75 years ago, the challenges of combat in the South Pacific were exceeding the U.S. Navy’s decision-making capabilities. Ship captains were overwhelmed with data from radars, radios and other sources. They could not make sense of their work fast enough. Today, many of us are faced with the same challenge: we have too much data and too little actionable information.
The U.S Navy’s revolutionary solution was the Combat Information Center (CIC). It distributed the cognitive load using visual tools, created a clear model of the work, and enabled faster decision-making. Effective Kanban systems accomplish the same goal, reducing our individual cognitive load while simultaneously enabling more effective decision-making across the system. I’ll describe this history, define how distributed cognition works, and give you specific ideas for how to accelerate effective decisions with your Kanban system.
Outline:
– Introduction of Concepts: Kanban & Distributed Cognition
– The U.S. Navy’s Situation
– Challenges after Pearl Harbor
– The Need to Fight at Night
– Limitations of Early Radar Systems
– The Solution: the Combat Information Center (CIC)
– Why the CIC Worked and How it Relates to Our Situation Today
– Distributed Cognition
– What is it?
– What are the Essential Components of it?
– What Benefits does it Provide?
– Kanban
– What is Kanban?
– What is the Kanban Method?
– How does Kanban Enabled Distributed Cognition
– Example: Kanban Dinner Planning
– Making Policies Explicit
– Creating a Pull System
– Visualization
– Work In Progress Limits
– Classes of Service
– Capacity Allocation
– Summary
– How can this Help You?
– What can You do Tomorrow?
