--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We increase flow by making work visible…" description: "\"“We increase flow by making work visible, by reducing batch sizes and intervals of work, and by building quality in, preventing defects from being pass..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/gene-kim-2268_work-visible_we-increase-flow-by-making-work-visible_2378084.jpg" --- # We increase flow by making work visible, by reducing batch… ![“We increase flow by making work visible, by reducing batch sizes and intervals of work, and by building quality in, preventing defects from being passed to downstream work centers. By” quote by Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/gene-kim-2268_work-visible_we-increase-flow-by-making-work-visible_2378084.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/gene-kim-2268_work-visible_we-increase-flow-by-making-work-visible_2378084.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a08/gene-kim-2268_work-visible_we-increase-flow-by-making-work-visible_2378084.jpg) > ““We increase flow by making work visible, by reducing batch sizes and intervals of work, and by building quality in, preventing defects from being passed to downstream work centers. By”” [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Improving workflow by visualizing work, shortening batches, and embedding quality reduces downstream defects. **In simple terms:** Make work visible, smaller, and quality‑first to prevent problems later. Key Takeaway Apply lean practices to keep work transparent and high‑quality. Themes process improvement lean quality visibility Mood practical analytical Type technical motivational When to use this quote - software development - manufacturing - project management - team collaboration Key Concepts Kanban batch size reduction continuous improvement Questions to Reflect On - How can you make your work more visible? - What batch size is optimal for your team? A Different Perspective Requires cultural change and disciplined execution. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“work can bounce between teams endlessly due to incomplete information, or work can be passed onto downstream work centers with problems that remain completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/work-can-bounce-between-teams-endlessly-due-to-incomplete-information/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [It's rare that I'm not at work on some sort of craft project. I've often enthused about the need to make things; how it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/it-s-rare-that-i-m-not-at-work-on-some-sort-of-craft-project-i-ve/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [the more visible my work became, the less visible I grew to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/the-more-visible-my-work-became-the-less-visible-i-grew-to-myself/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [“However we resolve the issue in our individual homes, the moral challenge is, put simply, to make work visible again: not only the scrubbing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/however-we-resolve-the-issue-in-our-individual-homes-the-moral/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Well, to aspiring writers, I would tell them that we live in a wonderful time where you're able to make your work visible, easily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diablo-cody/well-to-aspiring-writers-i-would-tell-them-that-we-live-in-a/) [Diablo Cody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diablo-cody/) ## More by Gene Kim > [“for those organizations that provided a stock ticker symbol, we found that high performers had 50% higher market capitalization growth over three years. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/for-those-organizations-that-provided-a-stock-ticker-symbol-we-found/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“A critical part of the Second Way is making wait times visible, so you know when your work spends days sitting in someone’s queue—or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/a-critical-part-of-the-second-way-is-making-wait-times-visible-so-you/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“when something does go wrong, we conduct blameless post-mortems, not to punish anyone, but to better understand what caused the accident and how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/when-something-does-go-wrong-we-conduct-blameless-post-mortems-not-to/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“Bill Baker, a distinguished engineer at Microsoft, quipped that we used to treat servers like pets: “You name them and when they get sick,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/bill-baker-a-distinguished-engineer-at-microsoft-quipped-that-we-used/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“To even get feedback from our integration process would require twenty-four to thirty-six hours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/to-even-get-feedback-from-our-integration-process-would-require/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“work can bounce between teams endlessly due to incomplete information, or work can be passed onto downstream work centers with problems that remain completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/work-can-bounce-between-teams-endlessly-due-to-incomplete-information/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“practicing five minutes daily is better than practicing once a week for three hours. And if you want to create a genuine culture of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/practicing-five-minutes-daily-is-better-than-practicing-once-a-week/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“habits are what enable mastery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/habits-are-what-enable-mastery/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“20% on detailed planning (Their poor throughput and high lead times were misattributed to faulty estimation, and so, hoping to get a better answer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/20-on-detailed-planning-their-poor-throughput-and-high-lead-times/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“Features are always a gamble. If you’re lucky, ten percent will get the desired benefits.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/features-are-always-a-gamble-if-you-re-lucky-ten-percent-will-get-the/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“I listen to Wes and Patty brainstorm ideas to reduce yet another dependency on Brent when something starts to bother me. Erik called WIP,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/i-listen-to-wes-and-patty-brainstorm-ideas-to-reduce-yet-another/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [The status quo (of development) pre-ordains failure from the very beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/the-status-quo-of-development-pre-ordains-failure-from-the-very/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“high performers were twice as likely to exceed profitability, market share, and productivity goals. And,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/high-performers-were-twice-as-likely-to-exceed-profitability-market/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“we value improvement of our daily work more than daily work itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/we-value-improvement-of-our-daily-work-more-than-daily-work-itself/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) > [“Alert fatigue is the single biggest problem we have right now…We need to be more intelligent about our alerts or we’ll all go insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-kim/alert-fatigue-is-the-single-biggest-problem-we-have-right-now-we-need/) [Gene Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) [Explore all 175 Gene Kim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-kim/) ## More Work Visible quotes > [the more visible my work became, the less visible I grew to myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-truitt/the-more-visible-my-work-became-the-less-visible-i-grew-to-myself/) [Anne Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-truitt/) > [“However we resolve the issue in our individual homes, the moral challenge is, put simply, to make work visible again: not only the scrubbing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/however-we-resolve-the-issue-in-our-individual-homes-the-moral/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Well, to aspiring writers, I would tell them that we live in a wonderful time where you're able to make your work visible, easily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diablo-cody/well-to-aspiring-writers-i-would-tell-them-that-we-live-in-a/) [Diablo Cody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diablo-cody/) Browse all 4 Work Visible quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We increase flow by making work visible, by reducing batch sizes and intervals of work, and by building quality in, preventing defects from being passed to downstream work centers. 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