PEOPLE AS BOTTLENECKS

Gaetano Mazzanti Agile42

@mgaewsj

BOTTLENECK:�DEFINITIONS

1 A : A NARROW ROUTE B : A POINT OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION

2 A : SOMEONE OR SOMETHING THAT� RETARDS OR HALTS FREE MOVEMENT� AND PROGRESS B : IMPASSE

Merriam-Webster www.m-w.com

BOTTLENECKS EVERYWHERE

WATER TRAFFIC

MANUFACTURING COMPUTER NETWORKS

KNOWLEDGE WORK

TRAFFIC JAMS IS SLOW TRAFFIC CAUSED BY�

BAD DRIVERS?

Deming  95/5  

TRAFFIC JAMS

WHAT ABOUT THESE?

Deming  95/5  

BOTTLENECKS

PHYSICAL

NONPHYSICAL

LET’S  FOCUS  ON  THESE  UNFORTUNATELY  THEY’RE  NOT  SO  EASY  TO  SPOT  

NONPHYSICAL BOTTLENECKS

POLICIES

SKILLS ATTITUDE

PEOPLE AND BOTTLENECKS

BEING A BOTTLENECK VS

INDUCING/CREATING BOTTLENECKS

BEING A BOTTLENECK NOT AVAILABLE (OVERLOAD, TRAVEL, HIDING)

DEFERRING/NOT MAKING DECISIONS (OVERBURDEN, INCOMPETENCE, CYA)

CENTRALIZING DECISIONS/NEVER DELEGATE (CONTROL FREAK)

LACK OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS

SPECIALIST* (MULTIPLE CLIENTS) *formally not a bottleneck but effects are the same

INDUCING/CREATING�BOTTLENECKS

OFTEN DUE TO OBSESSION WITH

EFFICIENCY AND CONTROL

INDUCING/CREATING�BOTTLENECKS

OVERLOADING PEOPLE

ASSIGNING MULTIPLE TASKS

NO FILTERING (“I WANT EVERYTHING”)

HIDING INFORMATION, MAKING�IT AVAILABLE TOO LATE (GENERATING EMERGENCIES)

CREATING/MAINTAINING SILOS AND CEILINGS

MICROMANAGING

PUSH

 

WEAPONS OF�FLOW DESTRUCTION

HOW DO YOU SPOT BOTTLENECKS?

WARNING: THE MAIN ISSUE IS NOT BOTTLENECKS

BUT THEIR ECONOMIC IMPACT

FOCUS ON FLOW

VISUALIZE AND MEASURE

VISUALIZE FLOW

ideas   elaborate   do   delivered  validate  

B  C  

D  

F  E  

A  

VISUALIZE FLOW

B  

C  

D  

F  E  

A  

ideas   elaborate   do   delivered  validate  

MEASURE FLOW

B  

C  D  F  

E  

A  

ideas   elaborate   do   delivered  validate  

G  

H  

I   sub-cycle times

MEASURE # OF ITEMS�IN SYSTEM (WIP)

B  

C  D  F  

E  

A  

ideas   elaborate   do   delivered  validate  

G  

H  

I  

# of items in a specific state = 2

# of items in�specific area = 4

total # of�items = 9

SPEED AT BOTTLENECK

FLOW = VELOCITY x AREA

VELOCITY IS LOWER BEFORE BOTTLENECK

BOTTLENECKS

B  

C  D  F  

E  

A  

ideas   elaborate   do   delivered  validate  

G  

H  

I  

gate

J  

K  

BOTTLENECKS

B  

C  

D  

F  

E  

A  

ideas   elaborate   do   delivered  validate  

G  H  

I  

gate

J  

K  L  

BOTTLENECKS

B  

C  

D  

F  

E  

A  

ideas   elaborate   do   delivered  validate  

G  H  

I  

J  

K  

L  

gate

ITEMS    QUEUEING  UP  

EMPTY  AREA  

CHARTING

CC (CONTROL CHART) CFD (CUMULATIVE FLOW DIAGRAM)

CONTROL CHART

4  

6  

8  

10  

12  

14  

16  

average  cycleLme  

UCL  

LCL  

cycle  Lme  

KNOWLEDGE WORK HAS HIGH VARIABILITY

CONTROL CHART EFFECT OF

BOTTLENECK

0  

5  

10  

15  

20  

25  

average  cycleLme  

UCL  

LCL  

cycle  Lme  

CFD

Lme  

cumulaL

ve  quanL

ty  

arrivals  

departures  

WIP  (avg.  queue  size)  

cycle  Lme  (avg.  Lme  in  queue)  

arrivals departures

AIRPORT CHECK-IN

CFD

Lme  

cumulaL

ve  quanL

ty  

arrivals  

departures  

WIP  (avg.  queue  size)  

cycle  Lme  (avg.  Lme  in  queue)  

arrivals departures

AIRPORT CHECK-IN

CFD

Lme  

cumulaL

ve  quanL

ty  

arrivals  

departures  

WIP  (avg.  queue  size)  

cycle  Lme  (avg.  Lme  in  queue)  

