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Why Limit WIP
Personal Kanban transformed how we think about our own personal productivity.
Why Limit Your WIP will transform how organizations and teams think about and manage their work. The tale in this book will hurt, because you’ll have undoubtedly lived with the consequences of people being stretched
too thin, work constantly blocked or in queue, projects chronically late, and people getting burned out...
~ Gene Kim author of The Phoenix Project from the Foreword
We are distracted.
We are overburdened.
We are unfocused.
Our work suffers for this. Our companies suffer for this.
We snatch failure from the jaws of success.
Limiting WIP is the breakthrough strategy for
starting less and completing more.
~
Written by Jim Benson, author of the Shingo Research Award winning Personal Kanban, urban planner, software developer, and business
owner who has planned and built everything from small software projects, to houses, to urban freeway systems, Why Limit WP is told by someone who has watched many projects be born,
run into problems, and ultimately fail due to overburden.
This short work is the third in the Modus Cooperandi MemeMachine series-which looks specifically at underlying issues that directly impact the success of teams, companies, and individuals.
The MemeMachine series is meant to start conversations and advance discussion.
Why Limit Your WIP will transform how organizations and teams think about and manage their work. The tale in this book will hurt, because you’ll have undoubtedly lived with the consequences of people being stretched
too thin, work constantly blocked or in queue, projects chronically late, and people getting burned out...
~ Gene Kim author of The Phoenix Project from the Foreword
We are distracted.
We are overburdened.
We are unfocused.
Our work suffers for this. Our companies suffer for this.
We snatch failure from the jaws of success.
Limiting WIP is the breakthrough strategy for
starting less and completing more.
~
Written by Jim Benson, author of the Shingo Research Award winning Personal Kanban, urban planner, software developer, and business
owner who has planned and built everything from small software projects, to houses, to urban freeway systems, Why Limit WP is told by someone who has watched many projects be born,
run into problems, and ultimately fail due to overburden.
This short work is the third in the Modus Cooperandi MemeMachine series-which looks specifically at underlying issues that directly impact the success of teams, companies, and individuals.
The MemeMachine series is meant to start conversations and advance discussion.
136 pages, Paperback
First published June 3, 2014
18 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 24, 2017
Quick, valuable fable on doing fewer projects simultaneously to increase productivity
A quick read especially for those familiar with Kansan. Highlights many common ways groups and individuals can become very busy while also becoming less productive and creating less value
A quick read especially for those familiar with Kansan. Highlights many common ways groups and individuals can become very busy while also becoming less productive and creating less value
January 6, 2015
I read this on the plane and couldn't wait to get wifi back so I could immediately purchase six more for colleagues. It's the best $10 and 1 hour you could spend for creating effective habits and mindset. You can't help but relate - we've all been there .... and we don't have to anymore with the achievable strategies shared.
September 27, 2015
Maybe 4.5 stars. This book is probably only relevant if you're the kind of person who takes on *much* too much work and tries to do everything simultaneously. I found the ideas in this book incredibly resonant with my current situation and have a feeling that others will as well. The TL;DR version of the book is something like 'do less to do more'. Highly recommended.
June 14, 2014
Great mini-book. Will help teams level-up and succeed.
September 3, 2014
First, cut the WIP. With a desire to improve, other effects and actions will come to play.
Good, short read on the topic.
Good, short read on the topic.
March 18, 2019
I thought this book was a nice short read. I would probably give it 3.5 stars if the app would let me. I would recommend the book to any product manager or team manager since it tells an important point about the impacts of trying to have your people be 100% loaded with work.
I must also admit when reading this book I kept thinking back to the book “product development flow” by reinerstein(sp). There are similar thoughts but this book does some of the same thoughts in a condensed manner.
Some key points I enjoyed:
-if you or your company isn’t limiting wip than your likely distracted, overburdened and unlikely to innovate.
-overloaded people work on their work (the tasks before them), they don’t work on the way they work (improving the product and the company.)
The takeaway is limit your tasks and your load, the closer to 100% utilized you become the slower you become and the less you will end up accomplishing.
Enjoy!
I must also admit when reading this book I kept thinking back to the book “product development flow” by reinerstein(sp). There are similar thoughts but this book does some of the same thoughts in a condensed manner.
Some key points I enjoyed:
-if you or your company isn’t limiting wip than your likely distracted, overburdened and unlikely to innovate.
-overloaded people work on their work (the tasks before them), they don’t work on the way they work (improving the product and the company.)
The takeaway is limit your tasks and your load, the closer to 100% utilized you become the slower you become and the less you will end up accomplishing.
Enjoy!
October 24, 2018
The First half or so chapters are repetitive and IMO don't capture the whole issues with large WIP.
The last few chapters were the most interesting as they have some actionable advices. Still doesn't deal with some other low level WIP reasons like external dependencies.
The last few chapters were the most interesting as they have some actionable advices. Still doesn't deal with some other low level WIP reasons like external dependencies.
February 12, 2018
A great read, worth the investment in time and money. Will pay its self back many times over.
August 4, 2016
Problems encountered consistently in software development that impact productivity, a teams ability to create something of value and culture. Many teams know of agile, devops, lean thinking but lack understanding of the principles involved. If teams apply the principles and tackle the obstacles it would make a difference in what they produce, their happiness with their work and open up opportunities.
This is an introduction meant to raise discussion and start conversations. It's not exhaustive but enough to raise ideas of what it would mean applied to teams you work with. A great introduction.
This is an introduction meant to raise discussion and start conversations. It's not exhaustive but enough to raise ideas of what it would mean applied to teams you work with. A great introduction.
July 31, 2014
The fact that too much WIP prevents us from finishing things is not new although I think it is important to point that out again and again. It' s a small book and fun to read. It is of cause simplifying things but it's necessary to do that to make the point. Jim is referring to different colored cards in the book but the pictures are greyscale and therefore it is hard to distinguish the different colors. It makes the pictures less usable.
September 27, 2015
I just re-read this last night. Good to be reminded of the need to say no more often, and to not try to do too much at the same time.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews