Episode #76 - Little’s Law: Make Flow Your Strategy

This episode turns Little’s Law from theory to practice. In under five minutes, we show how WIP = Throughput × Cycle Time explains stalled portfolios, why capping work-in-process reliably shortens delivery time, and how pull policies, small batches, and a weekly Flow Council lifts throughput and on-time quality across functions. Expect cross-industry evidence and a simple, measurable actions list you can run this quarter.

References:

1) A Proof for the Queuing Formula L = λW: https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.9.3.383

2) Factory Physics: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/133247684-factory-physics-3rd-third-edition-by-wallace-j-hopp-mark-l-spearman?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=gRn7JtYQg0&rank=2

3) The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6278270-the-principles-of-product-development-flow

4) Rapid-Fire Fulfillment: https://hbr.org/2004/11/rapid-fire-fulfillment

5) Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8086552-kanban

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library.