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Robert Higgins
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Japan is Kanban country. Agile process is built in and no-one seems to care or think it is special it is just Japanese style. From conversations with my Global PM colleagues in Tokyo The projects here regardless of domain the customer is part of the inner team.
For example if it is writing code for a Car company's embedded processors or if it is deploying a Wideband LTE wireless for a city. I have actually, heard push back, that people wish that Japan was more like Western PM style and the customer was not so closely integrated into the team to provide more Scope stability and less unforeseen overtime. There may be other negatives (group think) (Risk Management ownership)
I was particularly fond of the Health Care Kanban system. Everyone over 40 in Japan gets invited for greatly reduced cost health checkups. The system is lean. You can select a time slot for the checkup. When you show up they check-off your information. You have now entered the time box. As people show up you are corralled into a herd. This herd moves through the sections. (WIP or Work in progress Queuing). With remarkable efficiency and dignity, you get poked and prodded. There are specialized busses that have the machines with the technicians all set up. You can move through 50+ tests in under 2 hours, and get to know some of the wiser generation while you wear a cute smock. The system has been optimized to pull Work through at a smooth velocity. Some may call it hyper-performing. Here it is a basic cheap comprehensive efficient Japanese health Care Checkup.
My point is that I agree with you Good Management can be applied to many domains outside of software. While something may be innovative in one domain in one part of the world. It is considered traditional and common sense in another part of the world. After the Planning packages are complete If the PM can answer the Question, How do we optimize the work? The PM can create the Agile hyper-performing teams. The breakthroughs in Agile specifically for software and/or Lean Manufacturing are interesting and the techniques for pulling work though have been applied in other domains outside of software for a long time.
The word Kanban is a Japanese word. It’s derived from Just in Time http://jisho.org/kanji/details/看板方式 KANBANHOUSHIKI it means Just In Time Inventory Management direct translation is “Watch Over Board Direction Method”. It is remarkably standard operating procedure over here and no one seems to think it is anything special. Actually during Planning "The WHITEBOARD" is probably the most important tool, there is always a printer connected to the "The WHITEBOARD'. Everyone gets a printout and this is "The Key Document"
Customer Centric Collaborative Management or “WA” Harmony http://jisho.org/kanji/details/和 as the Japanese call it may be a few thousand years older than Agilista think. http://vimeo.com/6591051
Project Manager and Agile?
I watched the “Does the PM have a role in agile” at the PMI Agile Community of Practice. It was nice, nothing provocative. I’ve read the Gartner Enterprise Wide and Enterprise Class agile report as well. What struck me was what has always struck me: Good project management does most of the manag...
Robert Higgins is now following Glen B. Alleman
Aug 23, 2009
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