With no videos recorded at the recent Lean Enterprise Software and Systems conference (#LESS2011), we look at some write-ups and summaries posted by attendees. We also take a look at some kanban board design discussions.
News
Hakan Forss’s summary of LESS2011 focused on two of the four main tracks (Complexity & Systems Thinking and Beyond Budgeting). It sounds like Carl Savage’s presentation on “Overcoming Education Inertia” was a winner. http://hakanforss.wordpress.com/tag/less2011/
Alan Shalloway posted his notes from his “Non-Linear Birds of a Feather” session at LESS2011. And, as a bonus he included definitions of the three “M” words: Mura (unevenness of work) causes muri (overburdening of workers) which causes muda (waste). http://www.netobjectives.com/blogs/LESS2011-birds-of-a-feather
That “Birds of a Feather” session led to a series of twitter exchanges regarding kanban board design which then generated some interesting discussions on the topic. http://blog.brodzinski.com/
Lean Software Systems Conference – Boston 2012
Registration for LSSC12 is open. Check it out. The Twitter hashtag is #lssc12 http://lssc12.leanssc.org/
Please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with questions.
“Can the Kanban Method Avoid Becoming another management Fad” by Benjamin Mitchell. Actually, a 60 min video, Benjamin challenges the Kanban method by identifying some gaps and inconsistencies. It is both entertaining and thought provoking. http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Kanban-Management-Fad
The Lean Enterprise Software and Systems conference is underway this week in Stockholm - follow #Less2011. Katherine Kirk’s presentation on “Kanban and the Importance of Equanimity” received the “Best talk of the day” award - no surprise there. Katherine talks about navigating politics and data aversion at the BBC. Unfortunately, none of the presentations are being recorded - slides are supposed to be available next week. http://less2011.leanssc.org/
The Systems Thinking in Action conference is underway in Seattle - follow #stia11. Attendees say the keynote by Katie Salen was amazing and included a multi-player rock paper scissors game with 300+ people. http://www.systemsthinkinginaction.com/
After attending Devops, Lean and Kanban conferences in Sweden and Germany, this week’s roundup is heavily loaded with links to slides, videos and photos.
News
The Lean Kanban Central Europe conference in Munich included some excellent presentations, pecha kuchas, and interactive sessions! One of four keynotes, Stephen Bungay, in the final keynote, “Back to the Future” explained how 21st century businesses can learn from 19th century military thinking. Keynotes and select presentations will be available on video soon. Unfortunately not all presentations were recorded, but slides for most are on the LKCE11 website and Interviews with several speakers are up on YouTube. Many thanks to the organizers, presenters and participants who contributed to this fine event - many of whom can be seen in the conference photos at http://www.lean-kanban-conference.de/pictures/). http://www.lean-kanban-conference.de/program/ http://www.youtube.com/user/GroetenUitDelft
We played the” IT Services and Operations” variant of the GetKanban Game simulation at Devopsdays in Gothenborg, Sweden. Participants asked about dependencies between the standard stories and the intangible tickets – hmmm - great idea for the next iteration of the Ops Kanban game! I’d say more, but Gareth Rushgrove (@garethr) already wrote up a lovely summary of the devops conference in his 42nd “Devops Weekly”. Subscribe at http://devopsweekly.com/. http://devopsdays.org/events/2011-goteborg/
Ian Carroll posted a case study on the kanbanops Yahoo! Message board. Included is a nice range of kanban boards from SysAdmin and DBA to Networks and Infrastructure. The metrics (manually captured) come with a warning to management to not use them for performance measurement (love it). http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/kanbanops/message/125
The Lean & Kanban 2011 Benelux conference videos are out! The 34 videos might take weeks to watch, but Don Reinertsen and Dave Snowden’s are considered must-watch-now material. Reinertsen’s keynote, “Is it Time to Rethink Deming?” indicates the need to respond to ANY random variation to reduce risk, not just assignable cause variation. Snowden’s keynote, “Practice without Sound Theory Will Not Scale” indicates the need to ABSORB uncertainty rather than reduce uncertainty- otherwise the ability to adapt is destroyed. Enjoy these along with all the other great speakers. http://vimeo.com/channels/leankanban2011benelux
Events
The Lean Enterprise Software and Systems conference (#LESS2011) is happening in Stockholm, Sweden Oct 30 – Nov 2. http://less2011.leanssc.org/
This intensive 2-day Kanban training class provides an introduction to Lean, Pull Systems and Kanban and will explain how established industrial engineering theory can apply to software development process.
This class is based on David J. Anderson’s book “Kanban - Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business”. Attendees of the class will receive a copy of the new book.
Unfortunately, this class has been cancelled.
Participants in the class will learn how to use the simple process of limiting work-in-progress as a driver of change. Kanban is a change management method and a different approach to striking agreements between IT and the business.
You’ll learn how to define the policies that constrain the collaborative game of software development. You’ll learn how to use those policies to manage risk and to reset negotiations and recast them as collaborative problem solving.
Used effectively, Kanban will change you and your organization. If your workplace has been stagnating and you are looking for new ideas to unleash productivity, innovation, collaboration and creativity, take 2 days and come along.
What you will learn
Day 1
Kanban Mechanics
- Demand Analysis
- Value-Network Mapping
- Visualization
- Work Item Types
- WIP Limits
- Classes of Service
- Service Level Agreements (SLA)
- Kanban Simulation Game
Day 2
Why Kanban
- Recipe for Success
- Case Studies
- Improvement Opportunities
- Understanding Variation
- Bottleneck Management
- Economic Cost Model for Lean (Waste)
- Metrics
About the presenter
Daniel Vacanti, MBA, was a contributor to and a primary reviewer of David Anderson’s Kanban book. He is a 15 year software industry veteran who specializes in the leading, mentoring, and coaching of teams in agile practices. He has a record of delivering customer valued results working with teams and companies of varying sizes. His emphasis is on the business-appropriate use of technology to help companies achieve their specific financial goals. Daniel has worked with David Anderson for over 10 years and was a Development Manager on some of the earliest kanban implementations with David.
Is this for you?
If you are a software development executive, project manager, development manager, project lead or developer and you would like to learn how Lean, Pull Systems and Kanban can provide a useful perspective to consider the entire value chain beyond the pure software development, this Kanban class is for you!
Location:
Washington DC, USA
Venue:
CC Pace
4100 Monument Corner Drive
Suite 400
Fairfax, VA 22030
For the past seven years, David J. Anderson has frequently blogged on kanban news and events from around the world. Due to his crazy busy traveling schedule, David’s staff will continue the communication through the “Kanban Weekly Roundup”.
News
Geek Wire’s interview with David Anderson, “How an Automotive Secret Can Make For Better Software”, talks about the kanban principles that many people associate with the production of cars. http://www.geekwire.com/2011/qa-secrets-automakers-software
Here’s a real life example from @Vanwynsberghea of a development team implementing Kanban.
We like this post “How We Use Kanban in Our Development Team” because it’s written from a beginners perspective in a practical manner. http://vanwynsberghea.posterous.com/72087262
A free Ebook titled “Quotable Kanban” has been released. It’s a collection of wisdom from attendees of the Kanban Leadership Retreat in Reykjavik, Iceland, 2011. http://agilemanagement.net/index.php/site/quotable/
Events
The programme at Agile Cambridge UK 2011 this week looks expansive with case studies, tutorials hands-on workshops, lighting talks & birds of a feather sessions. http://www.agilecambridge.net/ac2011/
