Recently, whilst building a very complex work flow system for my organisation we joked how it would be much less expensive and more appropriate if we just gave them a few whiteboards and a stack of coloured index cards instead. It was working really well for us so why couldn’t it work for them?
I’ve just finished reading a few articles from my current favourite blog Evolving Excellence on the phenomenon that companies seem obsessed with trying to automate every possible process and are happy to spend gazzillions doing so, when a simple kanban would be far more effective and a darn sight cheaper.
Quote: “‘Excellence through simplicity.’ To me that quote from Lao Tzu has always epitomized one of the fundamental tenets of real lean. Don’t proceduralize complexity, and don’t make something more complex than it needs to be.”
http://www.evolvingexcellence.com/blog/2006/06/forget_sap_run_.html
http://www.evolvingexcellence.com/blog/2006/04/keep_one_eye_on.html
The workflow system we delivered is barely used by the customer (who asked for it) because it’s too rigid and every possible scenario is not accounted for. They’re very keen to make improvements (which will cost money), so maybe I really will suggest a kanban board instead this time.
