Hyper-Productive. Knowledge Work. Performance. The TameFlow Approach. and Its Application to. Serum and Kanban. Steve Tendon.

Transcription

1 Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance The TameFlow Approach and Its Application to Serum and Kanban Steve Tendon Wolfram Müller

2 CONTENTS Foreword About the Author Acknowledgments WAV xi xv xvii xviii Part I TameFlow Principles of Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance 1 Chapter 1 A Case of Software Hyper-Productivity 3 The Case of Borland Quattro Pro for Windows 4 Most Productive Ever and Precursor to Serum and XP 4 Barbarians, Not Burrocrats! 5 Organizational Culture 6 Losing Hyper-Productivity 7 Software Hyper-Productivity Is Transferable 7 The Borland Portfolio 8 Possible and Transferable, but Not Duplicable 9 Why Care? 11 So How Do You Get There? 12 Chapter 2 Shapes and Patterns of Hyper-Productivity 13 Natural Force-based Social Networks (Adjacency Diagrams) 13 The Adjacency Diagrams of Quattro Pro for Windows 15 Interaction Grids 15 The Interaction Grid of Quattro Pro for Windows 17 Other Metrics 17 Connectedness 17 Communication Saturation 17 Communication Intensity Ratio 18 From Shapes to Patterns 18 Patterns of Communication and Organization 18 Hyper-Productive Patterns 19 The Powerful Generative Nature of Patterns 20 The Prevalence of Structure and Values over Process 20 Early Signs of Serum 21 iii

3 iv Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance Serum as Prepackaged Pattems 23 Scrum's Rediscovery of Pattems 23 Scrumbuts, Blue Pills, and Red Pills 24 Serum Does Not Lead to Hyper-Productivity 25 Chapter 3 The Natura of Knowledge Work 27 From Rationalism to Empiricism 27 Uncertainty, Incompleteness, and Wegner's Lemma 28 Rationale for Empiricism in Knowledge Work 29 Interactions Demand Empiricism 29 Empiricism in Strategie Management and Architecture 30 Chapter 4 Managemente Profound UnderStanding of Knowledge Work 31 Profound Understanding of the Fundamental Process 31 The Wicked Problem of Strategy Making 32 Coping with Wicked Problems 34 Empiricism at the Heart of Strategy Making 34 Capital Goods and Social Leaming Processes 35 Knowledge about Product and about Process 35 Strategy Making, Artful Making, and Software Development 36 Chapter 5 Managements Responsibility and Learning Organization 41 Process Innovation and Double-Loop Leaming 41 The Executive's Achilles' Heel 42 Dealing with Failure 42 Defensive Reasoning 43 Change Has to Start at the Top 43 Promoting Openness and Dialogue 43 Chapter 6 Discovery Driven Flanning 45 A Latent Conflict 45 Buy or Create Knowledge 45 Managements Conflict: Plan or Experiment? 46 The Discovery Driven Flanning Approach 47 A Disciplined Approach 48 Counting the Beans Backward 49 Tolerance for Failure 49 Assumptions Are Constantly Checked and Rechecked 50 Chapter 7 Budgets Considered Harmful 51 Beyond Budgeting 51 Beyond Budgeting 1s Attuned to the Empirical Approach 52 Beyond Budgeting Supports the Noble Pattems 53

4 Contents v A Note on the Lean Startup Perspective 54 Chapter 8 Creating a Shared Vision at the Team Level 57 The Problem: True Teamwork Is Difficult to Achieve in a Business Setting 57 A Daring Solution: Jim McCarthy's Core Protocols 58 The Commitments and Protocols 58 Checking In 59 The Check In Protocol 59 The Check Out Protocol 60 The Pass Protocol 60 Deciding 60 Resolution Protocol 61 Decision Making as the Key Team-Building Process 61 Ecology of Ideas 62 Protocol Check and Intention Check 62 Aligning 62 Envisioning 63 Validity and Caveats 64 Chapter 9 Critical Roles, Leadership, and More 65 The Patron Role 65 Play by the Rules of the Game 66 Lessons from Open Source Projects 67 The Power and Consequences of Forkability 67 The Power and Consequences of Community 68 The Open Source Governance Model 69 The Thinking Processes of the Theory of Constraints Poster Unanimity 70 A Counterproductive Role: The Serum Master 70 The Solitary Programmer 72 The Leader Is Part of the Team 72 Pride, Fun, and Slack 72 Chapter 10 The Thinking Processes 75 Current Reality Tree and Relevant Problem 77 Undesirable Effects and Root Causes 77 Span of Control and Sphere of Influence 78 Human Factors and Change Management 79 Categories of Legitimate Reservation 79 Policy Constraints 80 The Layers of Resistance 80 Chapter 11 Throughput Accounting 83 Throughput Accounting Versus Cost Accounting 84

