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Lean Thinking, Muda, and the Four Ls • 181

creativity—and proposes that organizations can eliminate the other seven
wastes more effectively if they better utilize their employees.
These wastes apply mainly to manufacturing. How might they apply to,
say, software development? Mary Poppendieck translates this for us next.

the Basic Principles of lean development 5

• Add nothing but value (eliminate waste)
• Center on the people who add value
• Flow value from demand (delay commitment)
• Optimize across organizations

the seven Wastes of software development
• Overproduction = Extra Features
• Inventory = Requirements
• Extra Processing Steps = Extra Steps
• Motion = Finding Information
• Defects = Defects Not Caught by Tests
• Waiting = Waiting, Including Customers
• Transportation = Handoffs

What do we do about these wastes in software development? Agile
methods, such as extreme programming, address these wastes as shown
in Table 10.1. 6

taBle 10.1
Wastes in Software Development
Waste in Software Development How extreme Programming Addresses Wastes
Extra features Develop only for today’s stories.
Requirements Story cards are detailed only for the current iteration.
Extra steps Code directly from stories: get verbal clarification
directly from customers.
Finding information Have everyone in the same room, customers
included.
Defects not caught by tests Test first, both developer tests and customer tests.
Waiting, including customers Deliver in smaller increments.
Handoffs Developers work directly with customers.
Note: Adapted from Mary Poppendieck, Principles of Lean Thinking, http://www.poppendieck.com/
papers, 2002. With permission.