lean-methodology

Lean Methodology In A Nutshell

The lean methodology is a continuous process of product development to meet customers’ needs. It was in part borrowed by the auto industry, and its roots are found in the Toyota Production System, which was heavily influenced by Henry Ford’s assembly line system. The lean methodology is, therefore, an evolution from lean manufacturing, based on continuous improvement.

CompanyIndustry/ApplicationApplication of Lean PrinciplesResults/Outcomes
ToyotaAutomotive ManufacturingLean Manufacturing, Just-in-Time, continuous improvementLeading automaker, efficient production, high quality.
AmazonE-commerce, TechnologySupply chain optimization, customer-centricityE-commerce giant, efficient logistics, customer focus.
BoeingAerospace and DefenseLean production processes, Value Stream MappingImproved production efficiency, cost reduction.
StarbucksFood and BeverageStore operations optimization, efficient layoutGlobal coffee chain, consistent quality, customer loyalty.
General Electric (GE)ConglomerateLean Six Sigma, quality improvementCompetitive across industries, quality products.
FordAutomotive ManufacturingLean Manufacturing, waste reductionImproved vehicle quality, competitiveness in the industry.
NikeSportswear and ApparelSupply chain optimization, reduced lead timesGlobal sportswear leader, efficient production.
IntelSemiconductor ManufacturingLean principles in manufacturingLeadership in the semiconductor industry, high-quality products.
John DeereAgriculture and MachineryLean principles in manufacturingRenowned manufacturer, high-quality agricultural equipment.
Southwest AirlinesAirlinesLean principles in operations, quick turnaroundsEfficient airline, low costs, high customer satisfaction.
Danaher CorporationConglomerateLean Six Sigma, continuous improvementDiverse range of high-quality products, operational excellence.
LeanCor Supply Chain GroupSupply Chain ConsultingLean supply chain practicesSupply chain optimization, improved efficiency for clients.
NikeSportswear and ApparelLean principles in manufacturing and designReduced lead times for product launches, innovation.
DellComputer TechnologyLean supply chain and manufacturing practicesEfficient production and delivery, customization options.
FedExLogistics and Package DeliveryLean principles in logistics and operationsReliable package delivery, efficient logistics.
Procter & Gamble (P&G)Consumer Goods ManufacturingLean principles in production and supply chainEfficient production of household and personal care products.
TargetRetailLean principles in supply chain and store operationsEfficient retail operations, customer satisfaction.
Lean Enterprise InstituteLean Consulting and TrainingPromoting Lean thinking and methodologiesSpreading Lean principles and best practices through education and consulting.
SpotifyMusic Streaming and TechnologyLean startup principles in product developmentRapid innovation and feature development, customer growth.
Kaiser PermanenteHealthcareLean principles in healthcare operationsImproved patient care processes, reduced costs.

A look into Kaizen and the roots of the Lean Methodology

kaizen-approach
Kaizen is a process developed by the auto industry. Its roots are found in the Toyota Production System, which was heavily influenced by Henry Ford’s assembly line system. The word Kaizen is a hybridization of two Japanese words, “kai” meaning “change” and “zen” meaning “good.” Two of the basic tenets of Kaizen involve making small incremental changes – or 1% improvement every day – and the full participation of everyone. 

Kaizen is actually a process that developed out of the auto industry.

Its most infamous roots are found in the Toyota Production System, which was heavily influenced by Henry Ford’s assembly line 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.

In the 1930s a team from the Toyota Motor Company visited Henry Ford’s plant.

At the time, Toyota was producing just 40 automobiles per day, while Ford was producing 8,000.

Toyota decided to implement many of Ford’s techniques, but a visit by one of the lead engineers to the local Piggly-Wiggly gave him an inspiration which significantly advanced the basics of Ford’s system. 

Kaizen didn’t gain international popularity, however, until the 1980s when a Japanese organizational theorist and management consultant named Masaaki Imai founded the Kaizen Institute Consulting Group to help introduce the concepts of Kaizen to western businesses.

Quick Intro To Lean Thinking

In their book, Lean Thinking, James P. Womack, and Daniel T. Jones highlighted the key principles for lean thinking and the basis of the lean methodology.

Lean Thinking, based on the study of the Toyota Production System, looked at five key guiding principles for process improvement, mainly focused on waste reduction: value, value streams, flow, pull and perfection.

