Kanban Maturity Model

Decision Filters
Organizational Leadership Leadership
Maturity Level Maturity Level CULTURAL VALUES DECISION FILTERS Character Traits

0 Oblivious Abdicated Achievement

Celebrate small wins rather than
dreaming of grand plans
Recognize & celebrate progress rather than
bemoaning setbacks and missed opportunities
Authenticity

To go fast, travel alone Shared goals, shared risks, shared rewards, improved chances of success
Collaboration To go far, travel together over individual goals, individual risks, and individual rewards

Team-
1 Focused
Selfish Taking Initiative

Transparency
If you see an opportunity for improvement, do something about it
rather than abdicating it, avoiding it, ignoring it, neglecting it, or seeking sympathy

Assume that the cost of hiding the truth Prefer to share information & democratize decision making
Confidence
Lean
exceeds the cost of over-reacting to bad news than hiding information & centralizing power

Acts of Leadership
Customer Awareness
Decision Filter
If you see an opportunity for improvement, encourage others to do something about it, through example, inspiration, signaling, or by direction,
rather than, abdicating, waiting to follow the lead of another, or the self-sacrifice of taking your own initiative VALUE TRUMPS FLOW
Expedite at the expense of
If you don´t know who it is for, why are you spending Where did it come from? Where is it going? Without a customer, there is no purpose; flow to maximize value.
time, attention, and money on it? There can be no flow without an origin and a destination without purpose, there is no soul

Prefer to start where you are. ¨It is not necessary to change. Value emergent outcomes Environmentally tested, empirically proven, yet without a causal explanation Be like water! FLOW TRUMPS WASTE
Evolutionary Change Keep that which is useful, discard the rest Survival is not mandatory¨ W. Edwards Deming over speculative design is more valuable than an untested, model-driven plan or design Water flows around the rock! ELIMINATION
Increase WIP, if required to
Customer-
2
maintain flow even though it
Reward the removal of obstacles
Flow Stop starting, start finishing It´s a marathon, not a series of sprints
Tribal Charisma
rather than the heroics of overcoming them will add waste.

Driven Narrative Shared experience enables the precautionary principle: Shared experience improves predictability Who we are and why we are here is contained in our story Encourage capturing & retelling of stories rather than WASTE ELIMINATION
narrative provides precaution against Black Swan events in complex circumstances Resilience is enabled through narrative reducing information to abstractions, numbers, and generalizations TRUMPS ECONOMY OF
SCALE
Respect is earned not given, Realistic capability assessment Hard earned confidence Drive efficiency by reducing
Respect don´t confuse it for courtesy
Pragmatism over idealism Reality over fantasy
over romantic dreams, luck, and prayer over casual arrogance transaction & coordination
costs of selecting,
¨All models are wrong, some are useful¨ scheduling, sequencing, and
Understanding (internal) There is no wishful thinking!
Useful models improve the probability of good decisions delivering work.

To go fast, travel alone Seek consensus Common interests should outweigh

Agreement To go far, travel together rather than taking unilateral action petty rivalries or contested resources

Flow when you can, pull when you must,

Balance Overburdening serves no one
Push only when the risks demand it

To act in the service of others is to act with purpose, meaning and soul.
Customer Service Always act with intent to meet customer expectations
rather than the intent to meet personal or organizational goals Service is the means to fulfillment and virtue

Customers select products or services KPIs should be based on fitness criteria used for market selection;
Fitness for Purpose The market defines ¨good enough¨ If you can do something about it, just do it!
using very few criteria not health indicators, improvement drivers, or vanity metrics

3 Fit-for-Purpose Purpose Driven Leadership at All Levels Act rather than ask permission
It is better to try (even if you fail)
than never to have made an attempt
Altruism

Short-term Results Frequent small wins build trust Building trust where little exists outweighs
congruence & alignment with identity & purpose
Infrequent big wins require faith

