By James Steele
A Dream Come True
For 25 years I helped organizations build enterprise software. A few years into my professional journey I made the decision that I would pursue a professional dream of mine and that the pinnacle of my career would be achieved once I had become the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of an influential software company. Boy was I wrong!
After more than two decades working as an independent consultant and coach, I was presented with an opportunity that would bring my dream within reach. I joined a global e-learning company that was developing enterprise software to help educate millions of people across the globe. I accepted the position of V.P. of Software Development, and after several months of success in that position I was promoted to CTO.
I had arrived!!! A dream come true! Over 20 years of hard work had paid-off.
Then something happened, and I decided to throw it all away.
This is the story of why I gave up the C-Suite to teach Kanban.
Going Agile!
As CTO I had complete influence on the direction the company would take in it’s approach to software development. We were struggling to make deadlines, our predictability was poor, quality was not acceptable, and people were overburdened. From my new perch I could change all of this!
Similar to the decisions that most leaders in my position were making at that time (and continue to make until today), I decided we were “going agile”! Our teams would start using the Scrum framework and in no-time we would be reaping the benefits of business agility.
Hither to, our software development process had been chaotic. I’d go as far as to say that we really didn’t have one. We trained staff on the Scrum framework, we certified some people to be Scrum Masters and Product Owners, and we put together cross-functional Scrum teams that were self-organizing. We also hired a Scrum coach who would help us with our transformation.
Adopting Scrum brought immediate structure to the way we were working. For several months we saw improvements at the team level, but we slowly started to lose momentum, and after the initial honeymoon of having structure to the way we were working, we started struggling.
Sure, things had improved, but we plateaued very quickly.
Shifting Gears
After 2 years of using Scrum, we found ourselves still failing to meet customer delivery expectations, unable to get a handle on being predictable, and people were frustrated working within the ceremonies, roles, and cadences of the Scrum framework.
Equally disappointing was the failure to see improvements in our ability to respond quickly to shifting customer priorities and capitalize on emerging market opportunities. Our pursuit of business agility was evading us.
It was around this time that I was introduced to the Kanban Method. I was intrigued by an approach to improvement that was evolutionary in nature and was particularly sensitive to respecting professional roles and identifies.
The simplicity (and as I would soon learn, POWER) of the method, coupled with the fact that it did not prescribe HOW we should work, was something that really resonated with me (and I suspected would resonate with our teams).
I met with our teams. We talked about the Principles and Practices of the Kanban Method, and together we decided we would give them a try in an effort to improve the situation we found ourselves in.
Discovering Kanban
Starting Kanban was not disruptive for us. We started from a very simple standpoint – we were going to continue working exactly the way we were, except that:
- we would visualize the work we were doing
- we would limit the amount of work we were doing
- we would make policies explicit
- we would focus on identifying why the flow of work was interrupted and adjust policies to try and avoid future interruptions of that nature
We did this for several months and here is a summary of the results:
- We quickly discovered that many of the Scrum ceremonies and elements of the framework were getting in the way of doing our work (we abandoned many of them).
- People experienced relief from having too much work in progress.
- We discovered that many of the interruptions to the flow of work stemmed from dependencies on other teams, having to redo work that was not correctly done the first time, and dealing with ad-hoc interruptions for unplanned work.
If you find this useful, please consider contributing with our
“Value for Value” model.
-
Kanban System Design® (KMPI)
13 to 14 JUN 2023 (2 days) - Starting Tuesday - Online - David Vicentin
C$1895.00 Register Now- Improve Knowledge Work Productivity -
This 2-day workshop - Kanban System Design (KSD) - also known as 'Kanban for Real Agility®' - provides you with the fundamentals of the Kanban Method® . It is designed specifically for leaders starting their organization on the gentler path towards Real Agility™. This learning event is ideal for you if you are responsible for the delivery of a service. Learn the concepts of flow, pull, classes of service, and learn to deal with interruptions and multi-tasking. Learn the Systems Thinking Approach To Implementing Kanban (STATIK) through a multi-step interactive case study review.
This KSD course, (formerly known as Kanban Management Professional 1 - KMP I), is the first of two courses towards the Kanban Management Professional (KMP) credential. The KSD is the prerequisite to the Kanban Systems Improvement course (KSI). By completing both this course (KSD) and the KSI, participants can earn their KMP credential with Kanban University®.