Value

The lean thinking paradigm starts by defining value from the customer standpoint.

value-proposition
A value proposition is about how you create value for customers. While many entrepreneurial theories draw from customers’ problems and pain points, value can also be created via demand generation, which is about enabling people to identify with your brand, thus generating demand for your products and services.

Value can take many forms and shapes, and it can be a practical value (helping solving problems and pain points), perceived value (to establish status), or brand value (trust, switching costs).

And this is the foundation of the lean thinking methodology.

Value Streams

Once defined how the customer perceives value, it’s important to ma it out and identifies the stream, the steps the customer tasks to get that value, and how each step contributes to delivering it.

Once identified the value streams, it is possible to identify the activities that add value to the customer and those that do not.

And the latter need to be removed, as the lean methodology is a method of process improvement and, and foremost of waste reduction.

Flow

Once the value stream has been improved to remove wastes and add only the activities that add value to the final customer, it’s important to check the flow and ensure that the whole value-creating process is smooth and in case reconfigure the steps taken by customers to in case enable that flow.

Pull

Pull is all about avoiding wastes and have in place a just-in-time system, built from the ground up, on the customers’ needs.

Perfection

This is what makes lean thinking a continuous, always evolving process, a process that looks at perfecting each step of the way, which requires continuous tweaking, feedback loop and revisiting of the various steps with which value is created and delivered.

Quick Intro to Agile And Lean Startup Movements

In 2001, a group of seventeen software developers met to discuss these lightweight development methods, with the aim of challenging the old assumption of heavyweight software development.

They forged “The Agile Alliance,” as a group of independent thinkers about software development, which agreed on the Manifesto for Agile Software Development.

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-manifesto-principles
Source: agilemanifesto.org

Steve Blank launched the Lean Startup Movement, which, as he explained in a 2013 HBR article, “Why the Lean Start-Up Changes Everything:”

 It’s a methodology called the “lean start-up,” and it favors experimentation over elaborate planning, customer feedback over intuition, and iterative design over traditional “big design up front” development. 

Today startups take this methodology for granted. Yet, at the time, this was an innovation, as Steve Blank recounted:

Although the methodology is just a few years old, its concepts—such as “minimum viable product” and “pivoting”—have quickly taken root in the start-up world, and business schools have already begun adapting their curricula to teach them.

lean-startup-vs-corporation

Some of the key aspects of the lean startup movement is based on using a “scientific method” and a process of creating, launching, and growing a startup.

This focuses on getting insights as quickly as possible from customers without focusing too much on business planning.

As Steve Blank remarked in his 2013 article:

A business plan is essentially a research exercise written in isolation at a desk before an entrepreneur has even begun to build a product. The assumption is that it’s possible to figure out most of the unknowns of a business in advance, before you raise money and actually execute the idea.

Once the money is raised:

Developers invest thousands of man-hours to get it ready for launch, with little if any customer input. Only after building and launching the product does the venture get substantial feedback from customers—when the sales force attempts to sell it. And too often, after months or even years of development, entrepreneurs learn the hard way that customers do not need or want most of the product’s features.

In the lean startup movement and methodology, three things are critically important.

In fact, those are the new pillars that challenged the old assumption of how an enterprise should look like have allowed the lean startup movement, thus the lean startup canvas.

In the HBR article, Steve Blank remarks the waste of time a five-year business plan represents:

No one besides venture capitalists and the late Soviet Union requires five-year plans to forecast complete unknowns. These plans are generally fiction, and dreaming them up is almost always a waste of time.

Start-ups are not smaller versions of large companies

One of the critical differences is that while existing companies execute a business model, start-ups look for one

This point is critical because of a large organization or existing companies operating with known business models.

The lean startup instead iterates until it finds a business model that fits that startup. In fact, Steve Blank defines the lean startup as:

a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model

It is crucial to emphasize the fact that the business model needs to be repeatable and scalable.

Toward Continuous Innovation In Business

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.
the-continuous-innovation-manifesto
The Continuous Innovation Mindset is a Manifesto proposed by Ash Maurya on blog.leanstack.com

Case Studies

1. Toyota:

  • Industry: Automotive
  • Application: Toyota is often considered the pioneer of Lean Manufacturing and Lean Thinking. They implemented principles like Just-in-Time production, reducing waste, and continuous improvement.
  • Results: Toyota became one of the world’s leading automakers, known for its efficient production processes and high-quality vehicles.

