Latest from Katie
Lean for DevOps: Measuring the meaningful
At a recent Lean project report out to stakeholders, a piece of analysis was presented which showed the quantity of metrics being captured, in various areas, at different organizational levels. IBM’s Watson had been used to generate the chart, and it told an interesting story. But that story needed some translating. ‘Look at all those […]
Oct 27, 2015 · 3 minAll articles by Katie Sotheran
Showing 1–5Lean for DevOps: Is it OK to move the banana?
There is an urban legend about a Lean deployment which, in the process of applying the 5S to a workshop, drew lines on the desk to indicate where each worker should keep their banana. 5S, for the uninitiated, is a set of principles by which Lean practitioners organize a workspace – which might apply to […]
Lean for DevOps: Mapping the tributaries and deltas of demand
Here at IBM’s Lean practice we use a diagram called ‘Mississippi’ to analyze demand. It is not so-called because it originates in Mississippi – in fact I’ve been given to understand that this tool was developed, and named, in our UK practice*. Instead, it’s called the Mississippi because, like that great river, demand comes from […]
Why do DevOps? Winning hearts and minds with a Lean boxscore
Change is difficult. It can be painful, disruptive, and costly. Making a case for change requires us to win over hearts and minds. In my experience, we need to win the hearts of the ‘do-ers’, the people whose daily work is going to be disrupted. And the minds of the executives, whose financial support and […]
Think you’ve established Kanban? Why you might only be halfway there
As a Lean Coach working in IT I often hear development teams refer proudly to their scrumboards as an example of Kanban. To which I say, ‘that’s a great start… but it’s really only just the start’. Let’s start with what a scrumboard is, and does. A scrumboard is a visual display of work, showing […]