my talk at Lean Kanban Netherlands 2013 a slightly modified version of the talk I gave at Lean Kanban Nordic 2013

1. PEOPLE AS
BOTTLENECKS
Gaetano Mazzanti
Agile42
@mgaewsj

2. 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

3. BOTTLENECKS EVERYWHERE
WATER
TRAFFIC
MANUFACTURING
COMPUTER NETWORKS
KNOWLEDGE WORK

4. TRAFFIC JAMS
IS SLOW TRAFFIC CAUSED BY
BAD DRIVERS?
Deming
95/5

5. TRAFFIC JAMS
WHAT ABOUT THESE?
Deming
95/5

6. BOTTLENECKS
PHYSICAL
NONPHYSICAL
LET’S
FOCUS
ON
THESE
UNFORTUNATELY
THEY’RE
NOT
SO
EASY
TO
SPOT

7. NONPHYSICAL BOTTLENECKS
POLICIES
SKILLS
ATTITUDE

8. PEOPLE AND BOTTLENECKS
BEING A BOTTLENECK
VS
INDUCING/CREATING
BOTTLENECKS

9. 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

10. INDUCING/CREATING
BOTTLENECKS
OFTEN DUE TO
OBSESSION WITH
EFFICIENCY AND CONTROL

11. 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

12. WEAPONS OF
FLOW DESTRUCTION
HOW DO YOU SPOT
BOTTLENECKS?
WARNING:
THE MAIN ISSUE IS NOT BOTTLENECKS
BUT THEIR ECONOMIC IMPACT

13. FOCUS ON FLOW
VISUALIZE AND MEASURE

14. VISUALIZE FLOW
ideas
elaborate
do
delivered
validate
B
C
D
F
E
A

15. VISUALIZE FLOW
B
C
D
F
E
A
ideas
elaborate
do
delivered
validate

16. MEASURE FLOW
B
C
D
F
E
A
ideas
elaborate
do
delivered
validate
G
H
I
sub-cycle times

17. 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

18. SPEED AT BOTTLENECK
FLOW = VELOCITY x AREA
VELOCITY IS LOWER BEFORE BOTTLENECK

19. BOTTLENECKS
B
C
D
F
E
A
ideas
elaborate
do
delivered
validate
G
H
I
gate
J
K

20. BOTTLENECKS
B
C
D
F
E
A
ideas
elaborate
do
delivered
validate
G
H
I
gate
J
K
L

21. BOTTLENECKS
B
C
D
F
E
A
ideas
elaborate
do
delivered
validate
G
H
I
J
K
L
gate
ITEMS
QUEUEING
UP
EMPTY
AREA

22. CHARTING
CC (CONTROL CHART)
CFD (CUMULATIVE FLOW DIAGRAM)

23. CONTROL CHART
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
average
cycleLme
UCL
LCL
cycle
Lme
KNOWLEDGE WORK
HAS HIGH VARIABILITY

24. CONTROL CHART
EFFECT OF
BOTTLENECK
0
5
10
15
20
25
average
cycleLme
UCL
LCL
cycle
Lme

25. CFD
Lme
cumulaLve
quanLty
arrivals
departures
WIP
(avg.
queue
size)
cycle
Lme
(avg.
Lme
in
queue)
arrivals
departures
AIRPORT CHECK-IN

26. CFD
Lme
cumulaLve
quanLty
arrivals
departures
WIP
(avg.
queue
size)
cycle
Lme
(avg.
Lme
in
queue)
arrivals
departures
AIRPORT CHECK-IN

27. CFD
Lme
cumulaLve
quanLty
arrivals
departures
WIP
(avg.
queue
size)
cycle
Lme
(avg.
Lme
in
queue)
arrivals
departures
AIRPORT CHECK-IN

28. CFD
Lme
cumulaLve
quanLty
faster
arrivals
AIRPORT CHECK-IN

29. Lme
cumulaLve
quanLty
QUEUE
LENGTH
AND
WAITING
TIME
INCREASE
WIP
cycle
Lme
AIRPORT CHECK-IN
FASTER ARRIVALS
CFD

30. Lme
cumulaLve
quanLty
WIP
cycle
Lme
CFD
AIRPORT CHECK-IN
FASTER ARRIVALS
arrivals
departures

31. Lme
cumulaLve
quanLty
WIP
cycle
Lme
CFD
AIRPORT CHECK-IN
FASTER ARRIVALS
arrivals
departures

32. BACK TO OUR
BOTTLENECK EXAMPLE
CFD

33. BACK TO OUR
BOTTLENECK EXAMPLE
CFD
FLAT
LINE,
HEIGHT
GOES
TO
ZERO
INCREASING
HEIGHT
(QUEUE)

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

35. 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

36. FOCUS ON THE REAL PROBLEM

37. REDUCE BATCH SIZE
SMALLER BATCHES REDUCE
QUEUE SIZE
CYCLE TIME
FLOW VARIABILITY
FEEDBACK DELAY
RISK
OVERHEAD
BEFORE ATTACKING BOTTLENECKS

38. IT IS EASIER TO START
THAN IT IS TO FINISH
MULTITASKING

39. 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

40. MULTITASKING SUCKS
visualphotos.com
1
2
3
4
5
6
YOUR
MULTITASKING
IS
MY
BOTTLENECK
Jim
Benson
1
2
3
4
5
6

41. 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

42. 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

43. 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

44. AGILE HAS INTRODUCED
A NEW BOTTLENECK
BACKLOG
TECH
BUSINESS
UNFORTUNATELY
POTENTIAL
v

45. AGILE HAS INTRODUCED
A NEW BOTTLENECK
BACKLOG
COMMITTED
OR
NOT?
STATIC
OR
DYNAMIC?
PUSH
OR
PULL?
COST
OF
DELAY?
UNFORTUNATELY
POTENTIAL
v

46. THE
PRODUCT
OWNER
NOT
AVAILABLE
NOT
KNOWLEDGEABLE
NOT
AUTHORITATIVE
NOT
COMMUNICATIVE
TOO
MUCH
FOR
ONE
PERSON?

47. YES
BUT
YET ANOTHER
KIND OF BOTTLENECK
RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
EMBRACING JUST SOME OF IT
NEVER CHANGING BOARD DESIGN,
POLICIES, WIP LIMITS, ETC.
KANBUT

48. WRAPPING UP
FOCUS ON FLOW
BEWARE OF VARIABILITY
REDUCE BATCH SIZE
CONSTRAIN WIP

49. “the greatest waste…
is failure to use the abilities of people…
to learn about their frustrations…”
E.Deming
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

50. TRUST
LEARN
KANBAN BUILDS TRUST
AND FOSTERS A LEARNING CULTURE

51. TRUST != HERO CULTURE
TRUST CAN SCALE
HEROES DON’T
C.Moody

52. AM I THE BOTTLENECK?
NEVER STOP ASKING YOURSELF

54. Gaetano Mazzanti
Agile42
@mgaewsj
gaetano.mazzanti@agile42.com