5 % vi Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance Cost Accounting Is Not for Management Decisions 84 Throughput Accounting Can Be Reconciled with Cost Accounting 85 Throughput Accounting for Software Engineering 86 Example: Decrease Operating Expense by Avoiding Feature Creep 86 Example: Decrease Investment and Operating Expense with Open Source Software 87 Example: Increase Throughput by Targeting the Long Tail 87 Considerations on Combining the Examples 87 Software Production Metrics in Throughput Accounting 88 Throughput Accounting's Effects on Delivery 89 Throughput Accounting's Effects on Other Common Processes 89 Conclusion 90 Chapter 12 Herbie and Kanban 91 The Story of Herbie 91 Herbie and Work in Process 94 The Five Focusing Steps 94 Step 1: Identify the Constraint "Herbie!" 94 Step 2: Exploit the Constraint "C'mon Herbie! Speed up!" 94 Step 3: Subordinate to the Constraint "Everybody stays behind Herbie!" 94 Step 4: Elevate the Constraint "Everybody carries a piece of Herbie's gear!" 95 Step 5: Repeat! 95 The Unstated Step 0 95 The Secret Step 6 95 From Stepping Stones to the Kanban Board 95 A Philosophy of Ongoing Improvement 97 Chapter 13 The Financial Metrie Supporting Unity of Purpose and Community of Trust 99 Problem: Conflicting Metrics and Incentives 99 Decision Making That Creates Disharmonies 100 Solution: Adopt a System-wide Metrie 102 Implementation: Focus on Flow 103 Command-and-Control Management 109 Cost Accounting Is a Root Cause of Command-and-Control Management 147 A Common Goal and a Common Enemy 110 Chapter 14 The Kanban Method, Flow, and Throughput 111 Gelting Started with Kanban 112 The Four Founding Principles of Kanban 112 The Six Core Practices of Kanban 112 The Nine Values of Kanban 113 The Kanban Lens 113

6 Contents vii The Three Kanban Agendas 114 Links between the Theory of Constraints and Kanban 114 A Little about Flow and Throughput 115 The Consequences of Variation 116 The Mirage of Balancing the Flow 118 Where to Improve 121 Chapter 15 Understanding the Impact of a Constraint 127 Choosing between Two Processes 127 The Lean Perspective 128 The Accounting Perspective 128 The Constraints Management Perspective 131 Constraints are Archimedean Levers 135 Constraints Management Is Key to Throughput Performance 135 Constraints and Service Level Agreements 135 Constraints and Investment Decisions 136 Chapter 16 The (Super-) Human Side of Flow 137 From Happiness to Hyper-Productivity 137 The Mental State of Flow 138 Flow Triggers 138 Environmental Flow Triggers 139 Psychological Triggers 139 Social Triggers 140 Creative Triggers 142 The State of Flow and Organizational Hyper-Productivity 142 Part II Hyper-Productive Serum and Kanban: Applying the TameFlow Perspective 143 Chapter 17 Challenges of Work-State Work in Process Limits 145 Process Management and Process Improvement in Kanban 145 The Rationale behind Work-State WIP Limits 148 The Positives of Work-State WIP Limits 149 The Challenges with Work-State WIP Limits 150 The Negatives of Work-State WIP Limits 151 Thirteen Problems with Work-State WIP Limits 151 Induced Instability 154 Work-State WIP Limits Are Useful when Starting 155 Evolutionary but Directionless Improvements 155 Flow-Time Reduction Is Important 156 Work-State WIP Limits Create Bottlenecks and Ignore the Real Constraint 156 Bottlenecks Are Not Constraints 157