Key Benefits
- Participate in a Kanban simulation for immersive learning
- Design your service's Kanban board with guidance from our Kanban experts
- Start your Kanban adoption and in evolving your system
- Earn 16 PDUs | 16 SEUs
- Obtain your Kanban University® KSD certificate
- Completion of this and the KSI class will earn you the Kanban University® KMP credential
- Get a profile listing on the Kanban University® alumni page
- We are a Registered Education Provider with Kanban University® and PMI®
- Taught by and overseen by Accredited Kanban Trainers (AKT's)
EXCLUSIVE: Free "Kanban for Managers" e-book written by BERTEIG consultants!
Download the recommended reading by "David J. Anderson and Andy Carmichael":
Essential Kanban Condensed
Please register using a corporate email address, for corporate loyalty program discounts.
Read MoreLocation:
Online
Date:
Tue 13-Jun-2023
Wed 14-Jun-2023
Time:
09:00 AM to 05:00 PM (EST)
Trainer:
-
Kanban System Design® (KMPI)
26 to 27 SEP 2023 (2 days) - Starting Tuesday - Online - David Vicentin
Early-bird Discount! C$1795.00 C$1525.75 Until 12-Sep Register Now- Improve Knowledge Work Productivity -
This 2-day workshop - Kanban System Design (KSD) - also known as 'Kanban for Real Agility®' - provides you with the fundamentals of the Kanban Method® . It is designed specifically for leaders starting their organization on the gentler path towards Real Agility™. This learning event is ideal for you if you are responsible for the delivery of a service. Learn the concepts of flow, pull, classes of service, and learn to deal with interruptions and multi-tasking. Learn the Systems Thinking Approach To Implementing Kanban (STATIK) through a multi-step interactive case study review.
This KSD course, (formerly known as Kanban Management Professional 1 - KMP I), is the first of two courses towards the Kanban Management Professional (KMP) credential. The KSD is the prerequisite to the Kanban Systems Improvement course (KSI). By completing both this course (KSD) and the KSI, participants can earn their KMP credential with Kanban University®.
Key Benefits
- Participate in a Kanban simulation for immersive learning
- Design your service's Kanban board with guidance from our Kanban experts
- Start your Kanban adoption and in evolving your system
- Earn 16 PDUs | 16 SEUs
- Obtain your Kanban University® KSD certificate
- Completion of this and the KSI class will earn you the Kanban University® KMP credential
- Get a profile listing on the Kanban University® alumni page
- We are a Registered Education Provider with Kanban University® and PMI®
- Taught by and overseen by Accredited Kanban Trainers (AKT's)
EXCLUSIVE: Free "Kanban for Managers" e-book written by BERTEIG consultants!
Download the recommended reading by "David J. Anderson and Andy Carmichael":
Essential Kanban Condensed
Please register using a corporate email address, for corporate loyalty program discounts.
Read MoreLocation:
Online
Date:
Tue 26-Sep-2023
Wed 27-Sep-2023
Time:
09:00 AM to 05:00 PM (EST)
Trainer:
-
Kanban System Design® (KMPI)
12 to 13 DEC 2023 (2 days) - Starting Tuesday - Online - David Vicentin
Early-bird Discount! C$1795.00 C$1525.75 Until 28-Nov Register Now- Improve Knowledge Work Productivity -
This 2-day workshop - Kanban System Design (KSD) - also known as 'Kanban for Real Agility®' - provides you with the fundamentals of the Kanban Method® . It is designed specifically for leaders starting their organization on the gentler path towards Real Agility™. This learning event is ideal for you if you are responsible for the delivery of a service. Learn the concepts of flow, pull, classes of service, and learn to deal with interruptions and multi-tasking. Learn the Systems Thinking Approach To Implementing Kanban (STATIK) through a multi-step interactive case study review.
This KSD course, (formerly known as Kanban Management Professional 1 - KMP I), is the first of two courses towards the Kanban Management Professional (KMP) credential. The KSD is the prerequisite to the Kanban Systems Improvement course (KSI). By completing both this course (KSD) and the KSI, participants can earn their KMP credential with Kanban University®.
