Spot the difference — The original Kanban, The Lean Kanban method, Professional Scrum with Kanban
Toyota Kanban, Lean Kanban, Professional Scrum with Kanban, Flow — same word, very different things. This piece traces the lineage from the original Toyota Kanban on factory floors (where bins emptied, flags raised, and the warehouse chap kept just-in-time replenishment humming along) to the modern variants designed for knowledge work, where each card represents a valuable work item rather than a depleted part. Along the way: Toyota's six rules for Kanban, the mechanics of two-bin and three-bin systems, the prerequisites that make traditional Kanban work, and the key differences in how terms like cycle time and lead time get interpreted across approaches. Plus a comparison of where Lean Kanban, Professional Scrum with Kanban, and Flow overlap, where they diverge, and what each one is actually strong at.
Toyota Kanban, Lean Kanban, Professional Scrum with Kanban, Flow — same word, very different beasts. This piece traces the lineage from the original Toyota Kanban on factory floors (where bins emptied, flags raised, and the warehouse chap kept just-in-time replenishment humming along) to the modern variants designed for knowledge work, where each card represents a valuable work item rather than a depleted part. Along the way: Toyota's six rules for Kanban, the mechanics of two-bin and three-bin systems, the prerequisites that make traditional Kanban work, and the key differences in how terms like cycle time and lead time get interpreted across approaches. Plus a comparison of where Lean Kanban, Professional Scrum with Kanban, and Flow overlap, where they diverge, and what each one is actually strong at.
Professional Scrum with Kanban - Don't just limit WIP - optimize it! (post 3 of 3)
What happens when you combine Featureban simulations, Toyota Kata, and a Professional Scrum with Kanban training class? You get a hands-on way to teach teams how to actually optimize WIP — not just limit it. This piece walks through how Featureban simulations played out in practice (with coin flips, build/test moves, and a steady drift toward 2-day cycle times) and how Toyota Kata got baked into retrospectives from round two onwards. Plus a friendlier reframing of the official Kata using a solar system metaphor: Mars as the almost-impossible perfection vision, the Moon as a 1–3 year challenge, getting into orbit as the 3–6 month target condition, and Mother Earth as right now. One experiment, one obstacle at a time. No whack-a-mole.