Jim Benson joined the DC Lean+Agile Meetup.
Topic:
How To Save Your Lean or Agile Journey
Bold statement? Yes it is.
Over the years I’ve commiserated with people at the highest levels of Lean and Agile about one central theme: Why do these journeys last for a while, see success, but ultimately fall into failure or disrepair?
We take these failures personally or we blame others. “That manager doesn’t get Agile” or “they weren’t really a Lean thinker.”
Even if true, these are cop-outs. We, as change agents, must recognize that there are natural human forces at play that resist change, become distracted by adversity, or simply forget to do the routine. We naturally take short cuts and when we get busy, those short cuts become even shorter.
We need to do the preliminary work to Lean and Agile. We need to build a culture of continuous improvement before we ever engage a methodology or outside idea. We need to truly self organize.
Jim Benson, Lean/Agile veteran and author of Personal Kanban and the Collaboration Equation, will describe how he’s helped teams and organizations create Right Environments for Construction, Software Development, Hospitals, Government, and so on. A Right Environment is an environment in which professionals have what they need to do a professional job. If they don’t have that, they can never be Lean or Agile, they can just cope.
This is the prerequisite we have been missing.
About Our Speaker:
Jim Benson is the CEO of Modus Cooperandi, and co-founder of Modus Institute Community and co-creator of the popular Lean Agile Visual Management Certification Program.
A pioneer in applying Lean and Kanban methodologies to knowledge work, Jim is the creator of Personal Kanban and Lean Coffee, as well as dozens of popular Lean and Agile tools. His background in civil engineering, urban planning, software development, and business management have left him with an appreciation of the personal and the practical elements of work.
He is the co-author of Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life, winner of the prestigious Shingo Research and Publication Award. His most recent book, The Collaboration Equation.
Jim is a sought-after keynote speaker and humane management thought leader who coaches and supports companies and knowledge workers at organizations around the globe. His other books include Why Plans Fail, Why Limit WIP, and Beyond Agile.
