Agile & Delivery playbook/Module 8 · Scaling

Day 73 / 100 · Scaling · SAFe: a fair critique

Borrow, don't buy whole.

The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), created by Dean Leffingwell in 2011, is the most widely adopted scaling framework, and the most argued about.

Alignment

What It Does Well

Many teams working toward shared objectives.

Planning together

Big-room planning surfaces dependencies early.

A starting structure

Gives large organisations a map to begin with.

Heavy

Fair Criticisms

Many roles, layers and events to run.

Top-down risk

Can reinforce central control over team autonomy.

Adopted by certificate

Sometimes chosen for the badge, not the problem.

Sources: Scaled Agile, Inc.: A Decade in Adaptation: The Scaled Agile Framework, 10 Years Later ↗ · Scaled Agile Framework: Agile Release Train ↗

Borrow what solves your problem. Skip the rest.