Modern business drowns in overhead it can’t even see. I’ve seen companies spend hours denying an expense request on a $20 book. I’ve seen teams spin for weeks planning projects that change dramatically in the first week due to a simple implementation lesson. I’ve seen people overworked and therefore missing deadlines pulled into long meetings to talk to them about how late they are in their work.

Uncontrolled work-in-process (WIP) creates the overhead that destroys companies, or at least their profit margins.

In Personal Kanban there are only two rules: Visualize your work, and limit your work in process. I have come to the conclusion that limiting WIP is like trying to drive the speed limit exactly. In knowledge work, that’s very difficult to do and sometimes actually dangerous.

Controlling WIP, on the other hand, is something we absolutely need to do. What WIP replaces the work we desire? Here’s a list of seven.

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