100% utilization of any system is not good; it is not Lean Agile… 80% utilization or less is best.
What is a system?
A system is any assemblage or set of correlated members.
A human body is a system… needs downtime … needs rest… needs nourishment.
People who are working on a system are also part of that system… they also need downtime.
In SAFe, the last iteration of the program increment is called Innovation and Planning’… this is where ‘downtime’ happens… no usual work is planned into it. Instead, creative endeavors like hackathon, research, learning, retrospective, and planning for the next program increment are planned into it.
Downtime is also built-in within each team’s two weeks iteration.
Without downtime, burnout occurs, no thoughtful and proactive planning occurs, no learning… always rushing — the tyranny of the urgent — causing people to cut corners… delivering partial solutions… and as a result the technical debt grows. Not cool!
