)

(2)

(1)

Done

Kanban is Simple!

1. Visual representation of your ACTUAL process

2. Limit “Work in Progress” (WIP)

3. Track and optimize “flow”

(3 Requirements)

Demo…

Backlog On Deck Done !

A

Dev. Test

BC

D

EF

G

HJ

K

MN

(2)

(2)

(1)

Done

AB

C

D

E

F

G

H

JK

MN

Demo…

Backlog On Deck Done !Dev. Test(2)

(2)

(1)

Done

AB

C

D

EFG

H

J

K

MN

Demo…

Backlog On Deck Done !Dev. Test(2)

(2)

(1)

Done

2

AB

C

D

EF

G

H

J K

MN

Demo…

Backlog On Deck Done !Dev. Test(2)

(2)

(2)

Done

“Flow” Summary:

Cumulative Flow Diagram:

# Days

# Features in Each Column

Development

On Deck

Test

Done!

WIP on day #4 = 9

Lead Time = 6 days

By tweaking

WIP !

( seek to MINIMIZE )

Kanban“like playing Frisbee … with your dog!”

So, why all the hate?

“The surprising thing for me is that many smart Agile people - people I know to be intelligent insightful people - seem bugged by Kanban... I'm seeing Agile people behave as strangely about Kanban as traditional process folks behaved about Agile. They seem threatened."

-- Jeff Patton, (Agile speaker and author)

Kanban Board Examples?

Kanban and Scrum: Making the Most of Both

Definitive Resources:

by Henrik Kniberg & Mathias Skarin(http://www.infoq.com/minibooks/kanban-scrum-minibook)

Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your

Technology Businessby David J. Anderson

Kniberg also authored Scrum and XP From The Trenches*

a Confession…

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is“

-- Yogi Berra

Questions / Discussion…