Good habits: a worked example

Andon is most useful when the colors are honest and every change of color comes with a sentence of explanation. This chapter follows one project from start to finish, then suggests a routine and some note templates.

A worked example: server migration

Step 1: Start the project. Create a project called Server migration with the description "Move the order service to the new data center by June". Rename its first task to "Approach A: in-place upgrade" and write the plan in its notes. Everything is white.

Step 2: Work starts. Set Approach A to green. The project turns green.

Step 3: The approach fails. The test upgrade corrupts a copy of the data. Set Approach A to orange: the project turns orange while you decide whether this is a bug to fix or the wrong approach (chapter 14 shows how a Yi Jing reading can help). With two weeks left and no vendor support, you stop. Set Approach A to red, then fill in its Properties:

Why it stopped: the upgrade tool corrupted 3% of rows in the test copy.
Situation: tool version 4.2, no vendor support contract, two weeks left.
Would work if: the vendor fixes the bug (ticket 1182), or a support contract is signed.

Press Ctrl+S to save a checkpoint. The project turns red: its last task is red.

Step 4: Try another approach. Click + New Task to add "Approach B: new server and cutover" at the end of the project, and set it to green as work starts. The project turns green again, because its last task is green. Approach A stays in the list as history.

Step 5: Something blocks. Approach B needs a vendor quote. Click + on its row to add a child task, "Vendor quote for new server", and set it to orange. In its notes write "Waiting for quote from the vendor, requested 3 April". Approach B turns orange, and so does the project: a glance at the project list shows it is waiting on something.

Step 6: Unblock. The quote arrives. Set the child task to green. Approach B and the project turn green.

Step 7: Finish. The cutover succeeds. Leave the tasks as they are, add a short summary to Approach B's notes, press Ctrl+S, and archive the project.

Step 8: A year later. You plan another migration and search for "in-place upgrade". You find Approach A, read why it failed, check whether ticket 1182 was fixed, and decide in minutes instead of rediscovering the problem.

A weekly routine

1. Scan. Open the project list in the icon view (Ctrl+G) and look for orange and red.
2. Chase. For each orange task, follow up, then right-click it and choose Followed up.
3. Record. Look for signal buttons: each one is an orange or red task whose reason is not written yet. For each red task added this week, check that its Properties answer why, in what situation, and what would change the answer. If a project keeps collecting red tasks, consider branching it into a more suitable context.
4. Tidy. Make sure the task that shows where you stand now is last in each list. Archive finished projects.

Note templates

Orange and red tasks have their template built in: their Properties (chapter 6) ask for what to write. For a project you are about to archive, copy this into the notes of its last task, the one that shows where it stands:

Outcome: 
What worked: 
What to do differently: 

Habits that pay off

• Write the reason at the moment you change a color. A week later, you will not remember it. The signal button is there to remind you.
• Keep task names searchable: name the approach, not just the step ("Approach B: new server and cutover", not "Try 2").
• Use task links to connect a new attempt to the old red task it learned from.
• Use Compare when choosing between options, and set the rejected options to red with the reason.
• Press Ctrl+S before large rewrites and at milestones.
• Archive instead of deleting.