The Lean Dot Game Agile Groupies Ann Arbor MI 2015mar25.

The Lean Dot GameAgile GroupiesAnn Arbor MI2015mar25

The Lean Dot GameThis game's purpose is to give us a "live-feeling" for the following concepts:• As Work-In-Process (WIP) increases, so does:

• The effort needed to detect and fix problems with the work.*1• The time it takes for new unique-work to get done.*1

• WIP increases when people upstream of a process's bottleneck work faster than the bottleneck can process their work. *1• If the bottleneck cannot be readily-widened, then the upstream-people must redirect

their excess effort elsewhere in order to alleviate the increasing WIP.*1

The Lean Dot GameWe need the following materials for one, three-round game:• Post-its, pop-up style, yellow, 3"x3",

(at least 300)*1• At least two pop-up post-it

dispensers (they can be homemade)• Enough 3/4 inch round assorted

color dot labels to populate 300 post-its*1 (3 packs of Avery 5472)

• Enough sheets of pre-punched, 3-hole, letter-size paper to hold 300 post-its at 6 post-its, per sheet (at least 50)

• 6 additional sheets of paper with enough additional post-its and dot labels to make examples for each of the six stations, as shown in the adjacent figure.

• At least four pencils or pens• One clipboard• A six-person table with elbow-room

The Lean Dot GameWe need the following materials for one, three-round game:• Post-its, pop-up style, yellow, 3"x3",

(at least 300)*1• At least two pop-up post-it

dispensers (they can be homemade)• Enough 3/4 inch round assorted

color dot labels to populate 300 post-its*1 (3 packs of Avery 5472)

• Enough sheets of pre-punched, 3-hole, letter-size paper to hold 300 post-its at 6 post-its, per sheet (at least 50)

• 6 additional sheets of paper with enough additional post-its and dot labels to make examples for each of the six stations, as shown in the adjacent figure.

• At least four pencils or pens• One clipboard• A six-person table with elbow-room

The Lean Dot GameTo play, we need people who know what it must be like to:• Work with horse-blinders (6)• Not quite know what they want (1)• Be an obsessive clock watcher (1)• Be a slightly self-centered assistant-manager (the more, the merrier)

The Lean Dot GameThe participants play the game with the following in mind:• They are developing a software

application• A fully-dotted post-it represents a

feature of the software.• Note that since the arrangement of

the dots on each post-it is the same,• The participant at Station #1

writes a timestamp at the top of the post-it to both make each one unique and to track the WIP time of each.

• The six stations represent the major functions of software development:

1. Business Analyst2. Technical Analyst (Architect)3. Designer4. User-Interface Developer5. Logic Developer6. Tester (Quality Assurance)

The Lean Dot GameThe participants play the game with the following in mind (continued):• Given the below-mentioned assumptions, the following formula (a variant of what's called

"Little's Law") can estimate the average WIP time for a post-it (a.k.a. Cycle Time (CT))*2*3• CT = WIP/TH

• Where TH means Throughput• And WIP means Work In Process

• Assumptions:• Conservation of WIP flow, where the average output rate equals the average input rate.*2• All WIP is eventually completed.*2• The size and average-age of the WIP is reasonably stable during the given time-interval.*2

• Note that if the WIP never drops to zero, it is possible for its average-age to fluctuate, in which case, the above formula does not hold true.*2

The Lean Dot GameInstructions for all 3 Rounds:• Each station has "in" and "out" areas, where

• The "out" area of an upstream-station is shared with the "in" area of the neighboring downstream-station.

• For stations 2 through 6,• Please do FIFO (First In First Out)

• As shown,1. Station-1 writes a timestamp (hh:mm:ss) at

the top of the post-it in 24-hour format2. Station-2 applies a yellow-dot3. Station-3 applies a red-dot4. Station-4 applies two green dots5. Station-5 applies two blue dots6. Station-6 writes an appropriate pass or fail

mark next to each dot, then writes a timestamp at the bottom of the post-it

• 20 minutes are allotted for each round.• 4 minutes for prep• 6 minutes for play• 10 minutes for discussion, via a four-chair

and three-squatter activity

The Lean Dot GameInstructions for all 3 Rounds (continued):• In a table like the adjacent one, the

Obsessive Clock-Watcher (a.k.a.. Project Manager) records the following for each round:• The difference between the first

post-it's top and bottom timestamps

• The difference between the last post-it's top and bottom timestamps

• # of completed post-its• # of accepted post-its• # of WIP post-its (WIP)• TH (# of completed post-its/ 6

minutes)• CT (WIP/TH)

• The Project Manager will also:• Ensure that FIFO is being followed• Give a one-minute warning• End play after 6 minutes

Obsessive Clock-Watcher (a.k.a. Project Manager) records the following for each round:• The difference between the first

Date: Round #

1st post-it's bottom timestamp

1st post-it's top timestamp

1st post-it's timestamp difference

Last post-it's bottom timestamp

Last post-it's top timestamp

Last post-it's timestamp difference

# of completed post-its

# of accepted post-its

# of WIP post-its (WIP)

Date: Round #

The Lean Dot GameInstructions for all 3 Rounds (continued):• For the participant who is

responsible for "Not quite knowing what they want" (a.k.a. Customer),• They will receive the post-its

from station-6, then • For any dot that they do

not like, write an "X" next to it and adjacent to any existing mark

The Lean Dot GameInstructions for Round 1 of 3:• Software features are to be

produced in batches of six• As shown,

• Station-1 pulls a sheet of pre-punched paper and places six post-its on it, then writes a timestamp "hh:mm:ss" at the top of each one.

• For the participants who will be acting like slightly self-centered assistant managers, • Pick a single station to "ride",

then• Once game-play begins,

"ride them" to work "faster than they can", like your next luxury car payment depends on it!

• Multiple assistant managers per station is encouraged!

The Lean Dot GameInstructions for Round 2 of 3:• Software features are to be produced

one-by-one (one post-it at a time)• Every station makes a conscious

effort to minimize WIP, while still only doing their own work

• The "Customer" has the sheets of pre-punched paper,• During game-play,

• They place the post-its, that they receive from station-6, onto the sheets (6 per sheet)

• For the participants who were acting like slightly self-centered assistant managers in the previous round, • "Knock it off" and just observe

The Lean Dot GameInstructions for Round 3 of 3:• As in the previous round,

• Software features are to be produced one-by-one

• The "Customer" has the sheets of pre-punched paper

• Stations 2 through 5 may change who places what dots

• Stations 1 through 5 may help station 6 with testing without actually marking the post-its

• For the remaining participants, • Try to be as helpful as you can

without actually doing any "station-work"

References:1. "The Dot Game"; Net Objectives;

http://www.netobjectives.com/resources/articles/the-dot-game 2. "Chapter 5 Little's Law"; "Evolution of Little's Law in Operations

Management"; pages 92-96; John D.C. Little & Stephen C. Graves; MIT; http://web.mit.edu/sgraves/www/papers/Little's%20Law-Published.pdf

3. "Lean Dot Game"; Peter Antman; Agile Management Coach at Crisp; http://www.slideshare.net/peterantman/lean-dotgamespotify

The Lean Dot Game

The Lean Dot Game Agile Groupies Ann Arbor MI 2015mar25.

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