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why safe is not agile

by Aubree Reichert Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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In short, SAFe is not agile.
They require alignment on customer success, not a predetermined set of features. They require a continuous discovery process that inevitably leads to unplanned course corrections. These corrections would “derail” a Release Train in no time.
May 10, 2021

Full Answer

What is safe agile in simple terms?

What is a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)?

  • Implementing Lean-Agile software and systems in enterprise level
  • It’s based on Lean and Agile principles.
  • It gives detailed guidance for work at the enterprise Portfolio, Value Stream, Program, and Team.
  • It’s designed to meet the needs of all stakeholders within an organization.

What is a safe agile certification?

SAFe Agile Certification is designed to help software companies produce and deliver high-quality products for the market within a short time, thus leading to an increase in employee engagement. It is the world’s largest leading Agile framework and has brought a revolutionary change in the way companies operate.

How do you stay agile?

Steps

  1. Stretch your body. When you wake up, stretch your body. ...
  2. Eat a good breakfast. Before you start training, be sure to eat a healthy breakfast to get a good start to the day. ...
  3. Don't lay around. ...
  4. Work on your muscles. ...
  5. Try out various exercises to find what works best for you. ...
  6. Tone your legs. ...
  7. Be disciplined. ...

How to stay mentally agile?

  • Write down all the things that matter to you. (ex. ...
  • Be grateful. Going to #1, allow yourself to feel grateful for all things which matter to you.
  • Recognize your feelings and learn to accept them. ...
  • Do whatever you can to avoid having a hectic day. ...

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Why does SAFe not work in Agile?

SAFe is not Agile By now many of the ways SAFe is inconsistent with an Agile mindset should be pretty clear. It's plan focused, bureaucratic, complicated, includes a lot of often unnecessary process, dis-empowers team autonomy, and more.

How is SAFe different than Agile?

So, the main difference between Agile and Scaled Agile is that Agile was designed for small teams with specific roles, whereas Scaled Agile is designed to scale all the way up to the enterprise.

Is SAFe part of Agile?

The Scaled Agile Framework, or SAFe, is an agile framework developed for development teams. Most importantly, SAFE's foundation consists of three metaphorical pillars: Team, Program, and Portfolio.

Is SAFe and Agile the same?

Agile is mainly developed for a small team of ten or fewer people. SAFe, on the other hand, is an agile framework for an enterprise which is not limited to smaller teams and guides enterprises in scaling lean and agile practices.

How does SAFe differ from Scrum?

In simple words, Scrum is basically used to organise small teams, while SAFe®️ is used to organise the whole organization. Moreover, Scrum tends to miss many important aspects that SAFe®️ manages to contain. While Scrum is an Agile way to manage software development, SAFe®️ is an enterprise-level establishment method.

Are there sprints in SAFe?

Timeboxing and Sprints – Scrum work is completed within distinct time periods (aka timeboxes) of two to four weeks, called a sprint (SAFe refers to it as an iteration). The two-week sprint is most common, so we'll use that for illustration throughout this article.

Is SAFe a good agile framework?

SAFe is particularly beneficial for organizations that need to work across teams, as its centralization makes multi-team coordination possible. In this scenario, it allows for standardized processes across teams and helps avoid obstacles and delays that may pop up when different teams need to work together.

Is agile going away?

While aspects of Agile will remain, the post-Agile world has different priorities and requirements, and we should expect whatever paradigm finally succeeds it to deal with the information stream as the fundamental unit of information. So, Agile is not "dead", but it is becoming ever less relevant.

What agile is not?

Agile is not without planning, not an excuse for lack of direction, and it is not development without specifications. Individuals and teams following a correct Agile approach know their focus every week, month, or sprint.

Is SAFe Scrum or Kanban?

Scrum is a unique framework that insists accordingly to the basic agile methodologies, whereas the SAFe is a scaling framework that is helpful in implementing scrum along with Kanban ventures. Both the approaches are for the specific project management exploited in modern software development.

