Kanban
/ˈkɑːn.bɑːn/ · Noun · Development · Origin: 1940
Definitions
A workflow management method using visual boards with columns (To Do, In Progress, Done) and work-in-progress limits. Borrowed from Toyota's manufacturing system. The board is simple; the discipline of WIP limits is not.
In plain English: A visual way to manage work using a board with columns — tasks move from left to right as they progress, and you limit how many things you work on at once.
Origin Story
From Toyota's factory floor to your Jira board
**Kanban** (看板) is Japanese for "visual signal" or "signboard." It was developed by Taiichi Ohno at Toyota in the late 1940s as part of the Toyota Production System. The original kanban was literally a card attached to a bin of parts: when the bin was empty, the card was sent back to the supplier as a signal to produce more. This pull-based system eliminated overproduction and waste.
In 2004, David J. Anderson adapted the kanban concept for software development while working at Microsoft. Instead of tracking physical parts, sticky notes on a whiteboard tracked work items flowing through stages: To Do, In Progress, Done. The key insight carried over from Toyota: **limit work in progress** (WIP). Just as Toyota limited the number of parts in the pipeline, software kanban limits how many tasks can be in each column simultaneously.
Today, digital kanban boards (Trello, Jira, Asana) are used by millions of teams who may never have heard of Taiichi Ohno. But every time you drag a card from "In Progress" to "Done," you're performing a ritual designed on a Japanese factory floor over 70 years ago.
Coined by: Taiichi Ohno (Toyota); David J. Anderson (software adaptation)
Context: Toyota factories, late 1940s; Microsoft, 2004
Fun fact: Toyota's kanban system was partly inspired by American supermarkets, which Ohno visited in 1956. He was fascinated by how shelves were restocked only when items were purchased — a pull system, not a push system.