In the early 2000s, people discovered how great pomegranate juice is. It’s filled with antioxidants that help us avoid colds and other maladies. Well, no one likes to be sick, so people started buying the juice by the case. Sure enough, they felt healthier. So they drank more and more until they started getting ulcers because they were repeatedly filling their stomachs with acid.This is an “anti-pattern”. A by-product of a beneficial act that corrupts that act into something harmful. It doesn't mean that pomegranate juice is evil. It means you can use it for better and for worse.This series discusses some Personal Kanban anti-patterns I’ve been seeing evolve over the last few years.Over the last several months, I’ve run into several situations where people have uttered variations on a disturbing statement… “We don’t do planning because we have a kanban.” This is our first anti-pattern.Some teams, weary of lengthy planning meetings in the past, have misinterpreted flow-based systems as systems that – in essence – are self-planning.A flow-based system is not self-anything – except perhaps self-reporting.The whole point of having a Kanban is to be aware. It is dangerous to turn control of your life, your work, or your future to anything – especially a white board with sticky notes on it.You as a person or team using Personal Kanban need to be vigilant that you are making the right decisions at the right time. In order to do that, you need to understand what work is coming on the horizon, why it is there, and what is NOT being done while you are doing something else.If you are not planning as you go along, you are ignoring what is coming up. It is also highly likely you are missing opportunities to improve, complete, and find efficiencies.Personal Kanban does not preclude planning, it makes planning more enjoyable.