The Improvement Kata - PNSQCuploads.pnsqc.org/2015/slides/inv-4_Iberle_slides.pdf · THE TOYOTA...

10/16/2015

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© 2015 Iberle Consulting Group, Inc.

The Improvement Kata

Annual Improvement Planning Meets Agile

and Lives Happily Ever After


• 30 years in technology • Software development

• Quality engineering

• Process improvement

• Hardware and software

• Big and small organizations

• Consulting• Lean process improvement

• Agile at the edges

• Software quality

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Hello, My Name is Kathy Iberle

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© 2015 Iberle Consulting Group, Inc. 3

Enough About Me…


• Process Improvement Methods Today• What is the Improvement Kata?• Scaling Up the Improvement Kata• Adapting the Improvement Kata for Software• Conclusions• Q&A

Agenda

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CLICK TO EDIT MASTER TITLE STYLE

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT TODAY

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Who Has Annual Improvement Plans?Raise Your Hand!

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Who is Doing Agile?Raise Your Hand!


Notice any problems?

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Different Assumptions

• Ability to identify and plan solution up front

• Need for coordination across teams and across time

• Best way to organize across teams

Today


Annual Planning Assumes

We Know the Path to Take

Our Goal

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Today


We Do Know – Up to a Point

Our GoalThreshold of

Knowledge

Today


And Then…

Our Goal

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Agile Retrospectives

Adapted from Mike Rother14

Independent Changes

Coordinated Changes

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Organizations Have Multiple Value Streams

Development SystemTest

Deploy-ment DONE

Value stream: end-to-end delivery of value

Ask for changes


DevelopmentSystem

TestDeploy-

ment DONEAsk for

changes


Deploy-ment DONE

Ask for changes

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Organizations Have Multiple Value Streams


Deploy-ment DONE


Ask for changes


DevelopmentSystem

TestDeploy-

ment DONEAsk for

changes


Deploy-ment DONE

Ask for changes

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Why Focus on the Value Stream?

How many jobs per day will get done?


Deploy-ment DONE

17 jobs/day 10 jobs/day15 jobs/day

Ask for changes



Good Process Improvement Method

Scales up:

Can solve big problemsCoordinates change across entire organization

Handles uncertainty:

Adapts to new informationCorrects course quicklyDoesn’t plan too far ahead

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IMPROVEMENT KATA

Scales up:





IMPROVEMENT KATA - WHAT IS IT?

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Origins of the Improvement Kata

Dr. Mike RotherHighly successful continuous improvement and adaptation

What & how: patterns for managing and thinking ?

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By Mike Rother22

THE TOYOTA KATA RESEARCH2004 - 2009

Mike Rother says: If you study Toyota’s management system, you will see a common pattern of thinking and acting at all levels in the company.

Guided by these two research questions:

1. What are the unseen managerial routines and thinking that lie behind Toyota’s success with continuous improvement and adaptation?

2. How can other companies develop similar routines and thinking in their organizations?

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Continuous improvement using:• Go-and-See (Gemba)• Small batches• Cadence

What Did They Find?

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AND• Scientific Method (PDCA)• Kata

Agile uses the same Lean principles.

Small batches: User storiesCadence: Sprints

Go-and-See: User demos


What is a Kata?

Kata are practice routines that help us adopt new ways of acting and thinking

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Counting: a Musician’s Kata


THEIMPROVEMENT KATA

Conduct Experimentsto get thereGrasp the

CurrentCondition

Establish your Next

TargetCondition

Get the Direction orChallenge

1

2

3

4

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Start by Setting a Direction

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What is our current challenge?Six months to a year out.


Grasp the Current Condition

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How effective is our process now?

What are its results?

How does it work?

Science = measurements, not opinions!

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Establish a Target Condition

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A Target Condition is a step on the

way to the Challenge.

It describes the future “bottom line”,

not a specific solution.


Example: Early Adoption of Agile

Fast, flexible, reliable

Meet 60% of sprint commit-ments

Matrixed

people are

yanked off

Interruptions

from outside

Testing

Starts

Late

Meet 80%

Testing

Starts Late

by starting testing at midpoint

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X!!!

!!

?

• Arguing over what to change

• Process for its own sake

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Without a Target Condition


Which *one* obstacle are

we addressing now?

