This is the third part of a series proposing a Manifesto for Agile Service Management. It draws upon the Manifesto for Agile Software Development and proposes a modified version of that manifesto’s propositions, based on the issues characterizing the management of services. In this installation, I will discuss the first proposition, “Individuals and interactions over […]
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Manifesto for Agile Service Management—Part II
This is the second part of a series proposing a Manifesto for Agile Service Management. It draws upon the Manifesto for Agile Software Development and proposes a modified version of that manifesto’s propositions, based on the issues characterizing the management of services. In this installation, I will discuss the third proposition, “Customer collaboration over contract […]
Manifesto for Agile Service Management—Part I
The Agile Manifesto has borne not just fruit, but complete orchards and plantations. But as we know, that document intended to be a manifesto for agile software development. Let us examine how that manifesto may be adapted for service management. What would a Manifesto for Agile Service Management be?1 The Manifesto for Agile Software Development […]
Ancient life on Mars?
Fig. 1: The Curiosity robot on Mars. In a recent interview, Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for its Science Mission Directorate, said, “The probability of finding extinct life on Mars? That’s the most interesting question.” (Le Temps, 5 August 2017, quote translated from the French article). But how might we know that we have […]
Multitasking, kanban & neuroscience
A key assumption underpinning kanban is that context switching in work performed by people—the inevitable by-product of multitasking—leads to considerable waste. When individuals perform knowledge work, the impact of context switching resolves, in part, into the question of whether the human brain can multitask efficiently. Therefore, it is useful to understand the neurological basis for […]
Lean configuration management: a conundrum
How does a purely internal activity like configuration management add value to customers? Would a customer gladly pay you for your configuration management activities? Keeping your configurations under control is hardly value adding in the same way as, for example, increasing the utility of a service. And yet, good configuration management underpins virtually all service […]
10 Kanban Misconceptions
When I ask people what they think about kanban, why they do not use it or why they show little interest in learning about it, I sometimes receive surprising answers. Clearly, there are many misunderstandings about kanban, many misconceptions about what it is, how it works, who can use it and what its benefits are. […]
If you don’t have time for kanban training, you need kanban training
I recently asked people why they do not take kanban training. Many of them said they simply don’t have the time for it. Well, that is a strong indicator that they really need to use a time-saving method like kanban. Let me explain why you truly do have the time for kanban training and why […]