I was introduced to the Theory of Constraints early in my career, and— being young and overly optimistic— I just assumed this was how all businesses worked. Focus on flow. Identify bottlenecks. Fix them. Repeat. Easy, right? Fast forward to today, and unless you’re deep in manufacturing or happen to have a Goldratt poster on […]
Stop Abusing Agile
Bob asked, “Is the project on schedule?” Will said, “We do Agile. We don’t follow a schedule.”Bob was left wondering how he might report this to the governance teams. Cathy asked, “What scope will be delivered in the next 2 months?” Joe answered, “We are agile. We do not estimate all work upfront. All I […]
Decoding Agility: The Critical Role of Cycle Time in Efficient Workflows
It’s widely recognized that just strict adherence to agile methodologies such as Sprint huddles, Backlog grooming, Sprint planning, and Sprint retrospectives doesn’t automatically ensure agility. The first step involves conducting a simple statistical analysis of your Cycle Time data. Once obtained, basic statistical calculations can help establish a baseline.
The agile mindset – what does it mean?
“Developing a product takes time. The only way to do it is to experiment. Build a prototype or a sample and show it around. Let people kick the tires, touch it, feel it. Let them get a taste of the product. Get their feedback and incorporate it into the next prototype you build. Do it fast.” Sounds like something a Lean Startup practitioner would advocate, doesn’t it? But, you see, I got this from someone who worked in manufacturing all his life and never heard the term “Lean Startup”. He went on to say, “You’ve got to listen to the people doing the work. They do this day in and day out. If you want improvement ideas, listen to them. Solve their pain points and see productivity increase.” Sounds like agile thinking, right? With the right attitude, one can adapt the learnings across industries.
Journey to becoming a lean & agile family
Having been a student of Lean and Agile for a number of years now, we started adopting it in bits and pieces within our family. Here’s some examples of lean and agile in action in our personal lives.
My Project World Business Analyst World talk: from waterfall to agile
When I was invited to speak at the Project World Business Analyst World in Moncton this year, I chose to talk about my experiences adopting lean and agile tools and moving away from waterfall where it makes sense.