While Kanban is gaining more and more traction in the tech industry, we start to experience the same challenges as when the popularity of Agile started to rise. People get interested and ask "What is this Kanban thing I see popping up everywhere?". As soon as they learn the basics about it, the human brain does what it always does when processing information. It compares to what it already knows. This is where we lose our ability to learn something without prejudice. We come up with arguments why these new idea are not as good as the ones we are used to. In this presentation, I will cover 5 of the most common arguments against Kanban and explain why they are flawed, by exploring Kanban in depth. You will learn how to respond to these questions and get a more profound knowledge on the foundations of Kanban.

1. ARGUMENTS
against
KANBAN
@NickOostvogels

2. Kanban is on the rise
Source : VersionOne - State of Agile Survey 2011

3. When introducing
new ideas…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smannion/3385144016/

4. People compare it
to what they know
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mvjantzen/4815422633/

5. … and
start to
criticize
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-g-uk/3913466332/

6. Kanban is hard to
explain
briefly
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalmums/6310508350/

7. That’s normal
• Kanban is a change
management approach,
not a process
• Less prescriptive
• It’s roots go all the way back to
lean thinking

8. What is Kanban?
In Industry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scania/2869199313/

9. In Software Development
Change Management
approach
that employs a WIP
limited pull system
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adelcambre/2768856149/

10. 1. Start with what you now
2. Agree to pursue incremental,
evolutionary change
3. Initially, respect current roles,
responsibilities & job titles
Source : limitedwipsociety.org

11. then adopt the core practices
1. Visualize
2. Limit Work In Progress
3. Manage Flow
4. Make Process Policies Explicit
5. Improve Collaboratively
Source : limitedwipsociety.org

12. For me …
Kanban is a way
to change your process into one
that focuses on end to end value
and getting stuff delivered.

13. And that’s hard to sell !

14. Available soon on

15. 5 tough questions
1. We lose our ability to plan
2. It will take longer
3. Things will get stuck
4. Stakeholders don’t care
about feeding the flow
5. We will lose team
cohesion

16. we lose
our
ability
to plan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/

17. No
estimates?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

18. Customers

19. Managing people
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lambdachialpha/3795728748/

20. Release planning
Translation into
Initial
requirements
specs
Estimation
Review
Release
estimations
Plan

21. Issues
• Not a repeatable process
• Never built something alike
• (educated) GUESSING
• Software dev = Creative
process

22. Kanban : measuring

23. Different
sizes ???
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaydedman/2593673396/

24. Use a scale
compare

25. Keep features small

26. Why sizing?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lawdeda/4094259672/

27. Planning with
measurements

28. Reduce variation
1. Reliable planning
2. Fast response
3. Stabilize the process
4. Base for continuous
improvement

29. Small releases
Kanban != continuous deployment

30. Small releases
Kanban can lead to continuous
deployment

31. Won’t this
annoy
our users?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

32. Small releases
NO, because…
• Updates will be smaller
• Risk for bugs is lower
+ Releasing early creates a
sense of urgency

33. options for Re-planning
1. Reprioritize the input queue
2. Cadence
3. Pull a planning meeting

34. it will
take
longer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/

35. No
deadlines?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

36. Parkinson’s
law
“The amount of time which one has
to perform a task …
… is the amount of time it will take
to complete the task.”

37. Management by cost

38. Healthy balance in
Kanban
Managing by measuring

39. Healthy balance in
Kanban
Helping to improve
instead of command & control

40. Theory of
Constraints
for process
improvement
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96dpi/3371440496/

41. the weakest chain determines
the rate of the entire system

42. the WIP Limits will let
you feel the TOC and
do something about it

43. Flow
• Only work on customer orders
• Reduce guessing to avoid
waste
• Limit WIP to reduce inventory,
cost & risk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23945877@N05/2623633694/

44. WIP limits create
a pull system

45. Isn’t this
inefficient?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

46. NO, it reduces risk & waste!
Not pulling = risk of No WIP Limits =
starting something cost of waiting +
that doesn’t match risk of getting
expectations obsolete

47. Things will
get stuck,
we can’t
keep WIP
limits! http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/

48. “Our testers can never keep
up the pace of our
developers.
Developers would be idle for
half of the time!”

49. Remember:
Kanban doesn’t focus on
maximizing utilization of
people

50. End to end flow efficiency
http://www.flickr.com/photos/serdar/125457544/

51. WIP limits will always
cause bottlenecks
That’s a good thing!
It drives continuous improvement
towards end to end efficiency

52. Being idle due to uneven flow
distribution drives people crazy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annayanev/3491617954/

53. Ex. 1 - Requirements

54. Ex. 2 - Defects

55. Ex. 3 - Deployment

56. Ex. 4 - Emergencies

57. Ex. 4 - Emergencies

58. Collaboration

59. Stakeholders
don’t care
about feeding
the flow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/

60. Prioritization doesn’t have to
be on task level

61. Clear rules make
prioritization easier
• What is the type of feature? (new,
bug, enhancement, ...)
• What is the business value?
• What is the cost of delay and which
type?
• Any dependencies on other
features?
• …

62. it forces stakeholders to do
their homework!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cayusa/2194119780/

63. building an MVP
Stakeholders care
about
Return on
Investment
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59937401@N07/5929491095/

64. Stakeholder collaboration

65. focus on economic decisions
instead of fighting for capacity
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpeepz/6236688/

66. Expectation
management

67. we will
lose
team cohesion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40358860@N04/4250860618/

68. Won’t the team turn into
factory workers?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psit/5207166416/

69. WIP limits lead to
cross-boundary
communication

70. Good teams have a
common goal
http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicshed/161716498/

71. Vertical organized
companies lead to teams
with conflicting goals
That’s why cross-
departmental functions
were created

72. in Kanban, everybody
contributes to the
end 2 end process
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saamiam/4203685689/

73. this is a powerful change
management approach
• no theoretical frameworks
• no new job descriptions
• only some basic rules

74. What about
creative
thinking?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

75. The focus on improving
flow stimulates creativity
• Team will start to investigate
• Limit back-cycles
• Lead & Cycle time measuring
stimulates close collaboration

76. Will it
cause a
death march?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photojonny/2268845904/

77. Measurements are used to
understand reality
& have a base for improvement
http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnavy/6083504722/

78. Not pushing to go faster
but improving end 2 end
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwp-roger/3854246685/

79. Now you have a response!
1. We lose our ability to plan
2. It will take longer
3. Things will get stuck
4. Stakeholders don’t care
about feeding the flow
5. We will lose team cohesion

80. Thanks!
@NickOostvogels
www.SkyCoach.be