I'm reading The Knowledge Creation Company and had a self-realization—I love Japanese innovation management practices! This is a super nerdy thing to be into, and I don't care. Whether it's SECI (Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization), or Kaizens, I love them all because of how dead simple the frameworks are. At One Medical, we applied these practices to foster continuous improvement in office operations and on our product team. If there is one framework I love the most derived from Japan, it's Kanban.

Kanban in Japanese literally means visual (kan) board (ban). The concept invented by Taiichi Ohn in the 1940s at Toyota. It was known as the Just-In-Time (JIT) system. JIT applied to manufacturing to ensure inventory was timely; never being over or under the supply and delivering value in a lean way. This concept also applies to the digital workspaces too.

The Kanban system was designed to help Toyota achieve smoother production flows, reduce excess inventory, and respond more efficiently to changes in customer demand. Over time, Kanban evolved beyond its origins in manufacturing and became a widely adopted approach to workflow management in various industries, including software development, project management, and service-oriented businesses.

Project management and processes are topics everyone has an opinion on and there is no single correct answer. However, Kanban boards have been the saving grace for my effectiveness on a work and personal level. These thoughts aren't advice on if you should replace Kanban with SCRUM or other software development frameworks.

Kanban for me

Kanban has been an effective method for me to stay organized and have peace-of-mind. There are a multitude of reasons why this framework works well for me. The first is my work is continuous and there is no end in sight. This means the majority of my work isn't project-based and more portfolio management (in both the figurative and literal sense). Just-In-Time works well when you are fighting a hydra of tasks. Kanban helps me constantly re-prioritize based on what comes up.

The second reason is I'm a visual person. Mind maps, spatial canvases, and visual boards help me parse information. When work is vertical in a document or a list, I feel overloaded by the information. In many ways, seeing a visual board keeps me calm and focused on the few things I have in the queue.

Finally, Kanban keeps me accountable. At a previous role I held, I struggled with trying to do too many things at once. In a 1:1, my manager set up a Kanban board with me in Trello. She suggested a few constraints and offered three areas of work and a limit on what I would take on simultaneously: Strategic work (1), Get done this week (3), and Administrative (1). Having this constrained framework helped me focus tremendously.

Use cases

I have multiple Kanban boards for various aspects in my life. There is no need to have a mega board that encapsulates your entire life (unless you desire that).

Personal board (Obsidian)
It's not a shocker I use Obsidian for my Kanban board! I use the Kanban plugin to keep track of personal work.

I find a lot of value in having context connected to everything I do. For me, it's through my notes. This is why my Kanban board, visual canvases, and CRM all live in Obsidian. It limits the number of tools I use and connects the information.

Replit priorities (Linear)
My Executive Assistant and I have a Kanban board together. She and I put the top priorities I need to get done and re-prioritize daily.

Proof of Concept Newsletter Roadmap (GitHub)
I use GitHub projects to track ideas for this Newsletter.

Creating boards

The simplicity of Kanban means you can create a board within seconds. The easiest one ever created is putting physical sticky notes on a wall with three colums: To Do, In Progress, and Done. Congrats, you're now running a Kanban board!

Columns can be configured based on what you need to get done. Kanban is about efficiency in the flow of work, so if you need to customize the board for that, do it. Fewer columns doesn't mean a simpler process, per se. Here are a few examples of how columns could be applied for different tasks:

• Building an app with a few people: Backlog, To-Do, In Progress, Review, Shipped, Canceled

• Writing a book: Idea, Draft, In Review, Done, Published

• Planning a trip: To-Do, Person 1, Person 2, Person 3, Done

Tools

The beauty of Kanban is you can basically use any tool you want to create a board. It could be Figjam, stick notes on a wall, or software built for it like Trello (an all-time great).

• Trello

• Notion

• Asana

• Linear

• Obsidian

• ClickUp

• etc.

Recap

• Kanban is a helpful framework when the flow of work is continuous and ongoing; less milestone-based

• If you are a visual person and overwhelmed by cognitive overload, Kanban might work for you

• Configure board columns based on key points in the production cycle

• It doesn't matter what tool you decide to create boards on as long as you maintain it

• It's not about the size of the backlog. Put the important things that need to get done

Life and work affect each other. If you feel disorganized with your work, it'll impact your personal life, and the inverse is true. Kanban helps me stay organized so I can focus on what matters.

Win a copy of The Best of Lenny’s Newsletter: Volume 1

I’m a huge fan of Lenny Rachitsky and his newsletter is a huge inspiration for me writing. I’m giving away a copy of his book—only 500 in print.

I’ll make it simple: refer Proof of Concept. I’ll keep track of the leaderboard and send a copy to the most referrals at the end of next week (February 24, 2024, at midnight). Make sure you’re logged in otherwise it’ll show up as anonymous and I won’t know who to send it to.

Refer a friend

Hype links

• Figma’s CEO on moving on after failed Adobe merger - The Verge

• Trust = Consistency + Time by Polina Marinova Pomliano

• Muse retrospective by Adam Wiggins

Job opportunities

• Replit is hiring

• Rally is Hiring their First Design Engineer