Understanding (external) Anticipation is better than reaction

Unity & Alignment
Think holistically using global metrics
rather than focusing on parts using local metrics
Relationships Our organization is part of a complex ecosystem, our actions extend beyond our boundaries of control, Agile
over transactions selfish behavior will eventually be punished, altruistic behavior will eventually be rewarded
Decision Filter
Communicate intent & desired outcome
rather than means & expected behavior

PREFER PROGRESS OVER

DELAY FOR PERFECT
Virtue derives from successful fulfillment of purpose; A ship in harbor is safe ¨People think that businesses exist to make profits. INFORMATION
Business Focus Why trumps who, what and how but that is not what ships are built for. They have that backwards; businesses make profits in order to exist. ¨ Make progress with imperfect
Empathy information, course correct later
as new information arrives. Trade
Competition It´s a pie baking contest, not a pie eating contest Competition makes us stronger When the fittest survive, the customer wins If we aren´t moving forward, we´re going backwards cost of delay against cost of
rework.
Customer purpose over demographics Customer empathy over product placement, Who trumps why. Why trumps what. Customer identity trumps customer purpose, customer purpose trumps product,
Customer Intimacy or socio-economic means What trumps how. the right product trumps placement, price, promotion, or delivery
price, and promotion PREFER TRUST OVER
CONTROL

4
“In God we trust; all others must bring data.” Facts and evidence over Quantitative analysis over “Look for a horse, not a zebra, or a unicorn”,
Data-driven Decision Making W. Edwards Deming speculation and superstition qualitative categorization modified African Proverb
Trust enables you to move
quickly without delay and
Risk-Hedged Risk Manager Pragmatism without overheads of permission,
Deeper Balance Allocation over prioritization Risk hedging over stakeholder preference Impact over probability negotiation, contracts, audit and
arbitration. Trade risk of losses
through failed trust for economic
gains from speed and low
Fairness Dignity over efficiency or cost Treat others as you would wish to be treated
overheads.

Leadership Development
Regulatory Compliance
Equality of Opportunity
Parenting not nannying
Anticipate regulatory demand;
maintain liquidity at the expense of efficiency
Level playing fields, rather than
affirmative action, or positive discrimination
The threshold for intervention is Developing leaders will be cheaper and more predictable Leaders develop through experiencing the consequences of their actions;
SEE WIP AS A LIABILITY
Integrity
“Can they (metaphorically) kill themselves/get us killed?“ than acquiring them on the open market intervene only when the consequences may be catastrophic
RATHER THAN AN ASSET
More work-in-progress
Regulation is a cost of doing business. There is a level playing field.
We either choose to be in this business, this market and meet the regulations or we choose to exit
causes lead times to grow
disproportionately, and quality to
drop disproportionately. More WIP
causes a disproportionate drop
in customer satisfaction. Trade
Access to resources, opportunity, or information should not be the pleasure of starting for the
Why, what and how well, trumps who
restricted by title, pay grade, or affiliation benefits of finishing.

5
Hypothesis-driven discovery over “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.

Market Leader Relentless Experimentation Recognizing that we “don´t know” is our strength
gambling and blind, random mutation It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
Humility
Perfectionist Perfectionism It is easier to lead from the front Marginal gains produce big wins

Equality of opportunity
Social Mobility Meritocracy over pedigree over privilege and entitlement

Justify how your decision enhances “What does it mean for Windows?” Let your identity, purpose and strategic objectives guide your decisions; don´t be distracted
Congruence who we are, why we exist, or what we do Bill Gates by attractive opportunities misaligned with who you are, why you exist, or what you do

6 Survival
Built for Culture Hacker &
Identity Manager Long-term Survival
Survival outweighs enduring identity,
incumbent purpose, or existing means
Evolutionary capability over efficiency and profit
Recognize when your mission is complete,
don´t allow nostalgia to cause inertia or ossification

Time, attention, energy, and money spent embracing diversity

Duty
Tolerance & Diversity Monocultures are fragile Be intolerant only of intolerance
is insurance against collapse, extinction, or ruin

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