Comments for Constant Change http://aaron.sanders.name it's almost certain! Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:54:56 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 Comment on Kanban is the Agile way of saying “Phase Gate” by Aaron http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForConstantChange/~3/KWEC04vWz8Q/comment-page-1 Aaron Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:54:56 +0000 http://aaron.sanders.name/?p=475#comment-620 Hi Paul, I really appreciate your comment and agree that it's just a tool and that the tag line is completely cheesy. This was a quote overheard by someone in the home office and my flippant response. Thanks for reading and taking the time to write! -Aaron Hi Paul, I really appreciate your comment and agree that it’s just a tool and that the tag line is completely cheesy. This was a quote overheard by someone in the home office and my flippant response. Thanks for reading and taking the time to write! -Aaron

]]> http://aaron.sanders.name/agile/kanban-is-the-agile-way-of-saying-phase-gate/comment-page-1#comment-620 Comment on Naked Planning Explained – Kanban in the Small by Is estimation waste? « Quality Software Development with Ease http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForConstantChange/~3/rJUwLHMVwd0/comment-page-1 Is estimation waste? « Quality Software Development with Ease Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:45:15 +0000 http://aaron.sanders.name/kanban/naked-planning-explained-kanban-in-the-small#comment-571 [...] is what I gathered from the above mentioned screencast, Arlo’s comment on this blog entry by Aaron Sanders explaining Naked Planning, this podcast from Agile 2008 and this short video from Agile 2007. I don’t think there is [...] [...] is what I gathered from the above mentioned screencast, Arlo’s comment on this blog entry by Aaron Sanders explaining Naked Planning, this podcast from Agile 2008 and this short video from Agile 2007. I don’t think there is [...]

]]> http://aaron.sanders.name/agile/naked-planning-explained-kanban-in-the-small/comment-page-1#comment-571 Comment on Kanban is the Agile way of saying “Phase Gate” by Paul Beckford http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CommentsForConstantChange/~3/m97gYku8jeg/comment-page-1 Paul Beckford Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:15:49 +0000 http://aaron.sanders.name/?p=475#comment-534 Hi Aaron, "Phase Gate" is not a swear word, an expletive to be permanently removed from our vocabulary. We seemed to have forgotten that many teams delivered software successfully for years under the guise of waterfall including the use of "phase gates". Many of these teams had an "agile" outlook and delivered despite the limitations of the management process used. I see one of the strengths of Kanban as the fact that it lowers the barrier to adoption of a more incremental and dare I say iterative approach to software development for traditional waterfall shops. Incremental development and limiting work in progress is a great step forward for some teams. For some teams full blown Agile is too big a step to be taken in one bound. Kanban allows such teams to bridge the gap whilst making their workflow more visible to management. The problem as I see it is buzz words. Kanban can be Agile and it can be waterfall. The label is not the thing. What counts is how its practiced. As for your tag line: "Kanban is a Lean way of saying, “I trust and respect you”. It reminds me of some of the worst consultant speak I heard back in the 90's were Japanese Quality Circles and "Lean thinking" were being touted as the elixir of life :) Well it's 2010 and western business annihilation at the hands of the Japanese hasn't happened :) The Kanban community would do itself a great service if it got real, dropped the labels and focused on helping teams improve. Whether that be by adopting mini-waterfalls, becoming more agile, adopting lean/system thinking or whatever works. It seems to me that Kanban is agnostic to all these things. It's just a tool. Kanban with phase gates, why not? For some that may be just the thing! Just don't call it Agile :) Paul. Hi Aaron,
“Phase Gate” is not a swear word, an expletive to be permanently removed from our vocabulary. We seemed to have forgotten that many teams delivered software successfully for years under the guise of waterfall including the use of “phase gates”. Many of these teams had an “agile” outlook and delivered despite the limitations of the management process used.

I see one of the strengths of Kanban as the fact that it lowers the barrier to adoption of a more incremental and dare I say iterative approach to software development for traditional waterfall shops. Incremental development and limiting work in progress is a great step forward for some teams. For some teams full blown Agile is too big a step to be taken in one bound. Kanban allows such teams to bridge the gap whilst making their workflow more visible to management.

The problem as I see it is buzz words. Kanban can be Agile and it can be waterfall. The label is not the thing. What counts is how its practiced.

As for your tag line:

“Kanban is a Lean way of saying, “I trust and respect you”.

It reminds me of some of the worst consultant speak I heard back in the 90’s were Japanese Quality Circles and “Lean thinking” were being touted as the elixir of life :) Well it’s 2010 and western business annihilation at the hands of the Japanese hasn’t happened :)

The Kanban community would do itself a great service if it got real, dropped the labels and focused on helping teams improve. Whether that be by adopting mini-waterfalls, becoming more agile, adopting lean/system thinking or whatever works.

It seems to me that Kanban is agnostic to all these things. It’s just a tool. Kanban with phase gates, why not? For some that may be just the thing! Just don’t call it Agile :)

Paul.

]]> http://aaron.sanders.name/agile/kanban-is-the-agile-way-of-saying-phase-gate/comment-page-1#comment-534