gemba walk

"Gemba" (or genba) means real or actual place. Lean practitioners often use this Japanese word to refer to the workplace, the place in the office or factory where value is created.

But, it also means reality or even truth. "It's a philosophy of empiricism," writes John Shook, LEI CEO and a former Toyota manager, in the Foreword to Gemba Walks by LEI Founder Jim Womack.

To look at conditions empirically, you have to leave your office, step away from your monitor and your data, and go observe what is really going on.

In other words, take a gemba walk.

MUDA - LEAN Processing

Muda is a Japanese term for waste. As pioneered by Toyota and adopted worldwide as LEAN processing, top businesses strive to eliminate muda - any waste that does not add value for the final customer.
Seven mudas are traditionally recognized: overproduction, waiting, unnecessary transport, over-processing, excess inventory, unnecessary movement, and defects. Jeffrey K. Liker, in his excellent book The Toyota Way, adds an eighth muda – unused employee creativity.
Liker describes the eighth muda as the waste of “losing time, ideas, skills, improvements, and learning opportunities by not engaging or listening to your employees.”

Agile 'User Stories' & INVEST

In Agile development , user requirements are captured in the form of 'User Stories.

A good User Story must be fitting on the parameters of INVEST

I = Independent
N = Negotiable
V = Valuable
E = Estimable
S = Small
T = Testable

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

Individuals and interactions over processes and toolsWorking software over comprehensive documentationCustomer collaboration over contract negotiationResponding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on
the right, we value the items on the left more.