feature-slicing

Feature Slicing

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Feature Slicing in Agile involves breaking large features into smaller parts for incremental delivery, faster feedback, and risk reduction. Techniques include horizontal, vertical, and user-centric slicing. Challenges include complexity assessment and dependency management. Use cases range from handling complex features to improving feedback loops and managing risks.

Overview:

  • Handles Complex Features: Feature slicing is an approach in Agile development that deals with complex features by breaking them down into smaller, manageable parts.
  • Supports Incremental Delivery: It supports incremental delivery by allowing teams to work on and release portions of a feature in iterations.

Benefits:

  • Enables Faster Feedback: Feature slicing enables faster feedback from stakeholders as they can see and test parts of a feature sooner rather than waiting for the entire feature to be completed.
  • Mitigates Risks by Early Delivery: Early delivery of slices mitigates project risks by reducing uncertainty and ensuring that critical components are tested and functional early in the development process.
  • Delivers Value Progressively: It delivers value progressively as each slice is completed, providing value to users even before the entire feature is finished.

Techniques:

  • Horizontal, Vertical, and User-Centric Slicing: Feature slicing can take various forms, including horizontal slicing (dividing by layers or technical components), vertical slicing (dividing by user stories or end-to-end functionality), and user-centric slicing (prioritizing user-facing functionality).

Challenges:

  • Assessing Part Complexity: Estimating the complexity of individual slices can be challenging, as they may have dependencies on other parts of the feature or system.
  • Managing Dependencies: Coordinating dependencies between slices, especially when they are developed by different teams, requires effective management and communication.
  • Ensuring Clear Communication: Clear communication is essential to ensure that stakeholders understand the incremental delivery approach and can provide feedback effectively.

Use Cases:

  • Breaking Down Complex Features: Feature slicing is particularly useful for breaking down complex features into smaller, manageable parts that can be developed and delivered iteratively.
  • Iterative Feedback Loop: It facilitates an iterative feedback loop with users and stakeholders, allowing adjustments based on their input throughout the development process.
  • Effective Risk Management: By delivering and testing slices early, feature slicing supports effective risk management by identifying and addressing issues sooner in the project lifecycle.

Key Conclusions – Feature Slicing:

  • Feature slicing is an Agile approach that helps handle complex features by breaking them down into smaller, manageable parts.
  • It supports incremental delivery, enabling faster feedback from stakeholders and mitigating risks by delivering critical components early.
  • Feature slicing delivers value progressively as each slice is completed, making it valuable for user-centric and iterative development.
  • Various techniques, such as horizontal, vertical, and user-centric slicing, can be applied depending on the project’s needs.
  • Challenges in feature slicing include assessing part complexity, managing dependencies, and ensuring clear communication with stakeholders.
  • Use cases for feature slicing include breaking down complex features, establishing an iterative feedback loop with users, and effective risk management through early deliveries and testing.