Key Benefits
- Participate in a Kanban simulation for immersive learning
- Design your service's Kanban board with guidance from our Kanban experts
- Start your Kanban adoption and in evolving your system
- Earn 16 PDUs | 16 SEUs
- Obtain your Kanban University® KSD certificate
- Completion of this and the KSI class will earn you the Kanban University® KMP credential
- Get a profile listing on the Kanban University® alumni page
- We are a Registered Education Provider with Kanban University® and PMI®
- Taught by and overseen by Accredited Kanban Trainers (AKT's)
EXCLUSIVE: Free "Kanban for Managers" e-book written by BERTEIG consultants!
Download the recommended reading by "David J. Anderson and Andy Carmichael":
Essential Kanban Condensed
Please register using a corporate email address, for corporate loyalty program discounts.
Read MoreLocation:
Online
Date:
Tue 12-Dec-2023
Wed 13-Dec-2023
Time:
09:00 AM to 05:00 PM (EST)
Trainer:
-
Kanban Systems Improvement® (KMPII)
11 to 12 JUL 2023 (2 days) - Starting Tuesday - Online - David Vicentin
Early-bird Discount! C$1895.00 C$1610.75 Until 25-Jun Register Now- Optimize Services for Flow and Performance -
This 2-day workshop - Kanban Systems Improvement (KSI) - focuses on the leadership aspect as well as the roll out and daily operation of a multi-service system using Kanban as a management method. You will also learn how to use Kanban to manage, optimize, scale, and evolve your system over time.
This KSI course, (formerly known as Kanban Management Professional 2 - KMP II), is the second of two courses towards the Kanban Management Professional (KMP) credential. The Kanban System Design (KSD) course is the prerequisite to this course. By completing both the KSD as well as this course (KSI), participants can earn their KMP credential with Kanban University®.
Learning Objectives
- Managing Evolutionary Change
- Dealing with Resistance to Change
- Feedback Loops and Continuous Learning
- Implementing and Scaling out Kanban
- Balancing Demand and Capability
- Optimizing Flow and Predictability
Key Benefits
- Earn 16 PDUs | 16 SEUs
- Obtain your Kanban University® KSI certificate
- Completion of this and the KSD class will earn you the Kanban University® KMP credential
- Get a profile listing on the Kanban University® alumni page
- We are a Registered Education Provider with Kanban University® and PMI®
- Taught by and overseen by Accredited Kanban Trainers (AKT's)
EXCLUSIVE: Free "Agile Advice" e-book written by BERTEIG consultants!
Please register using a corporate email address, for corporate loyalty program discounts.
Read MoreLocation:
Online
Date:
Tue 11-Jul-2023
Wed 12-Jul-2023
Time:
09:00 AM to 05:00 PM (EST)
Trainer:
-
Kanban Systems Improvement® (KMPII)
25 to 26 OCT 2023 (2 days) - Starting Wednesday - Online - David Vicentin
Early-bird Discount! C$1795.00 C$1525.75 Until 11-Oct Register Now- Optimize Services for Flow and Performance -
This 2-day workshop - Kanban Systems Improvement (KSI) - focuses on the leadership aspect as well as the roll out and daily operation of a multi-service system using Kanban as a management method. You will also learn how to use Kanban to manage, optimize, scale, and evolve your system over time.
This KSI course, (formerly known as Kanban Management Professional 2 - KMP II), is the second of two courses towards the Kanban Management Professional (KMP) credential. The Kanban System Design (KSD) course is the prerequisite to this course. By completing both the KSD as well as this course (KSI), participants can earn their KMP credential with Kanban University®.
Learning Objectives
- Managing Evolutionary Change
- Dealing with Resistance to Change
- Feedback Loops and Continuous Learning
- Implementing and Scaling out Kanban
- Balancing Demand and Capability
- Optimizing Flow and Predictability
Key Benefits
- Earn 16 PDUs | 16 SEUs
- Obtain your Kanban University® KSI certificate
- Completion of this and the KSD class will earn you the Kanban University® KMP credential
- Get a profile listing on the Kanban University® alumni page
- We are a Registered Education Provider with Kanban University® and PMI®
- Taught by and overseen by Accredited Kanban Trainers (AKT's)
EXCLUSIVE: Free "Agile Advice" e-book written by BERTEIG consultants!
Please register using a corporate email address, for corporate loyalty program discounts.
Read MoreLocation:
Online
Date:
Wed 25-Oct-2023
Thu 26-Oct-2023
Time:
09:00 AM to 05:00 PM (EST)
Trainer:
Berteig Consulting
Empower Your Entire Organization with BERTEIG Consulting in Agile, Scrum, Kanban, SAFe and LEAN.