Is Santa Agile?

Tony Askey of Post-it Projects asked  "[Are] Santa's elves using Kanban in the toy shop!!?? I can see it happening.  But doesn't it sound a little disturbing hearing about Santa controlling his WIP?  What are the elf labor laws like at the North Pole?

Brian Bozzuto at Big Visible asks, does Santa draft his "naughty and nice" list up front and implement change control or is he Agile?

I hummed a few bars and thought "Making a List, Checking It Twice..."  My answer: Santa isn't necessarily using any kind of Agile process for this.  I do think it's a draft.  He created the (draft) list, it's tested.  Since the song says he does it twice, perhaps he is doing both a unit test & acceptance test.  Once the list is baselined, I bet he does use change control.

Brian's response was then: If he's checking his list twice, why doesn't he automate?

Oh man, I think Brian has just stumbled onto something.  If Santa isn't using automated tests, I bet he's delivering a lot more presents to kids who should be getting coal.  I think the automated test scripts should be ran daily, right up to deployment.  Even if Santa is not doing automated testing, he should be leveraging some kind of automated deployment. Seriously, you think Santa should delpoy all of those toys around the world in one night without some kind of automation?

Though you don't think "Lean" when you think Santa, the guy has be to be leveraging some kind of Agile processes.

Using Stories on my Personal Kanban

A colleague on Twitter asked how do I break down my stories, acceptance criteria etc?  As a reference point, "stories" refer to my use of User Stories on a task board or Kanban.  It's a method of representing requirements or scope.  In upcoming posts, I'll also write about acceptance criteria, size, blocks... Let's say you have some work that needs to be completed or delivered (scope).  Rather than the old fashioned shall statements to define the scope or requirement (system shall do this; system shall not do that), we're going to write a little self-contained story on an index card, post-it note, or something similar.  When we're done, we're going to add the story card to our kanban board.  Our user stories are written from the perspective of the user.  In the case of the personal kanban, that's me.  What you put in your user story may vary. But, for me, the stories have to be self-contained and they have to pass my "why" test.  Though I don't write it in the user story or on the card, I map work I do back to higher level goals.  If the work can't be mapped back to previously defined goals, I'm just wasting time.  Let's try not to do that.

When writing a user story, this is the format I follow

As a <type of user>, I want <goal> so <reason>.

Here it is in action

As a blogger, I want to write a blog post about user stories, so people will understand how I use them.

Now I ask myself "why". What is my predefined goal that it maps back to?

Spend more time writing, speaking, and mentoring and less time directly managing or leading projects.

So, there you have it!  Because I use both an electronic kanban and a physical one, I keep all of the details in the electronic version and use the physical one a visual reference.  It is a constant reminder to myself and others of what I am committed to do, work in progress, work that is blocked, and work recently completed.

Have any question?  Feel free to leave a comment.

The Funnel Effect and My Kanban

GuyKawasaki tweeted about a really cool infographic on Alltop titled Why freeways come to a stop. I checked it out and what most interested me was the graphic The funnel effect (I circled it in red).

WIP

The funnel effect is a really good analogy of why you should limit your work in progress, like I do on my Personal Kanban.  In the analogy, just the right amount of water can go through as fast as it's put into the funnel.  But add extra water to the funnel, and the whole thing backs up.

Personal Kanban

In reality, keeping focus on just the right amount of work can allow you to finish more than if you didn't. Personally, I limit my work in progress to 3 items. I never thought it would have such a positive impact. So, what do you have to lose? Do you have a long list of to-do's, doing a little here and doing a little there?  Do you ever feel like you're not actually getting anything done?  Today, rather than trying to multitask, focus on just a few tasks until they are DONE. If you complete one task, you can add another to your focus list. Remember, 99% done is still not done.  At the end of the day, you'll feel a sense of accomplishment, preventing a traffic jam of work and actually getting stuff done.

My Personal Kanban 2.0

I commonly get asked what I personally use to manage my work. The answer is almost too simple. I use a Personal Kanban. Now, I'm no efficiency guru. I'm no expert on Kanban. I just need a simple system that satisfies a few requirements and makes sense to me.

