Category Archives: Kaizen

Work In Process (WIP) Limits, Policies, Etc.

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Derick Bailey

I had a great discussion a few of my team members this morning. We were discussion work in process (WIP) limits, policies, and other items that are related to both of those. By the end of the discussion we had … Continue reading →

Also posted in Agile, Continuous Improvement, Kanban, Lean Systems, Management | Leave a comment

Lean Software & Systems Conference 2010 (#LSSC10) Review

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Derick Bailey

Last week I attended (and presented at) the Lean Software & Systems Conference in Atlanta and it was well worth the trip! Everything from the keynote speakers to the individual sessions, from the hotel accommodations to the conference rooms, was … Continue reading →

Also posted in Community, Continuous Improvement, Kanban, Lean Systems, LSSC, LSSC10InfoQ, Management, Networking, Presentations | 8 Comments

Failure Is Not An Option, It Is A Requirement.

Posted on February 28, 2010 by Derick Bailey

Of course that statement on it’s own can obviously be shown to be fallacy. When you consider the context of continuous improvement, learning or generally advancing our own capabilities and understanding, though, this statement can be quit liberating. Why? Because … Continue reading →

Also posted in Agile, Continuous Improvement, Education, Lean Systems, Retrospectives | 6 Comments

Using ROI As A Constraint, Not An End In Itself

Posted on February 6, 2010 by Derick Bailey

I had a fun conversation over instant messenger yesterday. The original subject matter revolved around a problem that the other person was having and how that problem was consuming a number of minutes per day with repetitive, tedious work. At … Continue reading →

Also posted in Coaching, Management, Metrics, Philosophy of Software | 2 Comments

Can PDCA Help Us Improve Our Test-First Development Efforts?

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Derick Bailey

I was thinking about target conditions and the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle earlier today when a code related issue that I was having popped into head and decided to meld with the current string of thoughts. The resulting thought was leading … Continue reading →

Also posted in Agile, Community, Lean Systems, Philosophy of Software, Standardized Work | 4 Comments

Are We Continuously Improving Or Just Continuously Changing?

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Derick Bailey

Don’t confuse activity – even when it has a visible, measurable effect – with productivity. Without a clear picture of where we are going and why, our best efforts at improvement (though they may be ‘continuous’ efforts) are likely to … Continue reading →

Also posted in Coaching, Lean Systems, Management, Productivity | 3 Comments

“The purpose of kanban is to eliminate the kanban”

Posted on January 30, 2010 by Derick Bailey

I found the quote that title’s this blog post in Mike Rother’s Toyota Kata book – the origin is simply stated as “a Toyota person”.   Kanban: We’re Doing It Wrong The title quote plays hand in hand with a … Continue reading →

Also posted in Kanban, Management | 4 Comments