LEAN for Better Business As Usual

Agile project management must always be accompanied by Lean operations.

Lean helps us transform Business As Usual (BAU), that important and sometimes stressful daily operation. The most successful agile adoptions I’ve been involved in have been those where the scope included making small, simple changes to day-to-day operations, combining agile with Lean (they’re not the same, but they complement each other). So, in addition to beginning to work through iterative and incremental cycles to develop a product or solution, there was also a focus on improving existing processes to make them simpler, enhancing the capabilities of individuals and teams.

Not adopting Lean for BAU has side effects, bringing disadvantages such as:

•Having team members overwhelmed, unable to take on new tasks (which, in addition, is a big problem in such a volatile environment…). Projects require skills, and if we don’t streamline everyday life, we’ll hardly have quality participation from people.

•Cultural change is more difficult: agile projects, effort in working with senior management, coaching teams… everything goes down the drain if operations remain inefficient and schedules are jam-packed.

•A new mindset also costs more: What helps change more: 2 hours a week on an agile project, or applying a small change every day that was made in the process for which you are accountable? Please don’t get me wrong: 2 hours a week can have a very profound effect. But my point is to recognize the indisputable power that a habit has in everyday life.

•Overwhelming Quality teams: Many organizations have committees and roles that oversee process optimization, but we know that’s not enough: productivity and efficiency are the responsibility of individuals and teams, not a committee.

•Lack of talent development: An overcrowded BAU means fewer people want to participate (if they were willing) in an agile project, thereby diminishing development opportunities.

•Stress: because if you have to manage your day-to-day life plus the new tasks that the project entails, phew! Cortisol will be the king of the party.

•Feeling that “what’s new won’t last,” “another failed initiative,” “once the agile project is over, we’ll go back to the same old thing.” Again, if the status quo of everyday life changes, there is no longer a status quo to return to.

• A sense of division and that “agile is only for some people”: Those who weren’t lucky enough to be part of the agile project will feel that agile doesn’t belong to them. Generating changes in everyday processes generates a greater sense of belonging.

What if I don’t work with agile? Lean alone will surely help you a lot! What if I manage projects with a predictive approach? Lean will help you too!

What if my BAU is already under constant review and adjustment? Congratulations! In these cases, Lean will invite you to carry out this improvement process in a conscious, explicit, and purposeful way.