people as bottlenecks
DESCRIPTION
my talk at Lean Kanban Netherlands 2013 a slightly modified version of the talk I gave at Lean Kanban Nordic 2013TRANSCRIPT
PEOPLE AS BOTTLENECKS
Gaetano Mazzanti Agile42
@mgaewsj
BOTTLENECK:�DEFINITIONS
1 A : A NARROW ROUTE B : A POINT OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION
2 A : SOMEONE OR SOMETHING THAT� RETARDS OR HALTS FREE MOVEMENT� AND PROGRESS B : IMPASSE
Merriam-Webster www.m-w.com
BOTTLENECKS EVERYWHERE
WATER TRAFFIC
MANUFACTURING COMPUTER NETWORKS
KNOWLEDGE WORK
TRAFFIC JAMS IS SLOW TRAFFIC CAUSED BY�
BAD DRIVERS?
Deming 95/5
TRAFFIC JAMS
WHAT ABOUT THESE?
Deming 95/5
BOTTLENECKS
PHYSICAL
NONPHYSICAL
LET’S FOCUS ON THESE UNFORTUNATELY THEY’RE NOT SO EASY TO SPOT
NONPHYSICAL BOTTLENECKS
POLICIES
SKILLS ATTITUDE
PEOPLE AND BOTTLENECKS
BEING A BOTTLENECK VS
INDUCING/CREATING BOTTLENECKS
BEING A BOTTLENECK NOT AVAILABLE (OVERLOAD, TRAVEL, HIDING)
DEFERRING/NOT MAKING DECISIONS (OVERBURDEN, INCOMPETENCE, CYA)
CENTRALIZING DECISIONS/NEVER DELEGATE (CONTROL FREAK)
LACK OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS
SPECIALIST* (MULTIPLE CLIENTS) *formally not a bottleneck but effects are the same
INDUCING/CREATING�BOTTLENECKS
OFTEN DUE TO OBSESSION WITH
EFFICIENCY AND CONTROL
INDUCING/CREATING�BOTTLENECKS
OVERLOADING PEOPLE
ASSIGNING MULTIPLE TASKS
NO FILTERING (“I WANT EVERYTHING”)
HIDING INFORMATION, MAKING�IT AVAILABLE TOO LATE (GENERATING EMERGENCIES)
CREATING/MAINTAINING SILOS AND CEILINGS
MICROMANAGING
PUSH
WEAPONS OF�FLOW DESTRUCTION
HOW DO YOU SPOT BOTTLENECKS?
WARNING: THE MAIN ISSUE IS NOT BOTTLENECKS
BUT THEIR ECONOMIC IMPACT
FOCUS ON FLOW
VISUALIZE AND MEASURE
VISUALIZE FLOW
ideas elaborate do delivered validate
B C
D
F E
A
VISUALIZE FLOW
B
C
D
F E
A
ideas elaborate do delivered validate
MEASURE FLOW
B
C D F
E
A
ideas elaborate do delivered validate
G
H
I sub-cycle times
MEASURE # OF ITEMS�IN SYSTEM (WIP)
B
C D F
E
A
ideas elaborate do delivered validate
G
H
I
# of items in a specific state = 2
# of items in�specific area = 4
total # of�items = 9
SPEED AT BOTTLENECK
FLOW = VELOCITY x AREA
VELOCITY IS LOWER BEFORE BOTTLENECK
BOTTLENECKS
B
C D F
E
A
ideas elaborate do delivered validate
G
H
I
gate
J
K
BOTTLENECKS
B
C
D
F
E
A
ideas elaborate do delivered validate
G H
I
gate
J
K L
BOTTLENECKS
B
C
D
F
E
A
ideas elaborate do delivered validate
G H
I
J
K
L
gate
ITEMS QUEUEING UP
EMPTY AREA
CHARTING
CC (CONTROL CHART) CFD (CUMULATIVE FLOW DIAGRAM)
CONTROL CHART
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
average cycleLme
UCL
LCL
cycle Lme
KNOWLEDGE WORK HAS HIGH VARIABILITY
CONTROL CHART EFFECT OF
BOTTLENECK
0
5
10
15
20
25
average cycleLme
UCL
LCL
cycle Lme
CFD
Lme
cumulaL
ve quanL
ty
arrivals
departures
WIP (avg. queue size)
cycle Lme (avg. Lme in queue)
arrivals departures
AIRPORT CHECK-IN
CFD
Lme
cumulaL
ve quanL
ty
arrivals
departures
WIP (avg. queue size)
cycle Lme (avg. Lme in queue)
arrivals departures
AIRPORT CHECK-IN
CFD
Lme
cumulaL
ve quanL
ty
arrivals
departures
WIP (avg. queue size)
cycle Lme (avg. Lme in queue)
arrivals departures
AIRPORT CHECK-IN
CFD
Lme
cumulaL
