Three colors, four states
Three signal colors, plus white for work that has not started yet: these four states are the heart of Andon. Used consistently, they let you read the state of all your work at a glance, and the notes behind them tell you why.
Setting a color
Click the colored status dot on a task's row, just before its name, and pick one of the four states. Only plain tasks without children have a clickable dot. The color of a task with children, of a project, of a todo list, of a Kanban board and of a Kanban card is worked out automatically (see chapters 6 and 10).
White: Initialized
A clean slate: nothing has happened yet. New tasks start white. In the color picker, the action that sets this state is To do.
Example: "Write the migration plan", created during a planning session.
White is not a problem: a project full of white tasks is simply not started.
Green: NTR
NTR stands for Nothing To Report (RAS in French, Rien À Signaler). Work is running normally and there is no signal to act on.
Example: "Build the import screen", in progress and on track.
Green is not a done stamp. On a factory line, a green light means the station is working normally, not that it has stopped. Set a task to green when work starts going well, and keep it green while it does. Chapter 4 explains why Andon has no "done".
What to note: usually nothing special. A short status line now and then is enough.
Orange: Blocked
A temporary blocker: you cannot move forward until something or someone unblocks you, and then the flow resumes.
Example: "Deploy to production", waiting for the security review.
Orange is the color that matters most day to day, because it always shows. A single orange task turns its parent and its project orange.
What to note: who or what you are waiting for, since when, and when you last followed up. For example: "Waiting for the security team's review, requested 12 March, chased 19 March." The task's Properties have a field for each of these, and a signal button on its row reminds you while they are empty (chapter 6).
Red: Called off
This route is not going anywhere. Its ideas are set aside, kept with their reasons, to be taken up again in a different context. In the color picker, the action that sets this state is Canceled. Red is not a failure: it is a record of something learned.
Example: "Approach A: in-place upgrade", abandoned after the test run corrupted the data.
What to note: answer three questions while they are fresh.
- Why did it stop?
- What was the situation at the time (team, tools, deadline, budget)?
- What would have to change for this to work?
These questions are the fields of the task's Properties (chapter 6).
Those answers are what make an old red task valuable. When a similar idea comes up a year later, search finds the red task, and you can see at once whether the reasons still hold.
A red task waits for a better context. When reds pile up in a project, it may be time to branch (chapter 12).
Common mistakes
- Using green to mean done. Green means the flow is going. A finished piece of work stays green, or the project is archived.
- Deleting failed approaches. Set them to red and keep them. A deleted task teaches nothing.
- Orange without a note. An orange task with no explanation leaves you guessing a week later. Write who you are waiting for.
- Red without a reason. "Didn't work" is not enough. Write why, and what would change the answer.