Knowledge Waste | Glossary

Definition: 

Knowledge waste is referred to either lost opportunities to learn or learning less than we could have from a situation. Allen Ward a lean development expert divides knowledge waste into 3 categories scatter, hand-off and wishful thinking.

Scatter happens when anything breaks the flow of work. At project level, scatter occurs when the team is interrupted, when it is asked to stop what it’s doing and work on a different feature, when a person is added to or removed from the team, or when the team is harassed for updates on its progress toward an urgent task. Barriers to communication and poor tools are two main causes to scatter. Hand-offs  is defined as a separation of knowledge, responsibility, action and feedback. In traditional way of development, hand-offs occurs at every phase. Wishful thinking refers here to making decisions without adequate information to support those decisions. Late projects are the most obvious results of wishful thinking. Continuous improvement is part of Scrum, failing to learn, and wasting the knowledge gained are serious deficiencies.

Further Reading:
Book: SUCCEEDING WITH AGILE Software Development Using Scrum by Mike Cohn

Lean vs. Agile vs. Design Thinking: What You Really Need to Know to Build High-Performing Digital Product Teams | Book Series

Overview:

As the technology is evolving, companies are defining their success element by adopting, integrating and leveraging a quality software product to customers. This short, tactical book synthesizes the relation between Lean Startup, Design Thinking, and Agile Software Development by giving importance to values that underpin all these three methods, rather than the rituals and practices. The author of this book is Jeff Gothelf, who has also authored an award-winning book ‘Lean UX and Sense & Respond’. The tactics and strategies in this book, draws on Jeff’s years of experience as a Team Lead and Coach in companies ranging from small to large enterprises.

Lean vs. Agile vs. Design Thinking is refreshingly brief practical guide leaders and practitioners who are struggling to implement new methodologies like Lean, Design Thinking and Agile. If you’re a product manager, software engineer, or a designer, the practical tools and tips are immediately applicable to your team’s goals.

Author:

Jeff Gothelf

Published In:

2017