C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

By: Harlan Beverly

AGILE MANIFESTO & KANBAN

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

The Independence PhaseHabit 1: Be Proactive

- Reaction & Control

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind- Know Thyself & Thy Goal

Habit 3: Put First Things First- Personal Management

7 HABITS REVIEW

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Can you help others if you are a mess?The Next Phase: Interdependence…

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Mutually Benefical Solutions exists….Win-Win or No Deal.

The Vacationers Story!Kids-adventure (theme park). Mom-relaxation (Spa!). Dad-

nature! (outdoors!)Win Win?

THINKING WIN-WIN

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Engineers want:To be appreciated, not fail, know what to do, be respected.

Management wants:To generate revenues, to forecast accurately, to be the best in

class, to beat the market, to get a competitive advantage.

Product Managers want:To ship on time, to ship the right stuff, to get all the features in.

How can this be a win-win? What are the conflicts?

A WIN-WIN FOR MANAGEMENT, PRODUCT MANAGERS & DEVELOPERS?

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

What if, we could find a system that would:• Ship on time consistently

• Ship early• Generate revenues early

• Allow learning for better predicted revenues• Allow for fast iteration to be best in class

• Provide ample “feelings of respect and appreciation”• AND allow all the features to get in?

• Too good to be true? Or win-win?

WHAT IF?

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

THE AGILE MANIFESTO

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Our highest priority is to satisfy the customerthrough early and continuous delivery

of valuable software.Welcome changing requirements, even late in 

development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.

Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a 

preference to the shorter timescale.Business people and developers must work 

together daily throughout the project.Build projects around motivated individuals. 

Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.

The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development 

team is face-to-face conversation.

12 AGILE PRINCIPLES (1-6)

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Working software is the primary measure of progress.Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able 

to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.Continuous attention to technical excellence 

and good design enhances agility.Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount 

of work not done--is essential.The best architectures, requirements, and designs 

emerge from self-organizing teams.At regular intervals, the team reflects on how 

to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

12 AGILE PRINCIPLES (7-12)

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

AGILE DIAGRAM

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Engineers want:To be appreciated, not fail, know what to do, be respected.

• Agile: every 2-weeks know what to do, and get credit for ‘shipping’ every 2 weeks… (opportunities for respect/appreciation!)!

Management wants:To generate revenues, to forecast accurately, to be the best in class, to beat the

market, to get a competitive advantage.* Agile: revenue generated fast, forecasts more accurate based on real data,

constant improvement, fast to market, evolves quickly to be best

Product Managers want:To ship on time, to ship the right stuff, to get all the features in.

• Agile: ships on time! Ships right stuff, as reprioritized biweekly, all the features “eventually” get in (HARDEST ISSUE IS YOURS!!!)

• WORTH IT? Worth not having ‘all the features’ at launch????

IS AGILE A WIN-WIN?

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

1. Failure to launch?2. Conflicting goals: Time vs Efficiency?3. Lost Revenue due to late?4. Over-padding/Estimation Fallacy?5. Early Finish/Late Start Fallacy?6. Multitasking Fallacy?7. Parkinson’s Law?8. Changes in Scope/Features?9. Unclear Definition of Done?

PROBLEM REVIEW.. DOES AGILE SOLVE THEM?

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Software Only?Hardware?

Movies/Videos?Games?Radio?

Restaurants?

WHERE DOES AGILE NOT WORK?

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Deciding to Go For it!

Then realize, you have to cut, cut, cut to a 2-week ship date!

Then ship.

(Remember Megan’s “Fear”… the Lizard Brain?)

THE FIRST, AND HARDEST STEP…

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

In Japan, some parks require you to “take a card/ticket” to get in; return the ticket when you leave. Why?

KANBAN

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

KaizenContinuous flow of incremental improvements.

KanbanA progress tracking approach that follows instances through a process.  Literally ‘billboard’.

Genchi Genbutsumeans "go and see" and it is a key principle of the Toyota Production System. It suggests that in

order to truly understand a situation one needs to go to gemba (現場 ) or, the 'real place' - where work is done.

Poka YokeMaking error proof.  Creating something so that mistakes cannot be made.

Muda, Mura and Muri… are the three forms of waste

MudaWasted effort

MuraInconsistency

MuriUnreasonable – even ridiculous – requirements

JAPANESE

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Anything that does not add value to a customer is waste (Muda).

Unused SpecificationsUnused Code

Features that customers don’t useBureaucracy

Reading emailsDelays in developmentUnnecessary Meetings

DocumentationReally clever systems

KANBAN CORE PRINCIPLE: ELIMINATE WASTE

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

How do you know if customers will use the feature until you ship it?

So shouldn’t you ship it the fastest/easiest path first to find out?

Once you know customers “actually use it”, then you should build a system for it.

• Shorten cycle times.• Get the feedback

• Refactor & Automate

KANBAN: GET THE FEEDBACK

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

A visual Board!(with Cards!)

3 Simple Rules:Strict Queue LimitsPull value through

Make it Visible

Why limit WIP?

KANBAN

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Create Columns for Each Step in your process

Pick Limits for “Active” Queues (team size divided by

2 or just be logical)Set “Wait” Queues to 2 or 3, keep small, Eliminate waste,

get feedbackFIFO

If a slot is full, can’t start more work (A.K.A. PULL)

Team sets Queue sizes to be most efficient, experiment

Designed to Limit WIP, More WIP means slower flow

KANBAN BOARD

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

3 Queues to show prioritiesSet back log limit for each board to equal number of slots on WIP

Make assumption relative sizes will be closeSame number of items in WIP on each board (22 in this example)Add up the “units” to ensure they are close, move wait line if they

are considerably (not marginally) offCan now forecast based on logical assumptions

Schedule regular backlog honing meetings with customer, rules at top

Trigger release planning meetings when necessaryCard is a TOKEN, physical means real, avoid temptation to live by

a tool

BACKLOG BOARD

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

The 4 Common Techniques:Allow ONLY 1 Silver Bullet

RequestAllow Prioritization with Swim-

lanesKeep the system Lean / reduce

waste (wasted meetings, wasted planning, wasted anything)

Measure and optimize “real-time” throughput (cycle-time of

a ticket).

KANBAN: QUICK REFEREENCE

The 4 Principles:Limit Work-in-Process (WIP)Visualize Work & Workflows

Pull Prioritized Value through the SystemRemove bottlenecks to improve flow (Kaizen)

Less Estimation (no story points). Just “Small, Medium, and Large”… and then calculate averages.

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

What to do if you are blocked? Can’t pull more cards!

Must swarm to free up space!!!

This is why team should be cross-trained… and why

“teamwork” is important.

Teams succeed together.

We either shipped or we didn’t.

SWARMING

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y

Put First Things First.

Organize your Life’s Backlog!

Harlan uses http://toodledo.com ….

The free version allows lists by priority only. (Free way would be put work stuff at low priority, family stuff at highest, and keeps it separate)

(Harlan pays $14.99/yr to use it for work & life & to sync with iPhone.. Multiple lists… but same idea).

Literally, Harlan puts all his work in here as he hears it… re-prioritizes every morning (first thing!).

If it’s a family thing, it goes to family… if its related to a hobby or school, different list.Then when I’m at work, I pull from the work-list.

I have a WIP queue of 1. I try hard NOT to violate my personal list.I used this when I was a programmer too! (I pull from srum board and put on my list).

When I’m done I ship it… and check the box for done. PERIOD.

PERSONAL KANBAN

C O P Y R I G H T 2 0 1 4 H A R L A N B E V E R L Y