2. Amazon:

  • Industry: E-commerce and Technology
  • Application: Amazon uses Lean principles in its supply chain and fulfillment centers to minimize waste and optimize operations. They also emphasize customer-centricity and continuous improvement in their processes.
  • Results: Amazon has become one of the largest and most successful e-commerce companies globally, with efficient logistics and a reputation for customer satisfaction.

3. Boeing:

  • Industry: Aerospace and Defense
  • Application: Boeing applied Lean principles to streamline its aircraft production processes, including Value Stream Mapping and continuous improvement.
  • Results: Boeing improved production efficiency, reduced costs, and maintained a competitive edge in the aerospace industry.

4. Starbucks:

  • Industry: Food and Beverage
  • Application: Starbucks uses Lean principles to optimize its store operations, reduce wait times, and ensure consistent product quality. They focus on efficient layout and work processes.
  • Results: Starbucks has achieved global success and customer loyalty by consistently delivering quality coffee and customer experiences.

5. GE (General Electric):

  • Industry: Conglomerate (diverse industries)
  • Application: GE applies Lean Six Sigma principles to improve efficiency, reduce defects, and enhance product quality across its various business units.
  • Results: GE’s commitment to Lean Six Sigma has contributed to its competitiveness and leadership in industries like aviation, healthcare, and energy.

6. Ford:

  • Industry: Automotive
  • Application: Ford, influenced by Toyota’s Lean principles, has implemented Lean Manufacturing in its production processes. They focus on reducing waste and increasing efficiency.
  • Results: Ford has improved the quality of its vehicles and remained a major player in the automotive industry.

7. Nike:

  • Industry: Sportswear and Apparel
  • Application: Nike uses Lean principles to optimize its supply chain and manufacturing processes. They focus on reducing lead times and improving product customization.
  • Results: Nike remains a global leader in sportswear, known for its efficient production and innovative product offerings.

8. Intel:

  • Industry: Semiconductor Manufacturing
  • Application: Intel applies Lean principles to semiconductor manufacturing to reduce defects and enhance production efficiency.
  • Results: Intel’s focus on Lean has contributed to its leadership in the semiconductor industry, producing high-quality microprocessors.

9. John Deere:

  • Industry: Agriculture and Machinery
  • Application: John Deere employs Lean principles in its manufacturing processes, including continuous improvement and waste reduction.
  • Results: John Deere is a renowned manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, known for its quality and efficiency.

10. Southwest Airlines:

  • Industry: Airlines
  • Application: Southwest Airlines emphasizes Lean principles in its operations, focusing on quick aircraft turnaround times, simplified processes, and employee empowerment.
  • Results: Southwest has become one of the most efficient and profitable airlines globally, with low operating costs and high customer satisfaction.

Key Highlights

  • Lean Methodology and Lean Thinking:
    • The Lean methodology is a continuous process of product development aimed at meeting customers’ needs.
    • It has roots in the auto industry and the Toyota Production System, influenced by Henry Ford’s assembly line system.
    • Lean Thinking, based on the Toyota Production System, focuses on waste reduction and process improvement.
    • Lean Thinking is guided by five principles: value, value streams, flow, pull, and perfection.
    • These principles emphasize understanding customer value, optimizing processes, ensuring smooth flow, responding to customer demand, and striving for continuous improvement.
  • Kaizen and Lean Methodology:
    • Kaizen, a process of continuous improvement, developed in the auto industry and was influenced by the Toyota Production System.
    • The term “Kaizen” means “change for the better” and involves making small incremental changes and involving everyone.
  • Lean Startup Movement:
    • The Lean Startup Movement was launched by Steve Blank and focuses on experimentation, customer feedback, and iterative design.
    • It contrasts with traditional business planning, emphasizing quick insights from customers rather than extensive upfront planning.
    • Startups are seen as temporary organizations searching for repeatable and scalable business models.
    • The Lean Startup approach challenges the idea of lengthy business plans and emphasizes finding a business model that fits the startup’s needs.
  • Continuous Innovation and Lean Thinking:
    • Continuous innovation is a mindset where products and services are designed around customers’ problems, not just technical solutions.
    • Ash Maurya proposed the Continuous Innovation Mindset, emphasizing the importance of a feedback loop for product development and business model refinement.

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 InnovationAgile MethodologyLean StartupBusiness Model InnovationProject Management.

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

Main Guides:

Main Case Studies:

About The Author

Scroll to Top
FourWeekMBA