Personal Kanban

Requirements

1. I need something visual to combat my ADD.

2. It must visually capture all of my Backlog of work.

3. I will help me visualize what Work is In Progress.

4. It allows me (and others) to see what got Done this week.

Now, I've been using task boards for probably half a decade now. When you have that one stakeholder who cruises by your office or cube (constantly) and asks what you're working on, you can point at the wall and not even look up from your monitor. The board proves its worth just by cutting down on those people interrupting your day.  After a while, people get used to knowing what's going on and appreciate the transparency.  It's strange that I need to point that out.  Who benefits by not embracing transparency?  That may be a question left to the comments.

The key difference between a Kanban board and a regular task board is a column limiting your work in progress.  My first exposure to this was from a Scrum Master training session being led by Sanjiv Augustine. Sanjiv displayed a PowerPoint slide of what appeared to be a Los Angeles freeway.  During rush-hour, the number of vehicles coming onto the freeway is limited (by on-ramp lights).  This attempt to control the volume of traffic flow onto the freeway allows vehicles already on the freeway to move at a faster pace and in turn exit the freeway.  This visual freeway analogy was like a light bulb moment for me.  When I got back to the office and began limiting my Work In Progress (WIP), I did indeed increase my delivery rate.  The days of multitasking are now in my past!

Jim Benson

Soon after I started using a Kanban, I met Jim Benson of Modus Cooperandi.  I would describe Jim as a Kanban Sensei.  If you ever want to know more about Kanbans, Jim's your man.  Go check out the  Personal Kanban website.  Though Kanban is kind of a background business process to me, I still check out the site from time to time to see how others are using Kanban.

Tool

To wrap this up, there's only one "tech" tool I use to bridge the gap between my home and office.  It's call AgileZen.  AgileZen is a Kanban web application.  Though I have all of my work  work on my Kanban board at the office, my wife would frown on seeing a wall of post-it notes next to my desk at home.  So, I use AgileZen to manage both my personal and work tasks while away from the office.  Some people may choose to just use the electronic version.  I just can't let go of the satisfaction of moving a post-it note from WIP to Done.

Graphic: Pictofigo

Dr. Seuss Inspired by Personal Kanban

I met Jim Benson about a year or so ago.  He was in Washington DC and I met him for lunch down in Chinatown.  Jim's a pretty smart cookie.  I like what he does.  I sometimes wish I could do what he does but it requires a little more of a balanced mind than I possess.  In the Star Wars universe, Jim would be a Kanban Jedi and I would be a mere Padawan. I used kanban and limited my work-in-progress (WIP) at a previous job but don't have the buyin from my current client to implement the practice here.  I still have a Kanban board hanging on my wall but it's there for me to manage my own work.

Today I read an article on the Personal Kanban website titled "Would You, Could You on a Plane?" It was about a quick offline kanban for in-flight work.  It was informative, as always.  But, the mere title inspired me to write a bit of a ridiculous comment.  Perhaps I read too much Dr. Seuss during my off-time.

Say! I like Kanban! I do! I like it, Sam-I-am! And I would limit WIP in a boat. And I would limit WIP with a goat. And I will limit WIP in the rain. And in the dark. And on a train. And in a car. And in a tree. Limiting WIP is so good so good you see!

So I will limit WIP in a box. And I will limit WIP with a fox. And I will limit WIP in a house. And I will limit WIP with a mouse. And I will limit WIP here and there. Say! I will limit WIP ANYWHERE!

I do so like Limiting WIP and Kanban! Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-am

Strange how a simple title can get me started.  Thank you Jim for doing what you do, even if that means reading ridiculousness comments that I write.