Related Frameworks, Models, or ConceptsDescriptionWhen to Apply
Feature Slicing– Feature Slicing is a software development technique that involves breaking down large features or user stories into smaller, independently deliverable slices that provide incremental value to users. Feature slicing enables Agile teams to prioritize and deliver functionality iteratively, allowing stakeholders to validate assumptions, gather feedback, and make course corrections early in the development process. By slicing features into smaller increments, teams can reduce complexity, manage risk, and accelerate time to market while maintaining a focus on delivering tangible value to customers.– When developing software applications using Agile methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban, or Lean Startup, or when faced with large, complex features or user stories that require decomposition into smaller, more manageable slices. – Applicable in industries such as software development, product management, and digital transformation to facilitate incremental delivery and maximize value realization through feature slicing techniques.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)– Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the simplest version of a product that allows teams to test hypotheses, validate assumptions, and gather feedback from early adopters with minimal effort and resources. MVPs focus on delivering essential features and core functionality that address the primary needs of target users, enabling teams to validate product-market fit, prioritize features, and iterate based on customer feedback. By defining a minimum set of features required to solve a specific problem or fulfill a basic need, teams can reduce development time, mitigate risk, and optimize resource allocation while maximizing value delivery.– When launching new products, entering new markets, or exploring new business opportunities, or when developing software applications with limited time, budget, or resources. – Applicable in industries such as startups, entrepreneurship, and product innovation to validate ideas, test assumptions, and iterate towards product-market fit using MVP principles and practices.
User Story Mapping– User Story Mapping is a collaborative technique that enables teams to visualize and prioritize user-centric features, activities, and tasks across the entire user journey. User story mapping involves creating a visual representation of user stories arranged horizontally on a timeline or axis to depict the sequence of user interactions and workflows. By mapping out user stories in this manner, teams can identify dependencies, uncover gaps, and define Minimum Viable Product (MVP) increments that deliver the most value to users early in the development process. User story mapping facilitates shared understanding, alignment, and decision-making among cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and customers, enabling them to focus on delivering outcomes that matter most to users.– When defining product requirements, designing user experiences, or planning Agile releases, or when collaborating with stakeholders to prioritize features and align development efforts with user needs and business objectives. – Applicable in industries such as product management, UX/UI design, and Agile development to create user-centric roadmaps, backlog prioritization, and iterative delivery plans using user story mapping techniques.
Value Stream Mapping (VSM)– Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a Lean management technique that enables teams to visualize and analyze the end-to-end process of delivering value to customers, from concept to cash. Value stream mapping involves creating a visual representation of the value stream, including all activities, handoffs, and delays that occur along the workflow. By mapping out the value stream in this manner, teams can identify bottlenecks, eliminate waste, and optimize flow to improve overall efficiency and effectiveness. Value stream mapping helps teams understand how features move through the development pipeline, identify opportunities for improvement, and prioritize work based on value delivery and customer impact.– When analyzing and optimizing the software development lifecycle, identifying process inefficiencies, or streamlining workflow across Agile teams, departments, or organizations. – Applicable in industries such as manufacturing, IT operations, and software delivery to identify value streams, reduce lead times, and enhance productivity through value stream mapping techniques.
Story Splitting Techniques– Story Splitting Techniques are methods used by Agile teams to divide large, complex user stories or features into smaller, more manageable units of work that can be delivered independently. Story splitting techniques help teams break down user stories based on various criteria such as functionality, complexity, risk, and value, allowing them to focus on delivering incremental value to users iteratively. Examples of story splitting techniques include: – Vertical Slicing: Dividing user stories into thin vertical slices that deliver end-to-end functionality across the entire stack. – Horizontal Slicing: Dividing user stories into horizontal layers or components that address specific aspects of functionality (e.g., front-end, back-end, database). – Functional Decomposition: Breaking down user stories into smaller subtasks or functional units that can be implemented and tested separately. – Dependency Analysis: Identifying and resolving dependencies between user stories to enable parallel development and minimize waiting time. – Value-Based Prioritization: Prioritizing user stories based on their relative value to users and stakeholders, ensuring that high-value features are delivered first.– When decomposing large user stories, epic features, or product requirements into smaller, more manageable pieces for Agile development, or when planning iterative releases and sprint backlogs. – Applicable in industries such as software engineering, product management, and Agile project management to facilitate incremental delivery and optimize value realization through story splitting techniques.
Agile Estimation Techniques– Agile Estimation Techniques are methods used by Agile teams to estimate the size, effort, and complexity of user stories or features during sprint planning and backlog refinement sessions. Agile estimation techniques help teams forecast the amount of work required to implement and deliver user stories within a given time frame, allowing them to make informed decisions about scope, capacity, and prioritization. Examples of Agile estimation techniques include: – Planning Poker: A consensus-based technique where team members assign relative size estimates (e.g., story points) to user stories based on complexity and effort. – T-Shirt Sizing: A simplified technique where user stories are categorized into small, medium, large, or extra-large sizes based on their perceived complexity and scope. – Bucket System: A probabilistic technique where user stories are grouped into buckets or categories (e.g., small, medium, large) based on historical data and past performance metrics. – Relative Estimation: A comparative technique where user stories are compared to each other in terms of size, complexity, and effort, rather than absolute values.– When planning Agile releases, sprint iterations, or product roadmaps, or when estimating the size and effort of user stories for capacity planning and backlog grooming. – Applicable in industries such as software development, project management, and Agile coaching to facilitate collaborative estimation and improve forecasting accuracy using Agile estimation techniques.
Continuous Delivery (CD)– Continuous Delivery (CD) is a software engineering practice that enables teams to release high-quality software products and features to production quickly, safely, and sustainably. Continuous delivery involves automating the deployment pipeline, integrating code changes frequently, and running automated tests to validate changes before they are released to users. By adopting continuous delivery practices, teams can reduce lead times, minimize deployment risks, and increase the frequency and reliability of software releases, enabling them to respond rapidly to customer feedback and market demands.– When implementing Agile and DevOps principles, improving release cadence, or accelerating time to market for software products and digital services. – Applicable in industries such as e-commerce, fintech, and SaaS to establish a culture of continuous delivery and enable teams to deliver value to customers continuously using CD practices and tooling solutions.
Agile Product Roadmapping– Agile Product Roadmapping is a collaborative process that enables teams to align product vision, strategy, and priorities with Agile development activities and stakeholder expectations. Agile product roadmapping involves creating and maintaining a visual roadmap that communicates the strategic direction, goals, and initiatives for the product over time. By integrating feedback from customers, stakeholders, and market trends, Agile product roadmaps help teams prioritize features, plan releases, and adapt to changing requirements while staying focused on delivering value to users. Agile product roadmapping promotes transparency, flexibility, and alignment across cross-functional teams, enabling them to work towards common goals and deliver outcomes that matter most to customers.– When defining product vision, setting strategic goals, or communicating product direction to internal and external stakeholders, or when planning Agile releases and feature delivery timelines. – Applicable in industries such as product management, product marketing, and innovation management to drive product development initiatives and ensure alignment with business objectives using Agile product roadmapping techniques.
Agile Metrics and KPIs– Agile Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are quantitative measures used by Agile teams to assess performance, track progress, and monitor outcomes throughout the software development lifecycle. Agile metrics and KPIs provide insights into various aspects of Agile delivery, including team velocity, cycle time, lead time, burndown rate, and defect density. By collecting and analyzing Agile metrics, teams can identify trends, detect bottlenecks, and make data-driven decisions to optimize delivery processes and improve overall performance. Agile metrics and KPIs foster transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement within Agile teams, enabling them to deliver value more effectively and efficiently.– When evaluating Agile team performance, monitoring project health, or identifying areas for improvement in Agile delivery processes and practices. – Applicable in industries such as software engineering, project management, and Agile coaching to measure and improve Agile delivery performance using relevant metrics and KPIs aligned with organizational goals and objectives.
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)– The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is a proven, comprehensive framework for implementing Agile practices at scale across large enterprises and complex systems development initiatives. SAFe provides guidance, roles, ceremonies, and artifacts for coordinating Agile teams, aligning business strategy with execution, and delivering value to customers continuously. SAFe consists of three core levels: Team, Program, and Portfolio, each addressing different aspects of Agile delivery and value stream management. By adopting SAFe, organizations can achieve better alignment, transparency, and collaboration across business units, departments, and Agile teams, enabling them to deliver value at scale predictably and sustainably.– When scaling Agile practices across multiple teams, departments, or business units within a large organization, or when coordinating complex systems development efforts involving multiple stakeholders and dependencies. – Applicable in industries such as enterprise software, telecommunications, and government contracting to implement Agile at scale and drive digital transformation using the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) as a guiding framework and reference model.

