Model a workflow with paper tokens before changing the real routine

Paper tokens can make a queue rule easier to inspect without changing anyone's real work. Define the movement rules precisely, replay the same inputs, and explain what differs. This fictional model compares where unfinished items wait. It does not predict productivity or prove that a team should adopt the illustrated rule.

Define a fixed, simplified flow

Use six tokens labeled A through F. There is an input queue, a review queue, and a completed pile. At the start of turns one, two, and three, add two tokens respectively: A/B, C/D, and E/F. No tokens arrive afterward. All queues use arrival order.

Each turn has the same sequence: add arrivals, complete at most one token already in review, then move at most two tokens from input into review. A token moved at the end cannot complete until a later turn. Initially every queue is empty. Record that the model omits differing task sizes, rework, absence, and priority changes. Every token represents one identical fictional item.

Play the unrestricted-review rule

The first rule places no limit on how many tokens wait in review. After turn one, review contains A/B and none are completed. Turn two completes A and moves C/D, leaving B/C/D. Turn three completes B and moves E/F, leaving C/D/E/F.

With no more arrivals, turn four completes C, turn five completes D, turn six completes E, and turn seven completes F. Keep a turn log showing arrivals, input queue, review queue, and completed identities. Do not remove tokens from the record merely because they have waited several turns. The growing queue is an observation the model must preserve.

Reset and limit the review queue to two

Return all tokens to the initial unarrived state and repeat the identical arrivals and turn order. The changed rule permits transfers only while review has room for at most two tokens. After turn one, review is A/B. Turn two completes A, transfers C, and leaves D in input; review is B/C.

Turn three adds E/F, completes B, and transfers D. Input now holds E/F and review holds C/D. Turn four completes C and transfers E, leaving F in input and D/E in review. Turn five completes D and transfers F. Turns six and seven complete E and F. Record these states before explaining the comparison.

Check conservation and the actual difference

At every turn, total arrived tokens must equal input plus review plus completed tokens. After turn three, the unrestricted model has zero in input, four in review, and two completed: six total. The limited model has two in input, two in review, and two completed: also six.

Both models complete A through F on turns two through seven. The limit changes where waiting occurs; it does not increase completions in this fixture. If a replay claims faster completion, inspect whether arrivals, processing capacity, ordering, or token identities changed accidentally. A missing token is a model error, not an efficiency gain.

Explain the mechanism and the limits

Keep the two traces and the single changed rule together. Ask another person to replay turn three and account for every token. If they cannot reproduce the queues, clarify the rules before adding realism.

The exercise illustrates a cap on downstream waiting and the resulting upstream queue. Real work may involve different durations, feedback, or setup costs that change the outcome. Name the evidence needed before considering a voluntary routine trial. Finish with a replayable simplified mechanism and its omissions, rather than a claimed improvement percentage or a promise about the team's future throughput.