Content by Jim Benson
A Lean Reading ListWith no books about lean
Wed, 09/02/2020 - 12:02
Untitled Document From Dust Tracks on a Road, by Zora Neale Hurston (J. B. Lippincott, 1942) The quote in the picture from Zora Neale Hurston does not end there; it finishes, “It is a seeking that he who wishes may know the cosmic secrets of the…
Prioritization Is a Matter of PerspectiveYour ‘need’ to prioritize is a symptom
Thu, 07/16/2020 - 12:02
You feel like you need to prioritize. That is a cry for help. And prioritization isn’t the help you need. At this point, any act of prioritizing is a small bandage on a very large wound. You can, and probably should, still do it, but it will give…
Your Tools Won’t Save YouNo tool is going to coddle you out of needing to pay attention
Mon, 06/15/2020 - 12:03
Stop asking, “Which tool should I use?” and start asking, “How can I work smarter?” When I was a young coder, I asked my mother, “What will I be?” Will I be Jira, Will I be Asana? Here’s what she said to me....“Que sera, sera. Whatever will be,…
Lean and Agile: The CatchTracking our own failure rate and learning the harder lesson
Tue, 06/02/2020 - 12:02
I hear this lament from new practitioners to seasoned veterans: Why isn’t our (insert school of workflow management here) transformation working? Time and again I see coaches focus on the “deficiencies” of their clients or their companies. If only…
You Get What You NeedGoals as helpful constraints
Wed, 04/08/2020 - 12:03
Every endeavor we undertake starts with a goal. A goal starts as an idea, which morphs into a desire, which becomes a goal. Ideas are vague, desires are inspiring, and a goal is actionable inspiration. A goal is not a plan. A goal should not be…
The Four Yokes of the Change AgentLean and agile fail because we teach lean and agile
Mon, 02/10/2020 - 12:03
‘It’s the shoes!” Spike Lee yelled into the camera on the Air Jordan ads. But it was never the shoes. Michael, Magic, and LeBron would have outplayed their leagues in golf cleats. It was never the shoes. But it was us, the salespeople. In our case…
Visualizing Interactions in Complicated WorkNo one creates a quality product alone
Mon, 12/23/2019 - 12:02
When we look at a Personal Kanban, its simplicity belies its power. Visualizing our work as individuals, as teams, and even as teams of teams creates trust, reliability, and understanding. When we want to coordinate work, these are serious…
What We Know: Honne. What We Say: TatemaeBuilding a culture of information flow
Tue, 12/03/2019 - 12:02
Editor’s note: This is episode two in the Respect for People series. Click here for episode one. When we build any working system, we need to understand and appreciate how people naturally exchange information. They withhold some things, say some…
Ma: Finding Cognitive SpaceEpisode One of the Respect for People Series
Wed, 10/02/2019 - 12:03
Editor’s note: Read episode two in the Respect for People series here. I was standing in a back room of the Honolulu Museum of Art that was off limits to the public. In this one room, protected from bugs, humidity, and light, was the world’s largest…
Filters of Responsibility‘We see things we want to be different, but we don’t act because there are so many of them’
Thu, 08/15/2019 - 12:02
Responsibility. It’s a hard word to come to grips with. What is the responsible thing to do right now? What is my personal responsibility? What is my responsibility as a team, family, company, state, or country member? What do I expect from others…