Simply put, Kanban is a strategy to optimize the flow of value through a process. It is impossible to talk about Kanban without talking about flow. The fundamental idea behind Kanban is that one of the best ways to optimize value delivery is to optimize process flow. In other words, how work gets done can be as big a component of value as what work gets done.

With that concept in mind, this guide contains a definition of Kanban and a minimum set of practices to achieve optimized flow. By reducing Kanban to its essential components, the hope is that this guide will be a unifying reference for the whole Kanban community.