Learning effective Kanban from your coffee shop
summary
Cafe operations map to Kanban: orders become latte tokens placed on a visible board, baristas take from a single FIFO queue and complete an entire drink before starting the next, enforcing WIP=1 per station so wait times stay predictable. Cross-functional staff float between espresso, milk and till, no single manager directing flow, and explicit rules (who makes custom orders, when to decline) create trust that lets the shop experiment with menu and service without breaking flow.
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chapters (6)
- 0:00Coffee shop inspiration
- 1:39Visualizing workflows
- 3:03Limiting work in progress
- 4:20Self-organizing teams
- 6:06Explicit process policies
- 8:16Building trust and culture
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