Like taking candy from a baby: Kanban's 90% problem

I had written previously about Agile 90% problem, in that once you gain a wide adoption of Agile in your organization, it becomes harder and harder to squeeze more productivity gains from it.  Kanban which has its roots in manufacturing is now one of the pet processes in Agile, especially as it pertains to Lean software development.  Therefore, it was of utmost serendipity that I ran into this video clip from TV Land taken from an infamous “I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy and Ethel faked their way into jobs in a candy factory and the disastrous results that inevitably ensues:

 

 

The metaphorical and ironic subtext of this video clip could not be more applicable!  For I believe Kanban has a similar though different efficiency problem that Agile in general has, in that as your workflow becomes more efficient in Kanban, the more work your organization will pile on top of you.  Sure, you can try to control it through constraining WIPs, but just like Lucy in the candy factory, they will slip through while you and your teams are struggling to juggle them all in a tragic-comical manner.

 

In the end, it is just as much about effectiveness as it is about efficiency and the moral of the story is “be careful what you wish for as you might just get it and once you do, you better have a backup plan!”  More on this topic to come.