Expect the Unexpected! A Method for Handling Unplanned Work
summary
Stack Overflow’s team uses an opinionated, repeatable Kanban cadence called a cycle of villainy: weekly meta/start/end meetings, strict lanes (new business → unplanned → responsibility → completed), and lane limits set as workers × throughput. Trello plus Butler automates a punt button that advances cards and counts punts (three punts forces a champion), a required to do checklist, calendar views, and a rotating card master who also handles alert duty. The process moves cards only in meetings; work and updates happen anytime.
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chapters (36)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:24Who are you
- 0:43What this talk about
- 1:08How we got started
- 1:27Things Just Happen
- 1:52Ticketing System
- 2:14Phoenix Project
- 2:53Heroes
- 3:17Engineers are not heroes
- 3:31How to apply DevOps literature
- 3:50Lets be evil
- 4:06Planning avoids unintentional heroism
- 4:36Lawful evil
- 5:11Work against chaos
- 5:22Example meeting
- 9:07Cycle of Villainy
- 9:28Meta Meetings
- 10:39New Business
- 11:12Unplanned Work
- 11:29Responsibility Lane
- 14:08Second Half
- 16:52We iterate
- 17:15Planning is not for disagreements
- 17:56Everyone loves more meetings
- 19:07No lesson here
- 19:41Let your process find your tools
- 20:39Marking cards is blocked
- 21:26Punting
- 23:12Calendar
- 24:04Card Master Duty
- 24:54Real World Example
- 26:18Our Process
- 28:01Stickers Buttons
- 28:17Questions
- 29:29Making Unplanned Work Accessible
- 36:06Managing Unplanned Work
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