This post is an excerpt from Sooner Safer Happier: Antipatterns and Patterns for Business Agility by Jonathan Smart, with Zsolt Berend, Myles Ogilvie, and Simon Rohrer. Taking a one-size-fits-all approach does not optimize outcomes for the infinite unique contexts in organized human endeavor. Instead, find your unique VOICE and use it. You Have a Unique VOICE: Use It The alternative to imposing one set of prescriptive practices across an organization without considering the many unique … [Read more...]
The Andon Cord
The origin of the word “Andon” in Japanese comes from the use of traditional lighting equipment using a fire burning lamp made out of paper and bamboo. This “Andon” idea was later translated for use in manufacturing in Japan. The “Andon” became used as a signal to highlight an anomaly (i.e., a flashing light). This signal would be used to amplify potential defects in quality. When a defect was suspected, a sign board would light up signaling the specific workstation having a problem. The … [Read more...]
Japanese Terms For DevOps Practitioners
Gemba The Japanese meaning is "the real place". In business it typically means “where value is created” and in lean manufacturing it means “the factory or shop floor”. In Lean Six Sigma (LSS) it is common to hear the phrase “Going to Gemba” (meaning the real place where the work is being done). This is also sometimes referred to as process mapping. The reason this is an important word in terms of DevOps is that DevOps inherits a lot of ideas from LSS and the “Theory of Constraints” … [Read more...]
