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by Simon Baker.
Original Post: Time pacing, rhythm and choreography
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Lean uses the concept of time pacing to provide regularity. Events are undertaken at regular intervals so that this week's schedule is as similar as possible to last week's schedule. For example, Intel introduces new microprocessors at regular intervals rather than waiting for design breakthroughs or market pressures. Agile methods use iterations as fixed-length repeating cycles. Their regularity creates a relentless sense of urgency (especially 1-week iterations) and, over time, a rhythm is established, which helps people work proactively. Without rhythm people tend to be reactive. The transition from one iteration to the next is carefully choreographed (through an iteration review drawing the current iteration to a conclusion, a retrospective to identify and take what is learnt into the next iteration, and a planning game to kick-start the next iteration) so that the changeover is completed without appearing to down tools and really stop.
We run our lives on the basis of routine. We don't need a schedule to determine when we should have breakfast every day. Regularity and rhythm give us the ability to achieve a continuous flow that delivers valuable functionality to customers regularly rather than batch and queue big releases.
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