Category Archives: DesignPatterns

Planning is Indispensible. Personal Kanban Anti-patterns Series 1

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Jim Benson

In the early 2000s, people discovered how great pomegranate juice is. It’s filled with antioxidants that help us avoid colds and other maladies. Well, no one likes to be sick, so people started buying the juice by the case. Sure … Continue reading →

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What If I Had A Slack Card?

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Jim Benson

“All things in moderation, including moderation.” ― Mark Twain In yesterday’s post, you may have noticed that we have a “Slack Card” in our Personal Kanban for the day. The problem we, like most people, were having was this: Productivity … Continue reading →

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WIP: The Kidzban Book

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Tonianne DeMaria Barry

My dad was magical. When I was growing up, he turned everything into a game – studying, yard work, even combatting my fear of the Wicked Witch of the West. “Life should be fun!” he’d insist, invoking his own father’s … Continue reading →

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Democratize Meetings with Personal Kanban

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Jim and Tonianne

Agendas are so 20th Century. Los Angeles’ Hollywood Hills are known for their exclusive neighborhoods, sprawling estates, and the people who inhabit them. They aren’t (but should be) known for their perilous and serpentine roadways. Among the most treacherous is … Continue reading →

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Personal Kanban Interview on Agile Scout

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Jim Benson

Agile Scout’s Peter Saddington interviews Jim Benson about Personal Kanban and the release of the book Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life. ASL005 – LIVE with Jim Benson Personal Kanban from Agile Scout on Vimeo.

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How I Cook

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Jim Benson

I frustrate people when I give cooking classes. They want measures. They want me to tell them what to do. Cooking isn’t like that. Cooking is about flavor, it’s about texture, it’s about the experience. It’s not about tablespoons or … Continue reading →

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Motivation Through Visualization: Seeing What is Really Important

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Jim Benson

When we wake up in the morning, we have a pretty good idea what we want to get done that day. To make those daily goals explicit, we created the Today (link) column for Personal Kanban. Our Personal Kanban serves … Continue reading →

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Kanban for Short Intense Projects: How We Used Kanban to Visualize Our Hiring Process Workflow and Make Our Lives Easier

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Matthew Moran

This is how we used Kanban techniques to visualize our hiring workflow, empower hiring process participants, and give executives a bird’s eye view on a short term project. For many companies, hiring is something that happens in spurts rather than … Continue reading →

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Would You, Could You on a Plane?

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Jim Benson

As a matter of fact, yes. I boarded the first leg of my flight from Seattle to Hanoi. I had 19 hours of flying ahead of me. I also had a backlog, and no wifi. Agile Zen was not going … Continue reading →

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Complex Lives Pt 2: Visualizing Real Work

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Jim Benson

In part one of Complex Lives, we set a Future in Progress (FIP) limit for Jessica, a busy and active single mom. Her goals were overwhelming her ability to get things done. So we reigned them in by giving her … Continue reading →

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