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S2 E14 - Jim Benson - Make Work Visible, Make Work Better
Title: S2 E14 - Jim Benson - Make Work Visible, Make Work Better
Subtitle: Kanban and Lean Coffee to replace chaos with clarity
Description:
Jim Benson—co-creator of Personal Kanban, Shingo Prize winner, and co-founder of Lean Coffee—joins Mark to unpack how visual management and WIP limits reduce overload and create humane, effective teamwork. We trace the origins of Kanban for knowledge work, why “Done” should become “Learn,” and how a Seattle café experiment turned into a global pattern for better conversations and decisions.
Chapters
00:00 Intro — why “make work visible” matters
01:05 Meet Jim Benson (Personal Kanban, Shingo Prize, Lean Coffee)
03:10 Punk rock → systems thinking → urban planning
05:25 Early real-time traffic/ITS and proto-Agile roots
07:40 When iterations weren’t fast enough: Kanban emerges
10:30 The pub napkin story & early knowledge-work Kanban
13:50 Personal Kanban: visibility for humans (not just tools)
16:45 Options → Doing → Done (and why “Done” should become “Learn”)
20:20 Columns, states, collaboration rules, and where work gets stuck
22:55 Why we limit WIP: flow vs. flood & cognitive load
26:20 Social debt, decision latency, and finishing with quality
30:00 PDCA on the board: Plan / Do / Study / Adjust in practice
33:15 Trello/Asana analogies and practical board setups
35:40 WIP slots/lanes and right-sized work
38:30 Human-centered Kanban and healthier team dynamics
41:10 The Lean Coffee origin story (Seattle café → worldwide)
45:00 Mechanics that matter: voting, timeboxes, continue/stop
48:05 Leveling power distance and creating equitable meetings
52:10 Using Lean Coffee for better leadership/team meetings
55:45 Kaizen Camp & Riot Games: from stuck to momentum
01:00:30 Community impact stories; what to try on Monday
01:04:30 Closing & how to stay connected
Episode Highlights
Visual management changes conversations—not just throughput
WIP limits as guardrails against overload, rework, and hidden social costs
Turning “Done” → “Learn” to make continuous improvement continuous
Lean Coffee: simple rules that create equitable, productive discussions
Guest
Jim Benson — Co-creator of Personal Kanban; co-founder of Lean Coffee; co-founder, Modus Institute; Shingo Prize winner.
#PersonalKanban #LeanCoffee #Lean #ContinuousImprovement #VisualManagement #WIP #Flow #Agile #ImprovementNerds
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By thegreendotconsultinggroup
5
1212 ratings
Title: S2 E14 - Jim Benson - Make Work Visible, Make Work Better
Subtitle: Kanban and Lean Coffee to replace chaos with clarity
Description:
Jim Benson—co-creator of Personal Kanban, Shingo Prize winner, and co-founder of Lean Coffee—joins Mark to unpack how visual management and WIP limits reduce overload and create humane, effective teamwork. We trace the origins of Kanban for knowledge work, why “Done” should become “Learn,” and how a Seattle café experiment turned into a global pattern for better conversations and decisions.
Chapters
00:00 Intro — why “make work visible” matters
01:05 Meet Jim Benson (Personal Kanban, Shingo Prize, Lean Coffee)
03:10 Punk rock → systems thinking → urban planning
05:25 Early real-time traffic/ITS and proto-Agile roots
07:40 When iterations weren’t fast enough: Kanban emerges
10:30 The pub napkin story & early knowledge-work Kanban
13:50 Personal Kanban: visibility for humans (not just tools)
16:45 Options → Doing → Done (and why “Done” should become “Learn”)
20:20 Columns, states, collaboration rules, and where work gets stuck
22:55 Why we limit WIP: flow vs. flood & cognitive load
26:20 Social debt, decision latency, and finishing with quality
30:00 PDCA on the board: Plan / Do / Study / Adjust in practice
33:15 Trello/Asana analogies and practical board setups
35:40 WIP slots/lanes and right-sized work
38:30 Human-centered Kanban and healthier team dynamics
41:10 The Lean Coffee origin story (Seattle café → worldwide)
45:00 Mechanics that matter: voting, timeboxes, continue/stop
48:05 Leveling power distance and creating equitable meetings
52:10 Using Lean Coffee for better leadership/team meetings
55:45 Kaizen Camp & Riot Games: from stuck to momentum
01:00:30 Community impact stories; what to try on Monday
01:04:30 Closing & how to stay connected
Episode Highlights
Visual management changes conversations—not just throughput
WIP limits as guardrails against overload, rework, and hidden social costs
Turning “Done” → “Learn” to make continuous improvement continuous
Lean Coffee: simple rules that create equitable, productive discussions
Guest
Jim Benson — Co-creator of Personal Kanban; co-founder of Lean Coffee; co-founder, Modus Institute; Shingo Prize winner.
#PersonalKanban #LeanCoffee #Lean #ContinuousImprovement #VisualManagement #WIP #Flow #Agile #ImprovementNerds