Kanban Method - Finding the Minimally Viable Change

A perfect storm is brewing:

• Jeff Anderson has been talking about the connection between Kanban and LeanStartup
• A discussion about Kanban Training Materials with Mike Burrows has nudged me to give more emphasis to the foundational principles and core practices.
• I’ve been pitching a lot of Lean Startup stuff myself to Product Owners and clients in general
• I’ve been thinking about how to use Lean Startup Change Measure Learn cycles in my approach to change and started to do small experiments at my own clients
• I’m working on my Lean Systems and Software Conference 2012 talk/paper about Continuous Stagnation (Which will also be featured in similar form at Scrum Gathering Atlanta btw…)

The culmination of all this is that I created a Story Map to reflect the Kanban Method approach to evolutionary change. This maps the foundational principles and core practice areas to actual core and optional practices and can help me explain Kanban in our 2-day Accredited Kanban Training (next date is 20-21 march in Israel btw) . I’m also thinking of creating exercises using this map to explain story mapping itself as well as the concept of “Minimally Viable Change/Product”.

If you’re interested to check out how I use this in the context of my training - see an excerpt from the materials:

Kanban Method Change Machine - As a Story Map