A Japanese philosophy that literally means 'good change' but is widely understood to refer to continual improvement. It involves everyone contributing on a regular basis to make many small beneficial changes that build up over time to improve the efficiency of the way a team or organization works.
Kanban
A way to improve flow and provoke system improvement through visualization and controlling work in progress. Written in kanji (Chinese characters), it means 'sign' or 'large visual board'. Written in hiragana (Japanese characters) it means 'signal cards' (singular or plural). In technical presentations of the mechanics of Kanban systems it usually means the latter. Used informally, it refers to the use of Kanban systems (visual or otherwise) and the Kanban method.
Kanban board
A tool used in Kanban to visually display the work in the system (or timebox). It is usually made up of a series of columns and possibly rows where work items move from left to right as they move through various states in order to be completed.
Kanban method
Kanban method. An evolutionary approach to change described by David J. Anderson in Six Core Practices and Four Foundational Principles.
Kanban system
A 'pull system' implemented by limiting the number of Kanban (cards) in circulation.
Kano
A model, developed by Noriaki Kano, which is used to help understand customer preferences. The Kano model considers attributes of a service grouped into areas such as basic factors, excitement factors and performance factors.