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With a Target Condition

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A Kata: The Learner’s Storyboard

Focus Process: Development of new features

Challenge: Fast, flexible, reliable

Next Target Condition Current Condition PDCA Cycles Record

Obstacles Parking Lot


Outcome Metrics:• 65% of stories finished

in sprint.• Throughput = 10

stories/sprint

Outcome Metrics:• 80% of stories finished• Throughput not lower.

Achieve by: August 30Meet 80% commitments.

Not meeting sprint commitments.

Process Metrics:• Testing starts

day 6 of 15.

Target Operating Pattern:• Start testing when first

story checked in.

Process Metrics:• Testing starts

day 10 of 15.


Iterate Toward the Target Condition

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Let’s try science!

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By Mike Rother

TargetCondition

(date)

Path isn't knowable in advance

Where you

want to be

Your Current

Knowledge

Threshold

?

? ?

Limit of what you currently

know

Whereyouare

TheGoal

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The Target Condition is in Unknown Territory

If we already knew how to reach the Target Condition,

we would go there now.

By Mike Rother

Experiments

NextTarget

Condition

CurrentCondition

Threshold of Knowledge

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One Experiment Each Day

Is the problem really the problem?

Is the solution really the solution?

What is a fast, easy way to

prove or disprove my hypothesis?

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Adapted from Mike Rother

PREDICTIONTestable

ACTIONConduct theexperiment

EVALUATEAdjust based on what you learn

EVIDENCECollect facts and data

PLAN

DO

1

23

4

CHECK(Study)

ACT

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Pattern: Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)

Whatactually

happenedLearning

What weexpect

to happen

Date, step & metric

What do we expect? What happened What we

learned

Coach:

Do

a C

oac

hin

g C

ycle

Co

nd

uct

th

e E

xper

imen

t

PDCA CYCLES RECORDObstacle: Learner: Coach:

Target Condition:

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) CycleA Kata – PDCA Cycle Record


Unexpected network changes

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Learner

Date, step & metric


learned

Coach:

Do

a C

oac

hin

g C

ycle

Co

nd

uct

th

e E

xper

imen

t


Target Condition:

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle

1) What are you going to do?

2) What do you expect to see?

X X

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The Experiment


Date, step & metric


learned

Coach:

Do

a C

oac

hin

g C

ycle

Co

nd

uct

th

e E

xper

imen

t



X X

3) What did you actually see?

4) What did you learn?

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The Results

Target Condition:

Learner

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Date, step & metric


learned

Coach:

Do

a C

oac

hin

g C

ycle

Co

nd

uct

th

e E

xper

imen

t



X X5) What will you try next?


Last experiment

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What Should We Do Next?

Target Condition:

Date, step & metric


learned

Coach:

Do

a C

oac

hin

g C

ycle

Co

nd

uct

th

e E

xper

imen

t


Target Condition:

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) CycleExample: Start Testing Sooner

Tell team to start testing at midpoint.


Testing starts too late.

Magic occurs.

Test beds aren’t ready.

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Date, step & metric


learned

Coach:

Do

a C

oac

hin

g C

ycle

Co

nd

uct

th

e E

xper

imen

t



X X5) What will you try next?

Last experiment

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Typical Response

3) What did you actually see?

4) What did you learn?

Target Condition:


READ WHAT YOU SEE

IUMRING TQ GQNGIUSIQNS

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Adapted from Mike Rother45© 2015 Iberle Consulting Group, Inc.


Adapted from Mike Rother46© 2015 Iberle Consulting Group, Inc.


Our brain automatically fills in the blanks

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© 2015 Sociotechnical Advisors 47

Muscle Memory


DeliberateThinking

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WHY IT FEELS ODD

Unconscious thinking takes care of routine decisions & conserves brain energy. It’s fast and instinctive.

Deliberate thinking is slow and intentional. It costs much more energy and attention.

You have to consciously thinkabout it and be more deliberate

Pathways withlow signal resistance

Pathways withhigh signal resistance

TrainedSynapses

UntrainedSynapses

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Coach Learner

Rapid PDCA Cycles

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Another Kata: Reflecting with a Coach


Date, step & metric


learned

Coach:

Do

a C

oa

chin

g C

ycl

e

Co

nd

uct

th

e E

xp

eri

me

nt

PDCA CYCLES RECORD

Obstacle: Learner: Coach:

Target Condition: Fewer failed installs


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Learning Leads to a New Path

Team B

didn’t like

the new

process.