arrivals departures

AIRPORT CHECK-IN

CFD

Lme  

cumulaL

ve  quanL

ty   faster  

arrivals  

AIRPORT CHECK-IN

Lme  

cumulaL

ve  quanL

ty  

QUEUE  LENGTH  AND  WAITING  TIME  

INCREASE  

WIP  

cycle  Lme  

AIRPORT CHECK-IN FASTER ARRIVALS

CFD

Lme  

cumulaL

ve  quanL

ty  

WIP  

cycle  Lme  

CFD AIRPORT CHECK-IN FASTER ARRIVALS

arrivals departures

Lme  

cumulaL

ve  quanL

ty  

WIP  

cycle  Lme  

CFD AIRPORT CHECK-IN FASTER ARRIVALS

arrivals departures

BACK TO OUR�BOTTLENECK EXAMPLE

CFD

BACK TO OUR�BOTTLENECK EXAMPLE

CFD

FLAT  LINE,  HEIGHT  GOES  TO  ZERO  

INCREASING  HEIGHT  (QUEUE)  

CONSTRAIN WIP HIGH WIP -> LONG CYCLE TIMES HIGH UTILIZATION LEADS TO QUEUES (USE SLACK) THE BIGGER THE QUEUES THE MORE THEY COST

0"

2"

4"

6"

8"

10"

12"

14"

16"

18"

1" 2" 3" 4" 5" 6"

ideas"

elaborate"

do"

validate"

delivered"

BOTTLENECKS AND�WIP CONSTRAINTS

QUEUE  MOVES  HERE  

TWO  FLAT  LINES  

ARTIFICIAL  BOTTLENECK  

FOCUS ON THE REAL PROBLEM

REDUCE BATCH SIZE

SMALLER BATCHES REDUCE QUEUE SIZE CYCLE TIME FLOW VARIABILITY FEEDBACK DELAY RISK OVERHEAD

BEFORE ATTACKING BOTTLENECKS

IT IS EASIER TO START THAN IT IS TO FINISH

MULTITASKING

MULTITASKING SUCKS MULTITASKING MAKES YOU LOOK�BUSY AND SMART

MULTI-TASKERS�MAKE VERY POOR�MULTI-TASKERS

(Stanford study, 2009)

“they felt productive because they touched so many different tasks – but when tested against people who focused on one thing at a time, multi-taskers lost and lost big”. Eyal Ophir

MULTITASKING SUCKS

visualphotos.com  

123456

YOUR  MULTITASKING  IS  MY  BOTTLENECK  

Jim  Benson  

12

34

56

T.O.C. APPROACH 1.  IDENTIFY THE CONSTRAINT�

(CCR - Capacity Constrained Resource)

2.  DECIDE HOW BEST TO EXPLOIT THE CONSTRAINT

3.  SUBORDINATE EVERYTHING ELSE TO THE ABOVE DECISIONS

4.  ELEVATE THE CONSTRAINT 5.  RE-EVALUATE

E.GoldraA  

LIMITS OF T.O.C. FLOW ISSUES DO NOT ALWAYS IMPLY A BOTTLENECK KNOWLEDGE WORK HAS HIGH VARIABILITY CCR NOT EASY TO FIND IN THIS CONTEXT ADDING CAPACITY AT BOTTLENECK NOT ALWAYS CONVENIENT BOTTLENECK NEVER RUNNING OUT OF WORK NOT ALWAYS CONVENIENT

LOOKING AT THE WHOLE BOTTLENECKS BEFORE OR AFTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT PHASE TOO SLOW? PRODUCING INCOHERENT, CONFUSED INFORMATION? LOTS OF REWORK? STAGING AND DEPLOYMENT ISSUES? LAUNCHING PRODUCTS TOO EARLY? LOTS OF REWORK?

SUPPORT  

AGILE HAS INTRODUCED�A NEW BOTTLENECK

BACKLOG  

TECH  BUSINESS  

UNFORTUNATELY

POTENTIAL v

AGILE HAS INTRODUCED�A NEW BOTTLENECK

BACKLOG  

COMMITTED  OR  NOT?  STATIC  OR  DYNAMIC?  PUSH  OR  PULL?  COST  OF  DELAY?  

UNFORTUNATELY

POTENTIAL v

THE  PRODUCT  OWNER  

NOT  AVAILABLE  NOT  KNOWLEDGEABLE  NOT  AUTHORITATIVE  NOT  COMMUNICATIVE  TOO  MUCH  FOR  ONE  PERSON?  

YES BUT

YET ANOTHER�KIND OF BOTTLENECK

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE EMBRACING JUST SOME OF IT NEVER CHANGING BOARD DESIGN, POLICIES, WIP LIMITS, ETC.

KANBUT

WRAPPING UP

FOCUS ON FLOW BEWARE OF VARIABILITY

REDUCE BATCH SIZE CONSTRAIN WIP

“the greatest waste…�is failure to use the abilities of people…�

to learn about their frustrations…” E.Deming

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

TRUST LEARN

KANBAN BUILDS TRUST AND FOSTERS A LEARNING CULTURE

TRUST != HERO CULTURE

TRUST CAN SCALE HEROES DON’T

C.Moody  

AM I THE BOTTLENECK?

NEVER STOP ASKING YOURSELF

Gaetano Mazzanti Agile42

@mgaewsj gaetano.mazzanti@agile42.com