What is a Scrum in SAFe?

Though there are very small differences between Scrum and SAFe®, it is very important to have a clear understanding of the same. Scrum is a framework which is based on the values and principles of Agile, whereas SAFe® is a framework which implements Scrum at an enterprise level.

What is SAFe in Scrum Master?

In SAFe, Scrum Masters assist their teams in meeting delivery goals. They coach teams in self-organization and self-management and help them coordinate and participate in Agile Release Trains (ARTs) events, increasing the effectiveness of SAFe across the organization.

What is the difference between agile and lean?

Lean management introduces team models such as work cells, in which teams work together to complete steps that previously happened separately and were vulnerable to delay. Meanwhile, agile relies on concepts such as cross-functional teams and flow-to-work pools, which follow the same underlying philosophy.

What is difference between agile and Scrum?

The key difference between Agile and Scrum is that while Agile is a project management philosophy that utilizes a core set of values or principles, Scrum is a specific Agile methodology that is used to facilitate a project.

What is difference between Kanban and Scrum?

Kanban is a project management method that helps visualize tasks, while Scrum is a method that provides structure to the team and schedule. Kanban and Scrum are project management methodologies that complete project tasks in small increments and emphasize continuous improvement.

What is agile SAFe certification?

What Is SAFe Certification? SAFe's professional certification is a means of assessing the skills, knowledge, and mindset of those who work in agile environments. Certified professionals have shown their ability to support company initiatives and transformations in a lean and agile enterprise.

Why is SAFe so hard to ignore?

If SAFe isn’t really agile, why even bother to write about it? Why not simply dismiss it in favor of more agile scaling approaches? The answer is simple: SAFe is hard to ignore, because it has become the predominant “agile scaling framework” sold to corporations world-wide.

Why was SAFe invented?

SAFe seems to have been invented to get a foot into the door of these waterfall corporations: it appeals to them, because it looks like the processes they’re used to; but at the same time it gives permission to sneak in a seed of agility.

Is Amazon an agile company?

Most really agile companies started as agile companies (think Google, AirBnB, Amazon). They have always been agile and “simply” scaled that culture as they grew. For big corporations with a waterfall history, however, it is much harder to “switch” to an agile culture. If you have been brought up (and had past success) with your waterfall approach, it is much much harder to completely change the mode you’re working in. How many really agile big corporations do you know, who didn’t have an agile culture from the start?

Is SAFe agile?

SAFe is not agile! Here is why it might still be useful | by Matthias Orgler | Serious Scrum | Medium

Is there anything good?

But is SAFe only evil? Although I dislike SAFe, I stubbornly try to see the positive side in everything. And SAFe might actually have one thing going for it.

Jeff Gothelf Follow

Last week I published my monthly newsletter with the post below as the content (Not on my mailing list? You should subscribe here .) As you can imagine, it stirred up quite a few feelings. Many folks reached out in support of the post. Several folks were, well, less pleased. This makes perfect sense.

Jeff Gothelf

The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) is implemented broadly, touted by leaders and pointed to as the go-to resource for agility at scale. It might be a framework for managing work at scale—but it isn’t agile. For any business, scaling presents hard problems. Synchronizing more and more teams becomes exponentially more difficult.

Dan Berlin

I have the utmost respect for Jeff and his experiences and opinions. If Jeff or anyone on this thread would like to discuss facts about SAFe and Lean UX / Design Thinking, I would welcome an opportunity to leave the bias at the door and discuss success and failure patterns.

Heba Issa

Question is .. is there an agile way to manage scaled teams and projects? Maybe it’s just that there’s no alternatives at the moment so big corporates has no other options.

Bianka McGovern

This is great food for thought. I see engineering and product management represented in the SAFe diagrams but not design. Maybe I'm missing something.