Team B

follows the

process &

that helps.

Write

process &

give to

Team B.

Unexpected network changes

Ask Team B

about the

problems.

New process

causes

problems for

Team B.

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Date, step & metric


learned

Coach:

Do

a C

oac

hin

g C

ycle

Co

nd

uct

th

e E

xper

imen

t


Target Condition:

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) CycleExample: Start Testing Sooner

Tell team to start testing at midpoint.


Testing starts too late.

Magic occurs.

Test beds aren’t ready.

Testers don’t know what to prepare for.

Tell dev to include test beds in acceptance tests.

Tests that specify test beds.

Testers didn’t understand the short –hand.

Some test beds ready, not all.

Date, step & metric


learned

Coach:

Do

a C

oa

chin

g C

ycl

e

Co

nd

uct

th

e E

xp

eri

me

nt

PDCA CYCLES RECORD

Obstacle: Learner: Coach:

Target Condition:

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) CycleYes, It’s a Lab Notebook

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Hypothesis

Experiment Results Analysis

Conclusions

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Process-Level PDCA

1-2 days

Target Conditions

Monthly or every sprint

A Single Team Can Use the

Improvement Kata


SCALING UP

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By Mike Rother

We Need Cross-Team Alignment

Team B

Team C

VisionNext

TargetCondition

TargetCondition

NextTarget

ConditionTarget

Condition

NextTarget

ConditionTarget

Condition

Challenge

Team A

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We Want to Optimize the Value Stream

How many jobs per day will get done?


Deploy-ment DONE

17 jobs/day 10 jobs/day15 jobs/day


Ask for changes


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Clarify

request

DONE

Make

network

changes

Incoming

Requests

CUSTOMERS

Fix security

problems

Issue new

licenses

Refer User to

Documentation

Track work from initial idea

through delivery to customer.

User Request

User Request

User Request

User Request

User Request

User Request

User Request

Typical IT Department

57© 2015 Iberle Consulting Group, Inc.


PLANNING EXECUTING

Understandthe Directionor Challenge(from level above)

Grasp theCurrent

Condition

Establish the Next Target Condition

Iterate Toward the

Target Condition

Value StreamLevel

ProcessLevel

OrganizationLevel

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THE IK PATTERN IS USED AT ALL LEVELS

(Organization’s vision and strategic objectives)

A Target Condition at one level is the Direction for the next level

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Storyboard Hierarchy

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Challenge Storyboard

Value-StreamStoryboards

Process-level Storyboards

Annual Plan � Challenge


Scale Up Using the Same Pattern

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Challenge

Yearly – Upper Mgmt

Process-Level PDCA

1-2 days

Value-Stream Target Conditions

Monthly to Quarterly – Mgmt

1) Single Team

2) Multiple Teams

3) Whole Organization

© 2015 Sociotechnical Advisors

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THE IMPROVEMENT KATA

ADAPTED FOR SOFTWARE AND IT

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• Effective in manufacturing and health care• Hypothesis:

• Lean theory predicts the Improvement Kata should be highly effective in IT and software development

• Similarity to agile should make it easy to learn and use

• What did we try?• What actually happened?• What did we learn?

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Why Adapt the Improvement Kata?

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• Current condition• IT departments: complex customer-facing and

internal web-based applications, legacy code

• Department or organization with multiple software

development teams

• Some agile teams, some not

• Ambitious annual improvement goals

• Little or no formal improvement planning method

(other than team-level retrospectives)

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Our Experiences


Start by Setting a Direction

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Use the organization’s existing annual planning goal(s).

If multiple goals, check for a common cause.

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Grasp the Current Condition

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Collect existing metrics relevant to the goal.

Look for bottom-line results not details.

May need to create new metrics.

Science = measurements, not opinions!

Some Popular Outcome Metrics

Cycle Time = average time

for work item from start to

finish.

Throughput = average

number of work items

completed per week.


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Current Condition:Manufacturing vs. Software

Usual Improvement Kata What We Did

Detailed value-stream map Rough value-stream map

Metrics: throughput, cycle

time, takt time, pitch

Metrics: throughput, cycle

time, quality e.g. # defects

What We Learned:Process map alone can cause useful change.Best to just get one or two metrics at this point.There are two conflicting definitions of cycle time.


