The
Problem
Value Stream Mapping
is a great technique to understand how an organization delivers value and
allows the organization to improve this flow of value by optimizing individual
steps while still maintaining a systems view. The technique is a
cornerstone of Lean flow-based improvement, however, only following the two
commonly recommended steps (Identify, Optimize) falls short of the true
potential when it skips the 2nd reason: Organization. This is where
the Scaled
Agile Framework (SAFe®) comes in
to play, as one of the core constructs of SAFe® is to virtually organize around
value delivery.
(Note: this article
documents an approach that is somewhat tangential to the SAFe® prescribed
approach: current SAFe® material is based on Karen Martin based thinking; map
the operational value streams, find the systems, and map the steps to support
those systems. This guidance works well for understanding business
process and gaining visibility, but when used for SAFe® virtual organization
purposes it can lead to organizing around current functional silos. This
is due to the fact that most major enterprises have organized around their
internal/external systems and subdivided around the various technologies to support
that system, leading to the wasteful hand-offs, delays and conflicting
priorities. This article spells out a different pattern for using this
powerful technique along with SAFe®)
The
Proposed Solution
Value Stream Mapping
used in conjunction with SAFe should be organized into three specific usages:
Identification, Organization and Optimization, with Organization being the
added step in addition to traditional Lean based approaches.
Identification
Identification is the
obvious starting point, but there are ‘better practices’ around this first
step. Karen Martin defines a Value Stream as “All of the activities,
required to fulfill a customer request from order to delivery (and beyond to
cash received)” (2010 Karen Martin & Associates). Martin
extols the virtues of starting at a high level by identifying the actual value
stream (“Rooftop View”), and then taking a layered approach to dive down into
the details.
The level of mapping
we need to begin to effect change is usually somewhere between the “Rooftop”
view and the In The Weeds view. While we want to eventually understand
the deeper aspect of the Tactical portion, we can start to effect change before
having this full detailed view.
Dr. Allen Ward
discusses the importance of focusing on Operational Value
Streams. “In Lean Thinking, Womack and Jones say that lean companies
figure out what value is— what customers actually want— and concentrate on
“value streams,” the connected activities that create
value. Conventional companies often get so involved in their internal
organization that they lose sight of value and produce waste
instead.” “The operational value stream includes activities converting
raw material into products in the hands of customers. It produces high-quality
products at the time the customer wants them. Activities are value-creating
when they change materials toward the products customers pay for. The
development value stream includes activities running from
recognizing an opportunity through manufacturing launch.” (Ward, Allen; Sobek,
Durward. Lean Product and Process Development, 2nd ed. (highlights
added). This thinking is based on the Toyota concept of value being the
“horizontal slice across vertical functions in an organization”.
To illustrate this
concept, think of how we map value streams in a DevOps transformation.
Value Stream Mapping is a critical first step in DevOps improvements, and yet
if we were to focus on the tools or ‘systems’ at each step we would not see the
true effect of bottlenecks, overloaded people, sign off delays and the like.
Identifying Operational and Development Value
Streams
As a veteran of many
value stream identification sessions I know all too well how this relatively
simple step can really confuse and impede most organizations. The truth
is that the simpler you start this, the better. My guidance is always to
start with a stack of stickies (Post-It’s), pens, and a group of people that
have a relatively good understanding of the organization and the value it
delivers to its customers. Some key points are:
·
Don’t
Focus on Products: too many
organizations are keyed in on the organizations products, or even worse, on
their internal applications and systems. This makes it really tough to
find the true value streams. Instead, focus on how your customer
perceives the value you deliver, e.g. what problems do you solve or solutions
do you provide to them
·
Identify
What You Have: understand that you
already have value streams, and you need to avoid the temptation to map out a
future state that may be unreachable, or not even the right target.
Identify what you have, even if it’s not a pretty picture.
·
Start
with The Fence Posts: What is the value
you deliver? Think of this from the customer standpoint. A Customer
Journey map can sometimes really help in this effort, as it focuses on value as
perceived by your customer, and not how you envision it from the inside
out. Once you have this clarity of true value, determine the trigger
points to deliver more value. Is it a new product idea? A new
feature for your mobile game app? These two points, the Inception and the
Delivery, are your fence points to build around.
·
Avoid
Writers Block: If you get stuck in
an area, move on. Very often further discovery in other areas will allow
you to come back to these initial blockers. Most Identification workshops
start with creating a Value 'Pool', a brainstorm of non-sequenced
stickies. Once we get a number of these on the wall we can start to
sequence.
·
Gemba
Walks: you will rarely (if
ever) have a small group of people in one room that understand the full flow of
value in your organization. In these cases, encourage the group to map
what they know and then take a walk to observe and learn how the value really
flows (“Gemba” literally means “the Place”).
Once you have
sufficient clarity on your Operational value streams (in this case, less is
more) you will need to identify the Development value streams, or those
interconnected steps you go through to deliver improvements or optimizations to
each Operational step. This is a critical step as these
Development stream steps are typically what you will organize
around. Skipping this step will lead to organizing around the
processes or systems, which in most large organizations would result in the
current functional silos that are responsible for the heavy waste in
hand-off’s, lack of visibility, etc.
Organization
To fully support the
SAFe® core values of Alignment and Transparency, we need to be organized around
true value delivery steps. The focus on mapping out each activity or ‘process’
step in a value stream will allow us to then determine the people needed to
gather together into an ART to reduce/eliminate the hand-off’s and to create
true value delivery-based organizations. Applying an overlay of the
systems impact to this new organization will allow us to see the trade-off’s we
are making in architectural integrity, consistency, and perhaps other issues
such as system security.
A former client of
mine (Phil
Purrrington, now a very
successful Agile Coach) described this virtual organization concept as
populating a deserted island. To be successful, we need to bring all the
people needed to create a society on to this island. This would include
construction, medical, government, food gathering and preparation, etc.
The same is true with our SAFe® virtual organizations. In many cases we
need to have people from process, legal, compliance, research, etc on the ART
to deliver value end to end. Forming our organization solely around
systems will lead to a number of critical roles, skills and people being left
out of the ART. I have experienced this at many customers in the finance,
health care, retail and manufacturing verticals, and it invariably leads to
greatly reduced ROI from a Lean Agile transformation.
Optimization
Optimization is a
critical step in the lean improvement process, but once we have our virtual
organization aligned around these value delivery steps we have already
eliminated a great deal of the waste in the system just through the alignment
and single-purpose/single-piece-flow focus of an ART. Continuing to
re-map the value stream as improvements are made, and optimizing around the
largest bottleneck, will be far more effective when the ART is truly organized
around value delivery steps.
The
Action
Incorporate Value
Streams using the first two elements (Identification and Organization) to find
virtual organizations to launch trains around. By this early action of re-organizing
around value delivery, many of the current value delivery impediments will be
removed. You can then focus on the remaining Optimization step to further
lean out your delivery process.
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