Flow is part of it. There are five Lean principles, all of equal importance:
- Start with a clear concept of value as a customer would define it
- Lay out the series of steps required to create value to define the value stream
- Create flow across the value stream
- Let the customer pull value
- Compete against perfection rather than other organizations
There are tools that allow us to do all five of these. In fact, the tool that Al is promoting quite heavily right now - kanban - enables every single one of those things. So, while I agree that flow is a critical part of the software development process - I don't understand why we are all so focused on the middle part.
It's like saying a ham sandwich with cheese and lettuce is all about cheese. The cheese is necessary and not sufficient.