Tom Mellor

Many of us have saying this for the last 8 years or so... https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/scaling-something-youre-trying-tom-mellor. As Schwaber said, it's unsafe at any speed (and for any use.) Stop its insanity...now. Accept or not accept? What to do. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/accept-what-do-tom-mellor

What is SAFe in software development?

SAFe was developed in 2011 to help software development teams bring better products to market faster. Based on a combination of agile and lean principles, SAFe calls for close collaboration and alignment across teams and aims to centralize decision-making. SAFe offers multiple configuration options depending on the size of the team and includes three levels: Team, Program and Portfolio.

Why is SAFe so effective?

Specifically, because SAFe was designed to maintain a big picture view of software development, it can easily handle a coordinated strategy for large-scale and complex projects with teams that number into the hundreds. However, because it is rooted in agile and lean principles, it remains more efficient than traditional approaches to software delivery.

What is the purpose of SAFe?

The impetus behind SAFe was to make agile principles scalable for large enterprises, and the framework’s ability to centralize decision-making and bring a top-down mindset to a typically bottom-up process accomplishes that goal.

What is the benefit of SAFe?

The biggest benefit of adopting SAFe is the opportunity to tap into a relatively lightweight framework that creates efficiency in software development while maintaining the centralized decision-making necessary at the enterprise level. Essentially, SAFe extends the idea of agile beyond the front lines of software development to software leaders who must answer higher level strategy questions.

Why is SAFe important?

SAFe is particularly beneficial for organizations that need to work across teams, as its centralization makes multi-team coordination possible . In this scenario, it allows for standardized processes across teams and helps avoid obstacles and delays that may pop up when different teams need to work together.

Is SAFe a top down approach?

Although SAFe brings many benefits to the table, it also comes with its drawbacks. For instance, many teams find that SAFe takes too much of a top-down approach.

Will You Play it SAFe?

At the end of the day, SAFe brings a lot to the table, particularly by making it possible for organizations of a certain size to take a more agile approach to software development. However, it’s clear that SAFe has several shortcomings of which teams should be aware and plan for prior to adopting the framework.

Why is Agile important?

Agile methods can help teams do better work. Many organizations adopt this method organically, starting with a single team. But often, when they go to scale Agile across multiple teams, departments, or business units, they struggle. The need for alignment, planning, cadence, roles, and communication, which may have seemed simple among a dozen team members, becomes challenging to implement across hundreds and even thousands of people.

What is SAFe framework?

As a framework for scaling Agile, SAFe can help an entire organization achieve a better way of working. It builds on Agile’s foundations to give organizations a proven system and structured guidance for addressing these challenges at scale. SAFe gives organizations a roadmap for the what, why, who, when, and how of applying Agile across the business.

Is agile development enough?

To improve overall performance and not just the performance of a specific team or department, Agile development by itself isn’t enough. The top companies in today’s digital world are those with agility built into their business operating system. They can react quickly, launch frequently, align their portfolios to customer and market changes, and prioritize the right work.

Why use SAFe?

Why should you use SAFe? Because it’s effective, proven, scalable, and configurable. SAFe works, no matter what your organization’s size, industry, or complexity.

How many practitioners are there in Scaled Agile?

More than 1,000,000 practitioners and 20,000 enterprises worldwide in nearly every industry trust the Scaled Agile Framework ® (SAFe®). Gartner names SAFe the #1 most considered and adopted framework for scaling Agile.

What is SAFe framework?

SAFe is the most popular framework to implement Agile, Lean, and DevOps practices at scale. It’s trusted, effective, and sustainable.

What is the biggest obstacle to becoming agile?

The biggest ob s tacle to becoming agile is top management's unwillingness to surrender the command and control behavior. Executives want predictability; they fear uncertainty because the unknown scares them. Yet, they have to show the world they are agile. How can they be agile without embracing empiricism? SAFe comes as the answer for companies afraid of profound structural changes. But is SAFe really agile?