Establish a Target Condition

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A Target Condition is a step on the

way to the Challenge.

It describes the future “bottom line”,

not a specific solution.

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Target Condition:Manufacturing vs. Software


Hand-written storyboards on

the walls.

Some hand-written, some

electronic.

Not much on how to identify a

good Target Condition.

Brainstorm impediments to

challenge & pick one to solve.

Value-stream measurements

already exist.

First Target Condition may be

measuring the value stream.

What We Learned:Storyboard forces a concise, thoughtful goal.Distinction between goal and solution is tricky for many.


Iterate Toward the Target Condition

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Let’s try science!

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• Observed and/or coached over a year’s worth of PDCA Cycles

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What Did We Do?

Significant, sustained improvement in• Ability to discover effective solutions• Ability to implement solutions• Ability to work across teams on solutions

What Did We See?

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PDCA Cycles:Manufacturing vs. Software


Daily coaching meetings Coaching 2x to 3x/week

Each step around 30 minutes.

Meet at a regular time.

What We Learned:Less than 2x/week � loss of momentumSteps bigger than 30 min � disruption to regular workPDCA created much faster learning than usual.

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• Most people don’t see their own assumptions• With practice, skills improve rapidly• Coach doesn’t need to be expert in field• Peer coaching can work• To be a good Coach, first be a Learner

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What We Learned:

Coach’s Role is Critical

Scaling Up: What We Did


Director

Manager

Scrum Master or Technical Lead

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• One for each successful process change• Index card �concise summary.• Makes progress visible.

Success Card

Learner: Mark Coach: Katie

Target Condition: A

process to classify

defects by root causes.

Results: We have a

checklist which

developers can use,

and a short training to

go with it. We found

that testers cannot do

the classification.

Elapsed time for the

PDCA cycles: ~10 days

Benefit: We can start

identifying the root

causes which cause the

most problems.


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Scaling Up:Manufacturing vs. Software


Had value-stream map. Created value stream map.

Had basic metrics in place. Throughput, cycle time,

post-release defects

What We Learned:Seeing the value stream changes your perspective.Cross-team coordination requires active management involvement.Value stream is complicated by matrix management.

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CONCLUSIONS

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IMPROVEMENT KATA

Scales up:




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Date, step & metric


learned

Coach:

Do

a C

oac

hin

g C

ycle

Co

nd

uct

th

e E

xper

imen

t


Target Condition:


1) What are you going to do?


X X

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PDCA is Very Effective


PLANNING EXECUTING

Understandthe Directionor Challenge(from level above)

Grasp theCurrent

Condition

Establish the Next Target Condition

Iterate Toward the

Target Condition

Value StreamLevel

ProcessLevel

OrganizationLevel

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Decomposing by Value Stream is Effective

(Organization’s vision and strategic objectives)

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a. Adopt PDCA with a partnerb. Adopt within a team to turbo-charge

team retrospectivesc. Adopt across a value-stream, operating

unit, or company to focus improvement

How Could You Use the

Improvement Kata?

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Annual Improvement and Agile

Live Happily Ever After

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• Mike Rother: Toyota Kata and http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mrother/The_Improvement_Kata.html

• Hakan Forss: Improvement Kata in software: https://hakanforss.wordpress.com/tag/toyota-kata/• Adam Light “Managing for Continuous Improvement Using the Improvement Kata and Coaching Kata”. Cutter IT Journal. June 2015. • PNSQC 2015: Kathy Iberle & Adam Light

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Learn More

Workshop on Wednesday 8:00pm-5:00pm


Q & A


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3) True Progress Becomes Visible

DevelopmentSystem

TestFixing

DefectsDONE

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Development Team sees this. System Test Team sees this.

Which one is correct?© 2015 Iberle Consulting Group, Inc.

CFD Shows the Entire Value Stream

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DevelopmentSystem

TestFixing

DefectsDONE

# of requirements promised


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The “Hockey Stick”

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Iberle, Kathy. 2010. “Lean System Integration at HP”. Proceedings of the

28th Annual Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference.

http://www.kiberle.com/articles.html© 2015 Iberle Consulting Group, Inc.

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