7 viii Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance Finding the Primary Constraint on a Kanban Board 158 The Guidance of Flow Time 158 What Is Next? 158 Chapter 18 TameFlow-Kanban: The Throughput Focused Kanban 161 Finding the Real Herbie 162 The Need for the Real Kanban 164 Toyota Production System Kanban 164 Real Kanban on a Kanban Board 165 Drum-Buffer-Rope 167 Drum-Buffer-Rope with Visible Replenishment Signal 168 The Replenishment Token Is the Drum Beat 170 Capacity in the System Versus Capacity on the Constraint 171 The Replenishment Pull Rule 171 Buffer Signals 173 Replenishment Signals 175 When Murphy Surrounds Herbie 177 Summary of TameFlow-Kanban 177 Chapter 19 Understanding Common Cause Variation 179 Common Cause Variation 180 The Shortcoming of Kanban 181 Variation across the Board 182 Common, Special, Assignable, and Chance Causes 183 The Power of Improving with Common Causes 184 What Is Next? 186 Chapter 20 Improving While in the Flow 187 Minimum Marketable Releases 187 MMRs as a WIP-Limiting Unit of Work 189 An MMR is a Small Target-Scope Project 189 An MMR is a Unit of Commitment 190 An MMR Limits Work in Process 190 Manage Risk by Varying Time, Not Scope 191 CUTTING THE BACKLOG Does Not Cut It 191 Lessens from Critical Chain Project Management 191 The Best of Two Worlds 193 The Theory of Constraints Perspective 193 The MMR Buffer 193 Buffer Sizing 195 Buffer Management, Usage, and Interpretation 199 Buffer Burn Rate 199 Buffer Zones 201

8 Contents ix Buffer Charts 202 Buffer Fever Charts 202 Buffer Control Charts 203 Thresholds and Signals 204 Trends 205 Cumulative Flow Diagrams 205 Burn-up Chart with Buffer Zones 206 Combining Diagrams and Charts 206 Signal Reaction Handled by Normal Kanban Policies 209 How to Build and Monitor an MMR Buffer 209 Little's Law and the Assumption of Steady/Ideal State of Flow 210 Little's Law and the Conditions of Maximum Sustainable Pace 210 Advanced Buffer Management 212 Management of Extra Work 212 Management of Unplanned Work 214 Slack Management and Improvement Capacity 216 Cross-team Collaboration 216 Portfolio Management 217 Chapter 21 Root Cause Analysis the Theory of Constraints Way 219 Risk Detection and Classification 219 Reason Tracking 220 The Example 220 Frequency Analysis and Pareto Analysis 221 A Note on Classical Process Improvement Initiatives 223 A Note on Agile Retrospectives 223 Root Cause Analysis 224 Relevant Problem and Current Reality Tree 224 From Reason Codes to Undesirable Effects 225 Assumptions for Actions May Be Undesirable Effects 225 Validating the Assumptions 227 Validating the Cause-Effect Relationships 227 Searching Deeper 229 Searching Wider: Multiple Causes and Additional Causes 229 Do Not Ignore Obvious Causes 230 Multiple Root Causes 231 Changing the Reality 232 Span of Control 232 Sphere of Influence 233 ManyWhys 233 Injections 235 Influence and Change 235

9 x Hyper-Productive Knowledge Work Performance Layers of Resistance and Persuasion Techniques 237 Chapter 22 In Practica with Serum 239 One Way to Hyper-Productivity 239 Organizational Change Is Hard and Takes a Long Time 240 How to Design Easy and Fast Organizational Change! 240 Where Is This Constraint? 242 What Is the Right Order to Start? 244 Step 1: Reliable Serum or Reliable Kanban 246 Step 2: TameFlow-Scrum or Drum-Buffer-Rope 246 Chapter 23 Reliable Serum and Reliable Kanban 247 Define a Major Release 249 Complete the Backlog 250 Balance Resources, Backlog, and Due Date 250 Execution Control 253 Reliable Serum, the Hero for Product Owners 256 The Portfolio Overview 257 Chapter 24 From Reliable to TameFlow-Scrum 259 The Optimum 259 How to Bring TameFlow-Scrum to Life? 261 Drum-Buffer-Rope as the Steering Mechanism 261 Chapter 25 From Production to Projects 267 Critical Chain 267 Agile Enterprise 268 People Business 268 Appendix A 271 Bibliography 283 Index 297