We all know where the concept of Lean started (Japan) and we all know how disciplined the Japanese guys are. The first most common reason for people to abandon Kanban is the lack of discipline. This should be enough to give you a ton of great ideas to digest for years. Lean from the Trenches: Managing Large-Scale Projects with Kanban.The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development.Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business.The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the WorldвЂ™s Greatest Manufacturer.The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement.

If hiring an external consultant is not an option, then roll up your sleeves and read these books: These guys are not cheap, but that would be one of the greatest investments you have ever made for your company. If you donвЂ™t have such a person to help you out, you could try to work with an external consultant. There are exceptions to all rules, I know, butвЂ¦ Reality is that doing Kanban is darn hard and unless you have a strong change agent / lean evangelist at hand, odds are that you will fail to achieve great results. There are not too many rules (almost no rules at all), just the sticky notes that have to be moved, a few WIP limits, simple metricsвЂ¦ how complex could it be? Educate Yourself and Your Group about the вЂњKanban WallвЂќДЄt first sight, Kanban seems very easy to follow.

So, what is it that makes a Kanban implementation successful? There is not a definitive answer to that question, but I will attempt to вЂњprescribeвЂќ my own rules that have helped us so far. The other 20% (I donвЂ™t have any official statistics about this, just my gut feeling) survive the learning curve and unlock the true potential of lean. Unfortunately, the adoption of Kanban for some 80% of the teams reaches the вЂњSticky Note StageвЂќ and either stay there forever or after a few months of moving stickies on the Kanban board, people go back to their old habits (notepads, fancy mobile apps, MS Outlook tasks, checklists, etc.). Kanban practitioners and lean fellows know that Kanban is much more than a few notes on the wall, but this never ever occurs to the regular Kanban novice. If you ask 100 people вЂњ What is KanbanвЂќ probably 50 (or more) will answer вЂњA white board with sticky notes on itвЂќ or should we say a вЂњKanban wall.вЂќД®ven if they donвЂ™t say exactly that, I bet they are envisioning a similar picture, and by the way, 50 is a conservative number here.

Stickies for wall