Setting Initial WIP Limits
Starting Point: Team Size as Initial Upper Bound If team size = 5: A reasonable initial WIP cap is: WIP […]
Flow, Kanban
Flow
Flow, Kanban
When Work Ages: Block It or Remove It from WIP?
When a work item starts to age beyond expectation, teams often face a practical question: Should we move it to
Flow, Kanban, Scrum
QA as a Separate Workflow State Breaks Flow
QA as a Separate Workflow State Breaks Flow Many teams still model testing as a distinct workflow state. Work moves
Flow, Kanban
What an Aging Breach is Telling You
What an Aging Breach Is Really Telling You In Kanban systems, aging is often misunderstood. Teams notice work items getting
Flow, Kanban
Kanban as a Control Plane for Knowledge Work
One of the most common misunderstandings about Kanban is that it is a way of doing the work. It isn’t.
Flow, Kanban
The One Rule That Makes Kanban Work
Kanban is often explained as a collection of practices: Visualize work.Limit WIP.Manage flow.Improve continuously. All of these are correct.None of
Flow, Kanban, Scrum
Flow-Based Agility vs. Timeboxes
Flow-based agility (e.g., Kanban) and timeboxed agility (e.g., Scrum) represent two distinct approaches to managing work. The primary difference lies
Flow, Kanban
Lean Principles Revisited
Lean Principles Revisited: Why Kanban Is a Control System Lean principles are widely taught, widely cited, and widely misunderstood—especially in
Flow, Kanban
Why Stop Starting is Hard
Why Stop Starting Is So Hard If there is one behavior that undermines flow more than any other, it is
Flow, Kanban
Kanban as a Flow Control Protocol
One of the most persistent misunderstandings about Kanban is the belief that it is primarily a visualization technique. Boards. Columns.
Flow, Kanban
Superficial Kanban
Many organizations say they are “doing Kanban.”They have boards. They have columns. They move cards. And yet, nothing actually changes.
Flow, Kanban
Kanban as Process Control
Kanban as a Process Control System Flow-based management can be understood most clearly by borrowing a concept from control theory.
Flow, SAFe
Flow Metrics for PI Execution
Moving ART Sync from Status Reporting to Flow Control Most Agile Release Trains begin PI execution with the right intentions—and
Flow, Portfolio Management, SAFe
Flow-Based LPM
SAFe LPM Refresher In the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), the practice of treating Epics as testable hypotheses is a core
Flow, Kanban, SAFe
When Flow Triggers Replace Calendar-Based Governance (What That Really Means)
The Role of Cadence (Still Essential) Cadence does not disappear in a flow-based governance model. Regular, predictable cadence is intentionally
Flow, Kanban, SAFe, Scrum
Why We Only Talk About Aging Work
Why We Only Talk About Aging Work For years, I facilitated daily standups that looked like most others:round-robin updates, status
Flow, SAFe
From Strategy to Delivery: A Flow-Based Model
Strategy → Portfolio → ART Backlog → Delivery One of the most common failure modes I see in large-scale Agile
Flow, Kanban, SAFe
Pulling Work Continuously in SAFe
What Does “Pulling Work Continuously” Actually Look Like? In my previous article, I argued that when an organization has a
Flow, SAFe
Beyond PI Planning
PI Planning, as commonly practiced, often functions as a form of Big Up-Front Planning (BUFP). PI Planning is a key
Agile Planning, Flow
Monte Carlo Forecasting for Agile Teams
The Monte Carlo Method can be used to analyze past data and then predict a range of future outcomes. This can be applied to situations where there is no single deterministic answer, like software development planning.