{"id":5500,"date":"2023-05-16T09:00:25","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T07:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getnave.com\/blog\/?p=5500"},"modified":"2025-05-13T15:42:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T13:42:20","slug":"narrow-focus-kanban-metrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getnave.com\/blog\/narrow-focus-kanban-metrics\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Let Narrow Focus Derail Your Kanban Implementation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More often than not, it\u2019s well-meaning \u2013 teams analyze their processes to identify their next improvement initiative. They set a goal and put a metric as a threshold to achieve that goal.<\/p>\n

More often than not though, they become so focused on hitting the target on that one metric that they lose sight of the big picture.<\/p>\n

And while, yes, they\u2019re making strides in making progress on their goal \u2013 often those boosts are happening at the expense of other even more important indicators.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the challenge with taking a narrow focus on individual Kanban metrics. While one may improve, it\u2019s often at the expense of others.<\/p>\n

In this article, we\u2019ll dive into the challenges of narrow focus, including strategies for avoiding falling into this trap. By zooming out to the big picture, you\u2019ll be better equipped to think holistically, communicate, and constantly improve.<\/p>\n

Putting the Pieces \u2013 And the Metrics \u2013 Together<\/h2>\n

I remember teaching my back in the day 3-year old son how to put together a puzzle. We started with the perimeter, and I showed him how to find and connect pieces with straight edges. It seemed like a good beginner strategy.<\/p>\n

As he started to collect and connect pieces, I realized he was following my instruction to a fault \u2013 in attempting to build out the frame of the puzzle, he was so narrow-focused, completely ignoring the colors, patterns, and shapes of the pieces. He was just looking for straight edges and trying to force the pieces to come together.<\/p>\n

Of course, it wasn\u2019t long before frustration set in. He was discouraged and ready to tear apart the few sections he had<\/em> successfully assembled. So we paused and took a step back to look at the bigger picture \u2013 not just the edges but everything that went into putting this puzzle together.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all been there. And it\u2019s something I often see when teams are just getting started with Kanban metrics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Problem with Narrow Focus<\/h2>\n

Often people focus so narrowly on individual Kanban metrics that they overlook that 50,000-foot view.<\/p>\n

To get the most out of Kanban it\u2019s essential to understand not just how individual metrics connect but how each ladders back to your overall objective. No metric should be tracked in isolation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Way too often we fall into this less-than-productive pattern. Let\u2019s say that your teams get very narrow focused and only consider improving throughput<\/a> and their goal is to complete as many tasks as possible.<\/p>\n

While productivity is important, when you\u2019re narrowly focused on quantity it\u2019s very likely the quality<\/em> of your work will start to suffer. As you rush through tasks just to hit your quota, it\u2019s hard to maintain the same standards and attention to detail as when you\u2019re deeply focused.<\/p>\n

In this case, as you\u2019re producing more work, your narrow focus is actually hurting your progress rather than helping it. You’re not considering the quality of your work or how each task impacts your customer\u2019s goals. Instead, you’re only concerned with hitting a specific threshold.<\/p>\n

That said, increasing your throughput is a great goal \u2013 I\u2019m definitely not discouraging you or your team from boosting your throughput. But I am saying you need to consider that goal in context.<\/p>\n