Connected Agile & Lean Frameworks

AIOps

aiops
AIOps is the application of artificial intelligence to IT operations. It has become particularly useful for modern IT management in hybridized, distributed, and dynamic environments. AIOps has become a key operational component of modern digital-based organizations, built around software and algorithms.

AgileSHIFT

AgileSHIFT
AgileSHIFT is a framework that prepares individuals for transformational change by creating a culture of agility.

Agile Methodology

agile-methodology
Agile started as a lightweight development method compared to heavyweight software development, which is the core paradigm of the previous decades of software development. By 2001 the Manifesto for Agile Software Development was born as a set of principles that defined the new paradigm for software development as a continuous iteration. This would also influence the way of doing business.

Agile Program Management

agile-program-management
Agile Program Management is a means of managing, planning, and coordinating interrelated work in such a way that value delivery is emphasized for all key stakeholders. Agile Program Management (AgilePgM) is a disciplined yet flexible agile approach to managing transformational change within an organization.

Agile Project Management

agile-project-management
Agile project management (APM) is a strategy that breaks large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks. In the APM methodology, each project is completed in small sections – often referred to as iterations. Each iteration is completed according to its project life cycle, beginning with the initial design and progressing to testing and then quality assurance.

Agile Modeling

agile-modeling
Agile Modeling (AM) is a methodology for modeling and documenting software-based systems. Agile Modeling is critical to the rapid and continuous delivery of software. It is a collection of values, principles, and practices that guide effective, lightweight software modeling.

