My presentation from IBM's INDEX Conference in Feb 2018. Discusses Distributed Cognition in Kanban systems and also in the U.S. Navy's Combat Information Center (CIC) in 1942.

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Accelerating Good
Decisions: Kanban for
Distributed Cognition
Trent Hone

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Trent Hone
• Agile Coach with Excella
• 20+ years development
experience
• Award-Winning Historian
• Complexity Theorist

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Kanban Systems
Create an Environment of
Distributed Cognition that Accelerates
Effective Decision-Making
Our Theme

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A management method for:
1. Directly improving service delivery
2. Catalyzing Improvements
3. Evolving a business to be
“fit for purpose”
The Kanban Method

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Kanban Practices
• Visualize
• Limit Work-in-Progress (WIP)
• Manage Flow
• Make Policies Explicit
• Implement Feedback Loops
• Improve Collaboratively, Evolve Experimentally

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Options Ready Define Implement Validate Done
3 5 34
Kanban System
Doing Done Doing Done

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Options Ready Define Implement Validate Done
3 5 34
Kanban System
Doing Done Doing Done

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The Historical
Problem
The U.S. Navy’s Difficulty of
Making Sense of Complex and
Challenging Environments

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History Informs the Present
• Effective decision-
making in uncertain
conditions
• Prussian General Staff
• Stephen Bungay
• Marine Corps Doctrine
• Don Reinertsen

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Pearl Harbor – December 1941

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Prewar Developments
• Evolutionary Improvement
• Effective learning system
• Embrace of “Mission Command”
• OODA – Observe, Orient, Decide, Act

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OODA
12
Act
Observe
Orient
Decide

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Carrier Battles – Early 1942

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The Pacific in 1942

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Night Surface Action

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Radar – “Eyes” at Night

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Real Radar Displays

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The Problem
Captains lose track of the situation
Task forces break down
Coordination proves impossible
But… the information is there

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Making sense of complex and
challenging knowledge work
The Current Problem

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Knowledge Work
• Invisible
• Coordination:
• Necessary
• Difficult
• We lose track of the work

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Knowledge Work
• But… the information is
there
• And… the solution is not
“put it in a tool”

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The Historical Solution

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What was done?

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What was done?
The Combat Information Center

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Combat Information Center

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Combat Information Center
• Made the Invisible Visible
• New Roles Distributed Cognitive Load
• Allowed Rapid Sense-Making through
Visualization and Clear Symbols

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System with cognitive capabilities
greater than the collection of
individuals that operate in the system
Distributed Cognition

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“The Chinese Room”
• John Searle
• Inputs
• Rules (Responses)
• Outputs

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Distributed Cognition
• Human Systems are Cultural Systems
• Rules are implicit until we make them
explicit
• Rules and Symbols are the tools for
creating distributed cognition

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Benefits
• Make sense of the current situation
• Lower individual cognitive burden
• Enable self-organization
• Foster decentralized decision-making
Act
Observe
Orient
Decide

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A management method for:
1. Directly improving service delivery
2. Catalyzing Improvements
3. Evolving a business to be
“fit for purpose”
The Kanban Method

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Kanban Practices
• Visualize
• Limit Work-in-Progress (WIP)
• Manage Flow
• Make Policies Explicit
• Implement Feedback Loops
• Improve Collaboratively, Evolve Experimentally

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Making sense of complex and
challenging knowledge work
Distributed Cognition with Kanban

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The ability to quickly and
consistently make the best
choice for the current situation
Distributed Cognition with Kanban

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Creating a Pull System
• Visualization & WIP Limits
• Creates a Pull System
• Clear Signals
• What action to take
• When to take it

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Options Ready Define Implement Validate Done
3 5 34
Kanban System
Doing Done Doing Done

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Options Ready Define Implement Validate Done
3 5 34
Kanban System
Doing Done Doing Done

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Options Ready Define Implement Validate Done
3 5 34
Kanban System
Doing Done Doing Done

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Classes of Service
• Explicit policies around the
handling of work
• Treating work differently based on:
• Urgency
• Risk
• Source of Request
• Etc…

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Typical Classes of Service
• Expedite (ASAP)
• Fixed Date
• Standard
• Intangible

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Options Ready Define Implement Validate Done
3 5 34
Classes of Service
Doing Done Doing Done
= Standard
= Intangible
= Fixed Date
= Expedite

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Capacity Allocation
• Explicit policies governing the
handling of risk
• Often tied to Classes of Service
• Becomes a Decision
Framework

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Options Ready Define Implement Validate Done
3 5 34
Classes of Service with Capacity Allocation
Doing Done Doing Done
= Standard
= Intangible
= Fixed Date
= Expedite
4
8
3
+1

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Will this Scale?

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Summary
• Distributed Cognition is real
• Allows faster, better decisions
• Enables self-organization
• Helps mitigate risk
• It is enabled through:
• Effective visualization
• Explicit policies

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Act
Observe
Orient
Decide
You can do this too!
Leverage a Kanban System
• Tighter OODA Loop
• Better Decisions
• Continually Improving Fitness