I was introduced to a new coffee place in Brisbane yesterday - can't believe I hadn't noticed it before. It's called Glen's Espresso and it's on Ann St opposite City Hall.
Anyway - Glen has the whole Keep it Simple (KISS) / Agile approach to his business down pat (he probably doesn't know what Agile is - but I thought it was fun to call him the Agile coffee man anyway!).
A few cool things he has implemented (with my feeble attempts at Agile parallels)
1. You step up and write your name on the cup along with what coffee you want, and stick it on the counter in the queue. SELF ORGANISING TEAMS
2. The coffee cups are lined up in order, but they don't necessarily come out in that order, depending on most efficient use of milk etc. ITERATION BACKLOG
3. You put your right money down on the counter and you are trusted to take the right change, your first coffee is just $1 - again on the trust system. HONESTY AND INTEGRITY
4. Coffee prices are very simple and very clearly displayed (so that number 3. works). PRODUCT BACKLOG
5. There's a nice atmosphere, he's a friendly guy - knew the regulars names and he has some great Asterix and Far Side comic book laid out for people to read and chill out while they wait. KEEP THE CUSTOMER HAPPY
6. He has a unique low-tech "Classifieds" system where people can put up adverts on cups and display on the counter top. Someone was selling a house and a car on the day I was there! I don't think he charges for this - it's just a nice extra for regulars.
Ok - I'm losing the Agile analogy there a bit.
Anyway - what all this allows him to do is concentrate on the main game here... making great coffee. FOCUS ON MAIN DELIVERABLE!
The coffee was excellent - one of the best I've had - so something is obviously working!
