Limit Work in Progress (WIP)
Category: Flow & Kanban Principles
Principle Intent
Actively constrain the number of items in progress at any stage. WIP limits expose bottlenecks, reduce multitasking, and improve flow and quality.
How to Apply This Principle
This principle is part of the Entrowise Principles Library and is used in the PPA Method to diagnose recurring delivery problems and develop principle-aligned actions. When this principle is violated, delivery teams often experience recurring symptoms that resist solution because the root cause—the violated principle—is never addressed directly.