Tag Archives: Lean

Video: Lean, Kanban and Theory of Constraints for Managers (@roblally at @epicenter2009)

Last month Rob Lally gave an excellent presentation at epicenter 2009 in Dublin. Rob on Twitter.

We managed to record the session, which includes an excellent practical demonstration that is well worth watching. Rob’s an excellent speaker, he fills 60 minutes with great content and humour.

The application of Lean principles, Kanban and pull-systems theory along with Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints revolutionised the manufacturing world in the second half of the twentieth century. Belatedly, the software world is waking up to the transformative effects these tools can have. There are still no silver bullets in the software world, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t improve our aim.

Having applied these principles and practices to many real-world, commercially-motivated projects, Rob speaks from the perspective of a practitioner not a theorist.

Although each of the three topics is a whole field of study unto itself, Rob’s goal is to communicate some of the key lessons from each, and have attendees leave with concrete ideas that they can use to improve their organisation.

No M&Ms were hurt in the making of this video, however some were eaten. Of course, if other confectioners wish to offer their “colour-coded” products for future demonstrations, please leave a comment here: but be warned, we will only deal in large quantities 🙂

Rob Lally @ epicenter 2009, Dublin from Craig Murphy on Vimeo.