Agile Business Analysis

agile-business-analysis
Agile Business Analysis (AgileBA) is certification in the form of guidance and training for business analysts seeking to work in agile environments. To support this shift, AgileBA also helps the business analyst relate Agile projects to a wider organizational mission or strategy. To ensure that analysts have the necessary skills and expertise, AgileBA certification was developed.

Agile Leadership

agile-leadership
Agile leadership is the embodiment of agile manifesto principles by a manager or management team. Agile leadership impacts two important levels of a business. The structural level defines the roles, responsibilities, and key performance indicators. The behavioral level describes the actions leaders exhibit to others based on agile principles. 

Andon System

andon-system
The andon system alerts managerial, maintenance, or other staff of a production process problem. The alert itself can be activated manually with a button or pull cord, but it can also be activated automatically by production equipment. Most Andon boards utilize three colored lights similar to a traffic signal: green (no errors), yellow or amber (problem identified, or quality check needed), and red (production stopped due to unidentified issue).

Bimodal Portfolio Management

bimodal-portfolio-management
Bimodal Portfolio Management (BimodalPfM) helps an organization manage both agile and traditional portfolios concurrently. Bimodal Portfolio Management – sometimes referred to as bimodal development – was coined by research and advisory company Gartner. The firm argued that many agile organizations still needed to run some aspects of their operations using traditional delivery models.

Business Innovation Matrix

business-innovation
Business innovation is about creating new opportunities for an organization to reinvent its core offerings, revenue streams, and enhance the value proposition for existing or new customers, thus renewing its whole business model. Business innovation springs by understanding the structure of the market, thus adapting or anticipating those changes.

Business Model Innovation

business-model-innovation
Business model innovation is about increasing the success of an organization with existing products and technologies by crafting a compelling value proposition able to propel a new business model to scale up customers and create a lasting competitive advantage. And it all starts by mastering the key customers.

Constructive Disruption

constructive-disruption
A consumer brand company like Procter & Gamble (P&G) defines “Constructive Disruption” as: a willingness to change, adapt, and create new trends and technologies that will shape our industry for the future. According to P&G, it moves around four pillars: lean innovation, brand building, supply chain, and digitalization & data analytics.

Continuous Innovation

continuous-innovation
That is a process that requires a continuous feedback loop to develop a valuable product and build a viable business model. Continuous innovation is a mindset where products and services are designed and delivered to tune them around the customers’ problem and not the technical solution of its founders.

Design Sprint

design-sprint
A design sprint is a proven five-day process where critical business questions are answered through speedy design and prototyping, focusing on the end-user. A design sprint starts with a weekly challenge that should finish with a prototype, test at the end, and therefore a lesson learned to be iterated.

Design Thinking

design-thinking
Tim Brown, Executive Chair of IDEO, defined design thinking as “a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.” Therefore, desirability, feasibility, and viability are balanced to solve critical problems.

DevOps

devops-engineering
DevOps refers to a series of practices performed to perform automated software development processes. It is a conjugation of the term “development” and “operations” to emphasize how functions integrate across IT teams. DevOps strategies promote seamless building, testing, and deployment of products. It aims to bridge a gap between development and operations teams to streamline the development altogether.

Dual Track Agile

dual-track-agile
Product discovery is a critical part of agile methodologies, as its aim is to ensure that products customers love are built. Product discovery involves learning through a raft of methods, including design thinking, lean start-up, and A/B testing to name a few. Dual Track Agile is an agile methodology containing two separate tracks: the “discovery” track and the “delivery” track.

eXtreme Programming

extreme-programming
eXtreme Programming was developed in the late 1990s by Ken Beck, Ron Jeffries, and Ward Cunningham. During this time, the trio was working on the Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation System (C3) to help manage the company payroll system. eXtreme Programming (XP) is a software development methodology. It is designed to improve software quality and the ability of software to adapt to changing customer needs.

Feature-Driven Development

feature-driven-development
Feature-Driven Development is a pragmatic software process that is client and architecture-centric. Feature-Driven Development (FDD) is an agile software development model that organizes workflow according to which features need to be developed next.

Gemba Walk

gemba-walk
A Gemba Walk is a fundamental component of lean management. It describes the personal observation of work to learn more about it. Gemba is a Japanese word that loosely translates as “the real place”, or in business, “the place where value is created”. The Gemba Walk as a concept was created by Taiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System of lean manufacturing. Ohno wanted to encourage management executives to leave their offices and see where the real work happened. This, he hoped, would build relationships between employees with vastly different skillsets and build trust.

GIST Planning

gist-planning
GIST Planning is a relatively easy and lightweight agile approach to product planning that favors autonomous working. GIST Planning is a lean and agile methodology that was created by former Google product manager Itamar Gilad. GIST Planning seeks to address this situation by creating lightweight plans that are responsive and adaptable to change. GIST Planning also improves team velocity, autonomy, and alignment by reducing the pervasive influence of management. It consists of four blocks: goals, ideas, step-projects, and tasks.

ICE Scoring

ice-scoring-model
The ICE Scoring Model is an agile methodology that prioritizes features using data according to three components: impact, confidence, and ease of implementation. The ICE Scoring Model was initially created by author and growth expert Sean Ellis to help companies expand. Today, the model is broadly used to prioritize projects, features, initiatives, and rollouts. It is ideally suited for early-stage product development where there is a continuous flow of ideas and momentum must be maintained.

Innovation Funnel

innovation-funnel
An innovation funnel is a tool or process ensuring only the best ideas are executed. In a metaphorical sense, the funnel screens innovative ideas for viability so that only the best products, processes, or business models are launched to the market. An innovation funnel provides a framework for the screening and testing of innovative ideas for viability.

Innovation Matrix

types-of-innovation
According to how well defined is the problem and how well defined the domain, we have four main types of innovations: basic research (problem and domain or not well defined); breakthrough innovation (domain is not well defined, the problem is well defined); sustaining innovation (both problem and domain are well defined); and disruptive innovation (domain is well defined, the problem is not well defined).

Innovation Theory

innovation-theory
The innovation loop is a methodology/framework derived from the Bell Labs, which produced innovation at scale throughout the 20th century. They learned how to leverage a hybrid innovation management model based on science, invention, engineering, and manufacturing at scale. By leveraging individual genius, creativity, and small/large groups.

Lean vs. Agile

lean-methodology-vs-agile
The Agile methodology has been primarily thought of for software development (and other business disciplines have also adopted it). Lean thinking is a process improvement technique where teams prioritize the value streams to improve it continuously. Both methodologies look at the customer as the key driver to improvement and waste reduction. Both methodologies look at improvement as something continuous.

Lean Startup

startup-company
A startup company is a high-tech business that tries to build a scalable business model in tech-driven industries. A startup company usually follows a lean methodology, where continuous innovation, driven by built-in viral loops is the rule. Thus, driving growth and building network effects as a consequence of this strategy.

Minimum Viable Product

minimum-viable-product
As pointed out by Eric Ries, a minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort through a cycle of build, measure, learn; that is the foundation of the lean startup methodology.

Leaner MVP

leaner-mvp
A leaner MVP is the evolution of the MPV approach. Where the market risk is validated before anything else

Kanban

kanban
Kanban is a lean manufacturing framework first developed by Toyota in the late 1940s. The Kanban framework is a means of visualizing work as it moves through identifying potential bottlenecks. It does that through a process called just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing to optimize engineering processes, speed up manufacturing products, and improve the go-to-market strategy.

Jidoka

jidoka
Jidoka was first used in 1896 by Sakichi Toyoda, who invented a textile loom that would stop automatically when it encountered a defective thread. Jidoka is a Japanese term used in lean manufacturing. The term describes a scenario where machines cease operating without human intervention when a problem or defect is discovered.

PDCA Cycle

pdca-cycle
The PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle was first proposed by American physicist and engineer Walter A. Shewhart in the 1920s. The PDCA cycle is a continuous process and product improvement method and an essential component of the lean manufacturing philosophy.

Rational Unified Process

rational-unified-process
Rational unified process (RUP) is an agile software development methodology that breaks the project life cycle down into four distinct phases.

Rapid Application Development

rapid-application-development
RAD was first introduced by author and consultant James Martin in 1991. Martin recognized and then took advantage of the endless malleability of software in designing development models. Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a methodology focusing on delivering rapidly through continuous feedback and frequent iterations.

Retrospective Analysis

retrospective-analysis
Retrospective analyses are held after a project to determine what worked well and what did not. They are also conducted at the end of an iteration in Agile project management. Agile practitioners call these meetings retrospectives or retros. They are an effective way to check the pulse of a project team, reflect on the work performed to date, and reach a consensus on how to tackle the next sprint cycle. These are the five stages of a retrospective analysis for effective Agile project management: set the stage, gather the data, generate insights, decide on the next steps, and close the retrospective.

