
We call it a “value stream” as though we’re in manufacturing — but we’re not. In software, the greatest source of waste is building the wrong thing, period, not building the right thing slowly, not building the wrong thing slowly, just flat-out building non-value-adding crap. Why then is it just assumed the stuff flowing through the stream is in fact “value?” Often it’s not…
…” you should just think “waste.” As Mark Schwartz (2016) has pointed out, whether by design or not, Agile largely passed the buck on the concept of “value.” The expectation was that others can just tell you what will be of value, that you can simply ask and be told, “Uh yeah, that was value.” Unfortunately, that’s not good enough, as Tom Gilb has been pointing out for years.