What is Agile team?

An Agile team, the ScrumXP equivalent of Scrum Team, is part of a bigger picture. Their prime objective is to deliver Increment of valuable products in line with the Program Increment Objective. A Scrum Team has a different purpose, addressing complex products while delivering value.

What is SAFe?

SAFe is one of the most used frameworks to scale with agile. Giant corporations like Barclays, Cisco, Lego, among others, work with SAFe. It’s indeed a robust framework that aims to help organizations scale successfully with agile. But how SAFe does it is by adding prescriptive and complex processes. Let’s have a look at the official definition.

Why is prescriptive framework important?

A highly prescriptive framework raises concerns about whether it’s genuinely agile or another traditional methodology. Delivering value as fast as possible is vital to survive in today’s highly competitive market. Companies have no chance but to adapt themselves to a rapidly changing world. Becoming agile isn’t optional anymore ...

How does SAFe work?

It’s similar to an assembly line; every part is taking care of its responsibility. SAFe is a process for its own sake. It gives teams the illusion they are in control of their work while killing their autonomy.

What is SAFe for Lean Enterprises?

SAFe for Lean Enterprises is the world’s leading framework for business agility. SAFe integrates the power of Lean, Agile, and DevOps into a comprehensive operating system that helps enterprises thrive in the digital age by delivering innovative products and services faster, more predictably, and with higher quality.

How do teams deliver meaningful solutions?

To deliver meaningful solutions, teams have to empathize with the real users. Then, they can understand their problems and therefore solve their problems. Well, that’s not how things work with SAFe; the Agile Teams have no contact with the end-users. Still, they are supposed to deliver value. Any similarity with the traditional waterfall?

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1.SAFe? Agile? SAFe is not agile. What you need to know.

Url:https://jeffgothelf.com/blog/safe-is-not-agile/

17 hours ago  · David Peirera wrote a great article about why so much about SAFe is not agile. SAFe tries to take the agile Scrum framework (which was invented for 2-pizza teams of …

2.SAFe is not agile! Here is why it might still be useful

Url:https://medium.com/serious-scrum/safe-is-not-agile-here-is-why-it-might-still-be-useful-358376a49e1a

24 hours ago  · SAFe is not agile, but it follows the Agile principles, which can be learned by doing a Scaled Agile Certification . The SAFe discussion glaringly lacks topics like ongoing learning …

3.SAFe Is Not Agile - LinkedIn

Url:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/safe-agile-jeff-gothelf

33 hours ago Why SAFe does not work? In short, SAFe is not agile. They require alignment on customer success, not a predetermined set of features. They require a continuous discovery process …

4.The pros and cons of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)

Url:https://www.tricentis.com/blog/pros-cons-scaled-agile-framework-safe

7 hours ago  · In short, SAFe is not agile. Given the heavy training regimen teams have to go through to become “SAFe certified” it’s no wonder they resist change. They’ve been trained to …

5.Agile and Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) | Agile With …

Url:https://scaledagile.com/what-is-safe/safe-and-agile/

21 hours ago The Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®) is a system for scaling agile across teams of teams, business units, and even entire organizations. SAFe builds on agile’s foundation of principles …

6.Why SAFe? - Scaled Agile

Url:https://scaledagile.com/what-is-safe/why-safe/

35 hours ago  · SAFe is highly prescriptive and heavy, and far from being agile. Don’t let names inside SAFe like Scrum, Product Owner confuse you with fundamental agile frameworks. SAFe …

7.Be Careful! SAFe Is an Undercover Waterfall Agent!

Url:https://medium.com/serious-scrum/be-careful-safe-may-be-an-undercover-waterfall-agent-b80d79257ca5

6 hours ago  · Leading frameworks don’t encourage Agile teams to experiment and take risks. In fact, it does the opposite by telling teams to play it safe. This goes against the Agile principle …

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