Scaled Agile

scaled-agile-lean-development
Scaled Agile Lean Development (ScALeD) helps businesses discover a balanced approach to agile transition and scaling questions. The ScALed approach helps businesses successfully respond to change. Inspired by a combination of lean and agile values, ScALed is practitioner-based and can be completed through various agile frameworks and practices.

SMED

smed
The SMED (single minute exchange of die) method is a lean production framework to reduce waste and increase production efficiency. The SMED method is a framework for reducing the time associated with completing an equipment changeover.

Spotify Model

spotify-model
The Spotify Model is an autonomous approach to scaling agile, focusing on culture communication, accountability, and quality. The Spotify model was first recognized in 2012 after Henrik Kniberg, and Anders Ivarsson released a white paper detailing how streaming company Spotify approached agility. Therefore, the Spotify model represents an evolution of agile.

Test-Driven Development

test-driven-development
As the name suggests, TDD is a test-driven technique for delivering high-quality software rapidly and sustainably. It is an iterative approach based on the idea that a failing test should be written before any code for a feature or function is written. Test-Driven Development (TDD) is an approach to software development that relies on very short development cycles.

Timeboxing

timeboxing
Timeboxing is a simple yet powerful time-management technique for improving productivity. Timeboxing describes the process of proactively scheduling a block of time to spend on a task in the future. It was first described by author James Martin in a book about agile software development.

Scrum

what-is-scrum
Scrum is a methodology co-created by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland for effective team collaboration on complex products. Scrum was primarily thought for software development projects to deliver new software capability every 2-4 weeks. It is a sub-group of agile also used in project management to improve startups’ productivity.

Scrumban

scrumban
Scrumban is a project management framework that is a hybrid of two popular agile methodologies: Scrum and Kanban. Scrumban is a popular approach to helping businesses focus on the right strategic tasks while simultaneously strengthening their processes.

Scrum Anti-Patterns

scrum-anti-patterns
Scrum anti-patterns describe any attractive, easy-to-implement solution that ultimately makes a problem worse. Therefore, these are the practice not to follow to prevent issues from emerging. Some classic examples of scrum anti-patterns comprise absent product owners, pre-assigned tickets (making individuals work in isolation), and discounting retrospectives (where review meetings are not useful to really make improvements).

Scrum At Scale

scrum-at-scale
Scrum at Scale (Scrum@Scale) is a framework that Scrum teams use to address complex problems and deliver high-value products. Scrum at Scale was created through a joint venture between the Scrum Alliance and Scrum Inc. The joint venture was overseen by Jeff Sutherland, a co-creator of Scrum and one of the principal authors of the Agile Manifesto.

Six Sigma

six-sigma
Six Sigma is a data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating errors or defects in a product, service, or process. Six Sigma was developed by Motorola as a management approach based on quality fundamentals in the early 1980s. A decade later, it was popularized by General Electric who estimated that the methodology saved them $12 billion in the first five years of operation.

Stretch Objectives

stretch-objectives
Stretch objectives describe any task an agile team plans to complete without expressly committing to do so. Teams incorporate stretch objectives during a Sprint or Program Increment (PI) as part of Scaled Agile. They are used when the agile team is unsure of its capacity to attain an objective. Therefore, stretch objectives are instead outcomes that, while extremely desirable, are not the difference between the success or failure of each sprint.

Toyota Production System

toyota-production-system
The Toyota Production System (TPS) is an early form of lean manufacturing created by auto-manufacturer Toyota. Created by the Toyota Motor Corporation in the 1940s and 50s, the Toyota Production System seeks to manufacture vehicles ordered by customers most quickly and efficiently possible.

Total Quality Management

total-quality-management
The Total Quality Management (TQM) framework is a technique based on the premise that employees continuously work on their ability to provide value to customers. Importantly, the word “total” means that all employees are involved in the process – regardless of whether they work in development, production, or fulfillment.

Waterfall

waterfall-model
The waterfall model was first described by Herbert D. Benington in 1956 during a presentation about the software used in radar imaging during the Cold War. Since there were no knowledge-based, creative software development strategies at the time, the waterfall method became standard practice. The waterfall model is a linear and sequential project management framework. 

Read Also: Continuous Innovation, Agile Methodology, Lean Startup, Business Model Innovation, Project Management.

Read Next: Agile Methodology, Lean Methodology, Agile Project Management, Scrum, Kanban, Six Sigma.

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