1. LSSC 2012
Kanban:
Thinking tools for
portfolio-level problems
Mike Burrows (@asplake)
Por*olio
Problems
mike@djaa.com
http://positiveincline.com
Kanban
for

2. Why “Portfolio-level problems”?
n Tes$ng
the
Kanban
Method
as
a
thinking
tool
n Less
about
offering
solu$ons
to
copy
n More
about
framing
&
solving
problems
n Idea
&
experience
sharing
Por*olio
Problems
n Good
&
bad
n Contextual
Kanban
for
n Vision

3. Typical scenario
§ Organisation
§ Functional, hierarchical, not co-located, part
outsourced
§ Defined life cycle
§ Well observed
§ Specs, signoffs
§ Cross-functional appetite for improvement,
Por*olio
Problems
resourced
§ Many fixed-date projects
Kanban
for
§ Remaining durations of many months
§ Very low confidence of date compliance

4. Kanban
for
Por*olio
Problems
Cole sees dead people

5. Cole sees dead people
Por*olio
Problems
Kanban
for
I
see
enterprise-­‐scale
problems
of
overwhelming
WIP,
ins$tu$onalized
at
every
level
of
the
organisa$on

6. Characteris$cs
of
typical
top-­‐down
solu$ons
to
porIolio
level
problems
n Narrow
n Compliance-­‐driven
n Push
Por*olio
Problems
n Disconnect
between
person
&
system
Kanban
for
n Disrespect

7. Scaling
up
has
its
issues
too
n “We
don’t
know
what
each
person
is
working
on”
n So
allocate
them?
n “We’ve
no$ced
that
people
are
too
Por*olio
Problems
busy
on
too
many
things”
n So
add
some
front
end
process?
Kanban
for

8. No
maPer
how
narrow
you
make
the
funnel
or
how
fine
you
make
the
filter…
Por*olio
Problems
Kanban
for
...the
pipeline
will
remain
full

9. PorIolio
level
problems
n They’re
very
real
n From
all
sides,
solu$ons
that
don’t
help,
miss
the
point
or
make
things
worse
Por*olio
Problems
Kanban
for

10. The
6
Kanban
prac$ces
–
are
they
even
relevant
here?
1.Visualize
2. Limit work-in-progress
3. Manage flow
4. Make process policies explicit
Por*olio
Problems
5. Implement feedback loops
6. Improve collaboratively (using models)
Kanban
for

11. The
6
Kanban
prac$ces
–
are
they
even
relevant
here?
1.Visualize
2. Limit work-in-progress
3. Manage flow
4. Make process policies explicit
Por*olio
Problems
5. Implement feedback loops
6. Improve collaboratively (using models)
Kanban
for

12. 1.Visualize
n Visualize
work
n Projects1
n Non-­‐projects
n Demand
&
supply
Por*olio
Problems
n Flow,
delivery
Kanban
for
1Disclaimers
apply

13. 2. Limit work-in-progress
n PorIolio
constraints
designed
to
generate
flow
&
provoke
improvement
n Number
n Size
($,
dura$on
expected)
n WIP
($,
elapsed
incurred)
Por*olio
Problems
n Burn
rate
n Delivery
intensity
/
smoothness
Kanban
for
n Cost
of
Carry

14. At
both
extremes
of
scale,
limi$ng
by
number
is
very
effec$ve
n #
of
developer-­‐level
work
items
n #
of
ini$a$ves
Por*olio
Problems
Kanban
for

15. At
intermediate
scales,
visualizing
or
limi$ng
by
number
is
less
help
n Projects
vary
in
size
by
orders
of
magnitude
n Volume
Not
everything
is
(or
should
be)
a
project
Por*olio
Problems
n
Kanban
for

16. Some
relevant
$$
measures
for
single
projects
J F M A M J J A S O N D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Burn WIP
n Leverage
what
you
Por*olio
Problems
have
now
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Cost of Carry (cumulative)
n Derive
or
es$mate
Kanban
for
before
adding
new
tracking

17. Size:
cost
*
dura$on
n You
probably
want
to
penalize
both
n You
might
wish
to
trade
them
Cost
Por*olio
Problems
Kanban
for
Duration

18. More
ques$ons
of
cost
*
$me
n Where
is
the
inventory
that
we
should
help
out
of
the
door?
n Which
projects
should
we
try
hardest
to
split?
n Where
has
our
posi$on
worsened
unexpectedly?
n What
is
my
porIolio
cycle
$me?
Por*olio
Problems
n By
IT
or
business
stream?
n By
class
of
service?
Kanban
for
n What
is
our
inventory
cos$ng
to
hold?

19. Cost
of
Carry
n Cost
*
rate
integrated
over
$me
n Roughly
propor$onal
to
cost
*
dura$on
n Apply
a
meaningful
rate
that
reflects
both
financing
and
delay
costs
n >>
your
cost
of
funds
Por*olio
Problems
n >
25%
p.a.
(Reinertsen)
n >
2
*
your
hurdle
rate
(me)
Kanban
for
n Risk-­‐adjusted?

20. Many
of
these
measures
can
be
aggregated,
sliced
&
diced
Limit this…
to limit this
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Analyse Design Build Test
Por*olio
Problems
Kanban
for
Limit to capacity

21. 3. Manage flow
n Visual
management,
DSS
n See
inventory
&
its
cost
n See
flow
as
inventory
turnover
n See
bright
spots,
rough
spots
what’s
dragging,
where
to
intervene
n Time
dimension,
backwards
&
forwards
Por*olio
Problems
n A
support,
not
a
subs$tute
for
leadership
n An
organiza$onal
feedback
mechanism,
Kanban
for
“tension”
for
improvement
n Make
the
most
of
what
you
have
now

22. @alhui
nails
it
n Provide
just-­‐in-­‐$me
informa$on
to
promote
market
liquidity
and
buyer
decision-­‐making
#lssc12
n Money
is
not
our
currency.
It's
not
scarce
enough.
Time
and
effort
are
our
unit
of
currency
#lssc12
Por*olio
Problems
Kanban
for

23. My
hope
is
that
these…
1.Visualize
2. Limit work-in-progress
3. Manage flow
…lead
to
these
Por*olio
Problems
4. Make process policies explicit
5. Implement feedback loops
Kanban
for
6. Improve collaboratively (using models)

24. But
first
these…
Leadership
Agreement
Respect
Por*olio
Problems
Understanding
Kanban
for

25. Cole sees dead people
Por*olio
Problems
Kanban
for
I
see
enterprise-­‐scale
problems
of
overwhelming
WIP,
ins$tu$onalized
at
every
level
of
the
organisa$on

26. To:
kanbandev
Subject:
#ppm
<subject>
Your
problems,
thoughts,
experience
Por*olio
Problems
Kanban
for

27. Thank you.
Questions?
Por*olio
Problems
Kanban
for
Mike Burrows (@asplake)
mike@djaa.com
http://positiveincline.com