Lean vs. Agile

Is There a Common Thread?

How could someone use these terms in the same sentence?

Isn't it like comparing apples to oranges?

Lean is all about reducing waste and speed to delivery while Agile is a project management

approach focused on flexibility and adaptivity to meet customer needs. 

The Same but Different...

Typically the agile project manager is mandated to reduce waste in how the project is managed and how deliverables are rolled out. This thinking has become very common-place and is also very consistent with Lean thinking.

What is LEAN?

• A management system focused on improving the overall quality of how a company operates.

• Considers all processes and improves efficiency and effectiveness of everyone and every process

• Reduces waste of time and resources while improving quality concurrently so that the customer's specific needs are satisfied better and faster.

• Bigger picture, longer term change catalyst

What is Agile?

• A project management method and approach

• Projects that are managed and executed in small parts (as you go)

• Quick decision making on individual projects

• The goal is to reduce waste, make better decisions, become more responsive with less wastage of time and resources

Agile Waste Reduction

EXAMPLES

1. A legal department (or some specialized group of people) who do not share the same paralegals or different pharmaceutical patient support programs that do not share the same nursing staff for support. As a result, project teams may be idle waiting for these specialized resources or these specialized resources might not be fully-utilized waiting for work.

2. Misalignment of company goals/priorities  and  incorrect allocation of resources to projets

3. Project members are not properly (or consistently) trained and tools are not adequate to support and execute the process. This leads to inconsistency across teams and inefficiency.

Lean and Agile share many of the same principles and many Agile principles are borrowed from Lean thinking.

Lean Principles:

1. Eliminate Waste
2. Build Quality In
3. Create Knowledge
4. Defer Commitment
5. Deliver Fast
6. Respect People
7. Optimize the Whole

Principles of Agile:

1. Highest priority is customer satisfaction
2. Welcome changing requirements
3. Frequent delivery  or sub-deliverables
4. Business people & developers cooperating daily
5. Build projects around motivated people
6. Face-to-face conversation is best
7. Progress measured by implementations of "quick wins"
8. Sustainable development pace
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence
10. Simplicity
11. Self-organizing teams
12. Regular reflection & adaptation

In essence, Agile is about being flexible and responding rapidly to changes in feedback, requirements, and market needs. In order to do that, Lean thinking is necessary, as its principles help promote the mentality needed. An optimal blending therefore, is an important art such that classic project management that focuses on control needs to be balanced against value.

Eric Young
President
Tele-Centre Assist Inc.
www.telecentreassist.com