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Category Archives: Primers
HOW TO: How to Limit WIP #4– How to Size Tasks (sort of)
Strangely, although people routinely overburden themselves with work, their first objection to limiting work-in-progress is “don’t all my tasks need to be the same size? How do I size my work?” They hear the possibility that we can get more … Continue reading
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HOW TO: How to Limit WIP #3–Reducing Interruptions
Four hours ago, I walked up to a big pad of paper and started mind mapping all the types of interruptions we might face while trying to get our work done. While I was working, Tonianne, who was on Skype, … Continue reading
HOW TO: How to Limit WIP #2–Affinity Mapping
Does this look familiar? This is a problem, because an disorderly and frightening READY column is, in and of itself, a form of work-in-progress. Even if you are limiting your WIP, looking at that huge string of demanding post-its weighs … Continue reading
HOW TO: Limit Your Work-in-Progress #1–Calm Down and Finish
We had a long series, which is soon to become a mini-book, on why you should limit your work-in-progress (WIP). In it we focused on the dangerous side effects of being overworked, of which there are many. Those articles show … Continue reading
Posted in Primers
Tagged completion, existential overhead, limiting WIP, wip, work life balance
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The Pen: The Handoff Column
In our work, we have tasks we need to do, tasks we are doing, and tasks we’ve completed. We know we have a WIP limit and that we shouldn’t exceed it. But tasks aren’t always as tidy as we’d like. … Continue reading
Do The Right Small Thing
When you look at your Personal Kanban, do you have tasks like “Do the Dishes” or are they more like “Build a House”? If they’re more like the latter, ask yourself why. Good Things Are Completed In Small Packages Lean … Continue reading
The Pen: Managing Stalled Tasks
This question is from an interview I just did with an internal magazine with ExileSoft, a Sri Lankan company. The question has been haunting me, though, so I’m extending my reply in this post. Thushara’s question: “I started to practice … Continue reading
Learning: Why Limit Your WIP X
In “Creating an Economy” we discussed four elements we needed to understand to build our economy. The third was that knowledge work involves learning. Knowledge workers need to learn – they learn by doing, by observing, by experimenting, by reading, … Continue reading
Communication: Why Limit WIP IX
“Good morning, Eldred.” “Good morning, Markus.” Before Markus came on board, there was zero contact with the CEO. Maybe at the Christmas party. He was more like a movie star – someone you recognized but didn’t dare approach. Certainly not … Continue reading
Awareness: Why Limit WIP VIII
Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that’s important. Self-discipline with awareness of consequences. ~ Dalai Lama Self-discipline with the awareness of consequences. When we become self-aware, we shed learned helplessness. The inability to act is replaced by … Continue reading
