Time Theft: Using Flow Metrics to Expose Crimes from Conflicting Priorities and Unplanned Work
summary
Five measurable "time thieves" — unplanned work, conflicting priorities, unknown dependencies, neglected work and too much WIP — cause delays and show up when teams use flow time, flow velocity, flow distribution, flow load and flow efficiency. Use scatter plots and tagged boards with WIP limits to prove points: 11 samples get an 85th‑percentile forecast, ~20 random samples approach 90% probability, and many enterprises show ~10% flow efficiency. Presenting these metrics wins budget, headcount and real decisions by exposing why features miss dates.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Time Theft: Using Flow metrics to expose crime from conflicting priorities & unplanned work
- 5:26THIEF UNPLANNED WORK
- 8:20Measuring Flow Time
- 11:47THIEF CONFLICTING PRIORITIES
- 12:50Measuring Flow Velocity
- 13:43THIEF NEGLECTED WORK
- 14:19Flow Distribution - Work-item type allocation
- 17:25THIEF TOO MUCH WIP
- 20:42THIEF UNKOWN DEPENDENCIES
- 24:31Why Flow Efficiency - Expose wait time
- 28:46How to Get started with Flow Metrics
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