The Pepsi Challenge of Waterfall, Agile, or Kanban

I kind of enjoy it when people get all in a huff over which soda is the best.  It's bad enough they can't even decide what to call it. Is it soda, pop, or soda-pop?  I've even heard a few refer to any brown carbonated non-alcoholic beverages as a "Coke".  I don't get that at all.  I'm going to assume these people just don't care.  All they want is a brown carbonated non-alcoholic beverage that will satisfy their thirst.  As far as soda-pop, I am the complete extreme opposite.  I drink Coca-Cola.  I don't drink Coke; I don't drink Pepsi.  If I ask you for a Coca-Cola and you ask me if Pepsi is OK, I'm going to respond with a stern but polite "No".  But, at the end of the day, I am also just looking for something to satisfy my thirst.  But, I digress. Since the Pepsi Challenge in the mid-70's, there has been another battle raging.  Let's call it the Delivery Challenge.  Regardless of what facts may be reports, detailing which approach lowers risk the most, which approach delivers the most value up front, or which approach leaves the stakeholders feeling the most satisfied, we all have our favorite.  If delivery approaches were soda-pop (yes, soda-pop) in a blind taste test, chances are we'd stick with our favorite regardless of what we may have picked.

From my own perspective, I don't believe we should be so blind to these opportunities.  We should be open to the idea that formulas can be improved and we should be open to the idea that processes can as well.

When I'm dealing with the government client on a particular contract, I use Waterfall.  We're talking Waterfall the size of Niagara Falls.  It's not that I choose this approach (drink).  It's all that is currently offered. When I'm managing my own personal projects and deliverables, I use Agile and Kanban.  I'm not saying one is better than the other!  But, when the choice is mine, I know what I like from each.  I ala carte the way I do things, so (as the customer) I get the most value while not bastardizing the original processes.

I know there are those out there who are cursing me.  They are strict Coke, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper zealots.  Think of me as that kid down at the local Kwik-E-Mart who takes his cup and adds a little of each soda-pop in his 64 ounce cup.  It may look nasty but it sure tastes good.

...and at the end of the day, isn't it important that I just satisfy my thirst?

Image source: USAGeorge

Why You Should Use Common PM Language

I don't normally drink coffee from Starbucks but someone gave me a gift card.  I like black coffee, with no cream or sugar.  I like my coffee fresh so I order a small size.  So, why on Earth did the person behind the counter not listen to me? I ordered a small Caffè Americano. For those who do not drink coffee, that's nothing more than a small espresso and water.  My expectation was I would get a small cup of coffee.  When I looked at my receipt it said Tall.  I brought this to their attention and I was dismissed.  "Oh, it's the same thing."

Well, no, it's not.  Line up the cups and this is what you will see.  Extra-Small, Small, Medium, Large, and Extra-Large.  What does Starbucks call them? Tiny, Small, Tall, Grande, Venti. So, what I got was a medium.  I'm not going to split hairs here.  I'm trying to make a point.  There needs to be a common understanding between the vendor and the customer when you both define the same thing differently.  This is a financial transaction.  I want what I paid for.

How does this apply to Project Management?  From the customer's perspective, what is the definition of done.  From the vendor's perspective, what is the definition?  From every stakeholder perspective, do you all have the same definition of done?  You should!

It's important to note, it doesn't matter which approach you use.  Waterfall, RUP, Agile, or Kanban.  Everyone needs to understand and agree to what done means.

Know who you are and what you represent

The other day I met Scott Simko, who I "knew" through This Week In Startups and Thomas Kiblin, CEO and Founder of Virtacore.  I met them as the founder of HueCubed, a web startup company offering a flashcard engine that we plan to scale like Weblogs, Inc. or Stackoverflow. (Create a niche product and then scale it in other vertical markets)  Our flagship product, PMPrep Flashcards, was released in March and I wanted to meet the people who are hosting our product(s). Up to this point, I have introduced myself as Derek Huether, Project Management Professional® and adviser.  But these people don't know me as that.  They were meeting me as Derek Huether, entrepreneur and founder of a web startup.  As a result, I stumbled when it was time to introduce myself.  Don't make this mistake!

If you wear multiple hats in your organization, you may need to know who you are to different stakeholders.  Is your specialty in Waterfall, Agile, or Kanban?  Take a moment and imagine you are being introduced to someone.  What are you going to say?  This is part personal branding and part stakeholder management.  What I needed was a solid 30 second elevator pitch.  What's the takeaway from this post? Know who you are and what you represent.  It may be different, based on the company you keep.