Make It Small — Small Is Simple and Fast, And Increases Your Probabilities of Success

In Lean Agile, small is simple and fast ! “Why? And how small should it be?”, you might ask.

SAFe Lean Agile Principle #6 states: Make value flow without interruptions

And accelerate the flow! One of the many flow accelerators is “Work in Smaller Batches”.

Why?

The same “Why” we are moving away from Waterfall to Lean Agile: Faster feedback! Faster feedback is one of the primary reasons for working in smaller batches. The smaller the size, the faster teams can collect and evaluate the feedback to adjust.

Think about it…

Waterfall: One huge batch… and you can only see the value/outcome (the working solution) at the end… the end of that one (yes, only 1 cycle) huge iteration (Plan, Do, Check, Adjust — adjust is not used… post-mortem analysis is used).

Lean Agile: Many small batches… one after the other… and you get to see incremental value/outcome (working increment of the solution) as you iterate (Plan, Do, Check Adjust — yes, adjust is used to the max!) in small cycles. Every iteration, you get Faster feedback so you can adjust accordingly for the next cycle (iteration: Plan, Do, Check, Adjust).

Take note of this: “FASTER FEEDBACK”. Read on…

Did you know that the smallest batch in Lean Manufacturing is a “batch of one”? One order. If there is a defect in that order, it is easy to spot (we get that feedback fast!) and inexpensive to correct, ASAP. It is also fast to finish and get it done!

That Lean Manufacturing’s “batch of one” is one of the many good reasons why we (in Lean Agile Software Factory) prefer small Stories (i.e., work effort size of 1, 2, at most 3 points). My favorite is 1 point (which is akin to the “batch of one”): It is simple, and if there is a defect in that Story, it is easy to spot (we get that feedback fast!) and inexpensive to correct, ASAP. It is also fast to finish and get it done!

Question for you: Is 5 or 8 points bad?

My thoughts:

If you want to get faster feedback (instead of waiting till the very end) … and if you want to get incremental value (instead of waiting till the very end)… and if you want to learn about lurking defects soonest (instead of waiting till the very end).. and if you want to celebrate small wins from “done” small stories (instead of waiting till the very end) … and if you want to see small progress snowballing — helping boost morale with a sense of achievement (instead of waiting till the very end)… and… I can name more.

A story size of 5 points, 8 points and up… is not simple (it is exponentially complex!)… and not fast… it is slow (longer cycle time compared to 1 point stories (short cycle time… faster to get it done))…

Look… there are no guarantees in life… nothing can be determined; BUT you must do all you can to increase your probabilities of success. In this case… Make It Small — Small is Simple and Fast.

What is the “It” in Make It Small? It could be Batches, Stories, Iterations, Queues… many more…

We want faster delivery of value and faster feedback from that delivery… and we can do this effectively by making it small. We work empirically: Our work is based on observations, and we derive knowledge from actual experience and the resulting feedback rather than from theory or belief.

You get my drift… I prefer a “batch of one”… one point story. If I were a gambling man… I would do all I can to increase my odds of winning… a batch of one … one point… is the “ace in my sleeve”.

What do you think?

There are more ideas like this blog post in my two books — both are available for purchase on Amazon.

SAFe (6.0) Is Like…
This reached “#1 New Release” and “#1 Best Seller” on Amazon