From Devops to conferences to new kanban books, this issue includes a little something for everyone.
We search for new content every week. If you read or write something you consider useful for the kanban community, please drop us a line and we’ll include it.
David Anderson’s next book is in pre-production, but it’s not the advanced kanban book we’ve been waiting for. Rumor has it, we may see it at lssc12 in Boston (see below for details).
This week, we look at new templates available for both personal and organization wide use. We re-examine the value of certain types of estimation and look at how to improve standups. And, be sure to check out the two short videos!
Here is a detailed post on how to improve standups. I like how Neel Lakshminarayan suggests changing facilitators to encourage different team members to take on more ownership and advocate for improvements. http://neelnarayan.blogspot.com/2012/02/daily-kanban-stand-up.html
Microsoft launches Kanban Guidance for TFS. Per David Anderson, “The template doesn’t really deliver the spirit of kaizen nor easily enable a sequence of changes and improvements, but it is a big start. It will go a long way toward encouraging adoption of kanban systems and a service-oriented, service-delivery model for software development.” http://vsarkanbanguide.codeplex.com/
There is going to be a DevOps & Kanban meetup the evening of March 22 near Mountain View, CA. It’s free! I’ll be there along with some leaders from the Devops community. Check out the attendee list!
Here’s a post suggesting we take a long hard look at Intangibles (maintenance type work). Titled “Intangibles Matter” Mike Burrows conveys, “The worst risk of all might be to underestimate them [intangibles].” http://positiveincline.com/index.php/2012/02/intangibles-revisited/
The big news this week comes to us from Lean Kanban University – read on for details on the new accredited Kanban training program.
News
Big news on the training front! 18 leading Kanban training organizations from ten countries across three continents have joined together under the banner of Lean Kanban University to offer accredited Kanban training. Check out the full announcement and list of Charter members leading the effort. http://www.leankanbanuniversity.com/accredited-kanban-training
Yuval Yeret created a book from his collection of favorite blog posts from over the past three years. Many intriguing topics are covered, but I was immediately drawn to the section titled “The Freeze”. From an IT Ops perspective, it invokes a huge sigh of relief thinking about the potential to get ones head above water. http://leanpub.com/holylandkanbanbestof
By Dominica DeGrandis
Everyone (myself included) seems to be having a crazy busy week. 2012 appears to be evolving rapidly. Let’s remember to find the solitude necessary for creativity and balance. Speaking of balance…
News
Balancing near term and long term efforts can sometimes turn into heated debates when prioritizing tasks. In this post, Jabe Bloom discusses “big scary company killing problems that are obvious to some, but unseen by others”. http://www.calmbetawave.com/2012/01/death-rests-within.html
Seattle Lean Coffee was a hit this week with 15 people in attendance. The favorite topics converged on handling “Command and Control” leaders and consultants “Inflicting help“. I’m hoping we’ll see a recap of the session soon. http://seattle.leancoffee.org/
A Bill Fox interview with David Anderson relays that Kanban is not a method. Instead, it is a way to propel an organization toward change - change which is contextual and unique for each organization. http://www.foxhighperspective.com/blog/?page_id=367