ve quanL
ty faster
arrivals
AIRPORT CHECK-IN
Lme
cumulaL
ve quanL
ty
QUEUE LENGTH AND WAITING TIME
INCREASE
WIP
cycle Lme
AIRPORT CHECK-IN FASTER ARRIVALS
CFD
Lme
cumulaL
ve quanL
ty
WIP
cycle Lme
CFD AIRPORT CHECK-IN FASTER ARRIVALS
arrivals departures
Lme
cumulaL
ve quanL
ty
WIP
cycle Lme
CFD AIRPORT CHECK-IN FASTER ARRIVALS
arrivals departures
BACK TO OUR�BOTTLENECK EXAMPLE
CFD
BACK TO OUR�BOTTLENECK EXAMPLE
CFD
FLAT LINE, HEIGHT GOES TO ZERO
INCREASING HEIGHT (QUEUE)
CONSTRAIN WIP HIGH WIP -> LONG CYCLE TIMES HIGH UTILIZATION LEADS TO QUEUES (USE SLACK) THE BIGGER THE QUEUES THE MORE THEY COST
0"
2"
4"
6"
8"
10"
12"
14"
16"
18"
1" 2" 3" 4" 5" 6"
ideas"
elaborate"
do"
validate"
delivered"
BOTTLENECKS AND�WIP CONSTRAINTS
QUEUE MOVES HERE
TWO FLAT LINES
ARTIFICIAL BOTTLENECK
FOCUS ON THE REAL PROBLEM
REDUCE BATCH SIZE
SMALLER BATCHES REDUCE QUEUE SIZE CYCLE TIME FLOW VARIABILITY FEEDBACK DELAY RISK OVERHEAD
BEFORE ATTACKING BOTTLENECKS
IT IS EASIER TO START THAN IT IS TO FINISH
MULTITASKING
MULTITASKING SUCKS MULTITASKING MAKES YOU LOOK�BUSY AND SMART
MULTI-TASKERS�MAKE VERY POOR�MULTI-TASKERS
(Stanford study, 2009)
“they felt productive because they touched so many different tasks – but when tested against people who focused on one thing at a time, multi-taskers lost and lost big”. Eyal Ophir
MULTITASKING SUCKS
visualphotos.com
123456
YOUR MULTITASKING IS MY BOTTLENECK
Jim Benson
12
34
56
T.O.C. APPROACH 1. IDENTIFY THE CONSTRAINT�
(CCR - Capacity Constrained Resource)
2. DECIDE HOW BEST TO EXPLOIT THE CONSTRAINT
3. SUBORDINATE EVERYTHING ELSE TO THE ABOVE DECISIONS
4. ELEVATE THE CONSTRAINT 5. RE-EVALUATE
E.GoldraA
LIMITS OF T.O.C. FLOW ISSUES DO NOT ALWAYS IMPLY A BOTTLENECK KNOWLEDGE WORK HAS HIGH VARIABILITY CCR NOT EASY TO FIND IN THIS CONTEXT ADDING CAPACITY AT BOTTLENECK NOT ALWAYS CONVENIENT BOTTLENECK NEVER RUNNING OUT OF WORK NOT ALWAYS CONVENIENT
LOOKING AT THE WHOLE BOTTLENECKS BEFORE OR AFTER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT PHASE TOO SLOW? PRODUCING INCOHERENT, CONFUSED INFORMATION? LOTS OF REWORK? STAGING AND DEPLOYMENT ISSUES? LAUNCHING PRODUCTS TOO EARLY? LOTS OF REWORK?
SUPPORT
AGILE HAS INTRODUCED�A NEW BOTTLENECK
BACKLOG
TECH BUSINESS
UNFORTUNATELY
POTENTIAL v
AGILE HAS INTRODUCED�A NEW BOTTLENECK
BACKLOG
COMMITTED OR NOT? STATIC OR DYNAMIC? PUSH OR PULL? COST OF DELAY?
UNFORTUNATELY
POTENTIAL v
THE PRODUCT OWNER
NOT AVAILABLE NOT KNOWLEDGEABLE NOT AUTHORITATIVE NOT COMMUNICATIVE TOO MUCH FOR ONE PERSON?
YES BUT
YET ANOTHER�KIND OF BOTTLENECK
RESISTANCE TO CHANGE EMBRACING JUST SOME OF IT NEVER CHANGING BOARD DESIGN, POLICIES, WIP LIMITS, ETC.
KANBUT
WRAPPING UP
FOCUS ON FLOW BEWARE OF VARIABILITY
REDUCE BATCH SIZE CONSTRAIN WIP
“the greatest waste…�is failure to use the abilities of people…�
to learn about their frustrations…” E.Deming
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE
TRUST LEARN
KANBAN BUILDS TRUST AND FOSTERS A LEARNING CULTURE
TRUST != HERO CULTURE
TRUST CAN SCALE HEROES DON’T
C.Moody
AM I THE BOTTLENECK?
NEVER STOP ASKING YOURSELF
Gaetano Mazzanti Agile42
@mgaewsj [email protected]