Agile in a Flash 9

Toyota Production System (TPS) Principles – The Idea
Agile in a Flash by Jeff Langr and Tim Ottinger (card #9)


> Continuous improvement
> Respect for people
> Long-term philosophy
> Develop the right process
> Develop your people and partners
> Continuously solve root problems


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Your agile team—scratch that, any team—can learn plenty from Toyota Production System principles.


Continuous improvement. Not only must we continuously reflect and adapt, but we must base such decisions on facts that derive from the true source.


Respect for people. Even if a process fosters the delivery of quality software, it is a failure if it does so at the expense of the workers who employ it.


Long-term philosophy. Building a process around short-term goals leads to a sloppy product. Teams must take a larger product focus.


Develop the right process. The software development process is not about controlling a project with voluminous documentation and mandates. Allow each team to devise and continuously tweak their own mechanisms for success.


Develop your people and partners. The best agile teams seek not only to continually learn more and challenge themselves but to promote this attitude in
others with whom they interact.


Continuously solve root problems. All involved should go to the problem to see it firsthand and work with the whole team to reach a consensus on how to
solve it.


Civilization World Wonder quote: "The ancient Oracle said that I was the wisest of all the Greeks. It is because I alone, of all the Greeks, know that I know nothing"

–Socrates