How Kanban's 'Done' Column Prevents Tunneling

Success as a chemist often means persistence. There's always more than one way to approach the synthesis of a new molecule. If fact, there are more possibilities than you could ever hope to try. In the face of a challenging synthesis, when do you call it quits? There's no right answer. Those who quit too early don't fare well. They're the type who drops out of college or loses their job. Sure they're plenty smart enough, but what they lack is grit. But can there be too much of a good thing? That depends on the context. 

Not the best solution

In graduate school, chemistry students toil away to make a specific target molecule. If that means six weeks or six years, so be it. Just use a bigger hammer until you solve the problem. 

But the business world is more complex. The specific target is not so important as the question at hand. It's a means to an end, not an end in itself. If you can answer the question with a compound that's easier to synthesize, then go with the easier compound. Why beat your head against the wall? 

But how do you make that call? When do you move on to a more promising avenue of research? The balance between speed and determination rests on an ever-shifting fulcrum. 

The biggest obstacle to that decision often involves the curious phenomenon of tunneling. You can read about its evils in this fascinating new book. I also wrote about tunneling as it applies to music in this post on my other blog. To wit, it's easy to fall into a trap where we lose sight of the forest for the trees. That's exactly what I did too many times last year. It landed me in trouble with the boss, but it also drove me into the arms of kanban. In the bargain, I'm a better chemist than ever. Quite the antifragile solution, I must say. Nothing succeeds like failure!

Most of my kanban stickies look like this:

I draw the chemical structure of the target I'm working on along with a couple reference numbers I need. If a particular reaction doesn't work, it gets moved into the 'done' column after I write FAIL across it. Next I'll make a new sticky note with the same structure, but this time I'll use a different synthetic approach. 

Kanban is my anti-tunneling tool. When too many sticky notes with the same structure pile up in my 'done' column with FAIL written on them, I know I'm in trouble. 

Before kanban, it would be too easy for me to forget how many previous attempts had failed. With kanban, it's easy to see when I'm starting to succumb to tunneling. That's how I know to take a step back, ask for help, or talk to the boss. The best part is that I don't have to spend any extra cognitive effort to do this. It's impossible to ignore the story the board tells me. It's the truth and nothing but the truth. I don't have to wait until a month has passed with nothing to show for it. I don't have to explain to my supervisor why I spent so much time with so little progress. It's a lifesaver!

On the opposite end, the board also says when you haven't tried hard enough. One or two FAIL tickets isn't enough to give up. Rather, it should get you thinking. Curiosity and imagination should spur at least a couple more attempts. 

Science is a messy affair. Nature doesn't make it easy. But kanban makes it easier.