Kanban as a replacement for the PMO?

Funny thing, to complain about how the traditional models are based on "ancient" thinking, and then suggest modernization through the use of a method that was developed in the late 1940's. Gotta love the irony.

Also, the screwdriver has been around since the late 15th century, and it's still the best tool if you want to tighten screws. Change for change's sake isn't helpful.

Posted: Sep 17, 2012 5:41 AM

Hi Julien,

While I completely agree with your sentiment of "change for change's sake isn't helpful", I would not go so far as to say the presenter was complaining about traditional models being ancient, rather than highlighting that much of the traditional methods rest on the Taylorist idea that you can precisely measure and plan upfront, a modern knowledge worker's output. In certain situations you can measure and plan for such output using traditional methods like the Gantt chart and EVM, but in other situations such as developing a new, cutting edge mobile application for the iPhone would lend it self better to Agile.

I do agree that many pundits in the Agile camp can get a bit over zealous in their dismissal, and even outright condemnation of traditional methods in their blind pursuit to evangelize Agile.

Posted: Sep 21, 2012 6:12 PM

Regarding the statement - "a Lean/Agile PMO using Kanban to go beyond the tranditional PMO in managing a portfolio of software/IT projects" - count me in. Could not agree with this premise, per the specifc context and application, more. Now, does every organziational environment that has projects to manage lend itself to this approach? Of course not. Hence, we need a perspective that accomodates multiple "fitness landscapes". In fact, if you position organizational project management through the two continuums of (1) formal project management vs. business as usual informal project management and (2) plan-driven techniques vs. complex adaptive systems (CAS) techniques, you quickly spot the four distinct fitness landscapes of organizational project management. Most PMBOKers live in just one of the four landscapes and most Agilistas live in another one of the four landscapes. But the reality is that most businesses, and our leadership teams, operate in all four fitness landscapes. So, Kanban as a "replacement" for the PMO? Please. I won't even dignify such myopic spiffle with further commentary. Now, as for Taylor. To take a person, Taylor, that gave up a life of privilege, chose work in a factory over going to Harvard, learned the craft, rose through the ranks from machinist to foreman, observed the problems of both the mid-evil guild and contemporary business management of the time (1890s mind you), developed a system of processes, inputs and outputs to effectively bridge both worlds (mid-evil craftsmen who kept the secrets of the trade from management and management that would and did exploit workers shamelessly, and worked to improve his system, recognizing that it was not perfect, rather just a start.... I coud go on, but you get the idea. The agile commuinity needs to find a better poster boy to throw darts at than Taylor. Or, was there someone else in the 1890s that had a better idea than Taylor regarding what was going on at the time (1890s) vis a vie the war and conflict between the mid-evil craftsmen and the management that they worked for..? Don't get me wrong. I am not defending Taylor, though just once it would be good to see a fair and balanced examination of his contributions, as opposed to the continual taking out of context the balance of his contributions and the times during which his contributions were made.

Posted: Sep 24, 2012 5:06 PM

Hi Mark,

I can visualize your fitness landscape within a quadrant and very much agree with the placement of the PMBOK'ers and the Agilistas. Awesome metaphor! :)

I agree that Taylor gets beaten up quite a bit not just by "modern" PM gurus, pundits and evangelists, but by general business management thinkers. In the PM world, Henry Gantt would run a close second and it's not lost on me that he was a student of Taylor.

Posted: Sep 25, 2012 10:22 PM

Mark, nice quadrant. Love it.

It is good to have new ideas and thoughts, but we also need to be cautious if they are just fads.

Going back to Julien's point. Yes, we still use screwdriver if we need to tighten screws. But over the years, screwdriver has been improvised in various ways to suit the needs and make the task more efficient. Remember, we now have powered screwdrivers and ratcheting screwdrivers too.

Posted: Sep 26, 2012 2:31 PM

Thanks for sharing

Posted: Jul 15, 2017 3:38 PM