Lets take the analogy a bit further. Lets say you've now determined that unless you move the rocks faster by finding a better way to move them, there just isn't

Lets take the analogy a bit further. Lets say you've now determined that unless you move the rocks faster by finding a better way to move them, there just isn't enough time to move the rocks before the dragon gets you. To continue to do what you're doing, knowing you will fail without getting better is pretty foolish now. To me that's the one of the essentials of lean. Having the adaptability to learn and the recognition of when that time is necessary and crucial. Sure there are tons of Lean and Agile tools out there that waste more time than they save. Where a whiteboard will do a better job and do it faster and cheaper. I agree many of these tools should have the stamp "Cargo Cult" on their landing page (caveat: I've never used LLL, but I love the lean canvas, it's just that pen and paper is good enough for me). I'll even go so far as to say that I think the market for "tools" exists at least in part for people who are not interested in really learning, but want to follow a step-by-step road map through the product development processes. This is clearly wrong and a colossal mistake. How can anyone honestly learn from the product development process if they are just following the prompts? So while I think you've probably made the right decision, your analogy makes me wonder if you've done it for the wrong reasons.