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Scaling w/ Agility

How has it become unsafe to talk about Agile? To even associate yourself with Agile (not to say SAFe)?

Published 23 days ago • 2 min read

Hey Reader,

Most days, it feels like mentioning Agile anywhere in your online presence is like the GenAI Emdash.
A troll magnet. That makes it harder (maybe even unsafe) to have a real conversation. share nuanced opinions.
(And its even less safe to talk about SAFe...)

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If you're a leader working on improving your organization, should you only listen to people that DON'T talk about Agile? That don't have any SAFe association? Does not mentioning their Agile association immediately mean that they know what they're talking about?
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Does someone with Agile or SAFe in their headline or profile unsafe to listen to?
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I admit I go back and forth on whether to feature, hide, or bury the fact that I'm a SAFe Fellow. a Scrum trainer.
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If you've read my newsletter, followed my posts here, or listened to my podcast, you'll likely see that I have a nuanced view of Agile, Scrum, SAFe, Kanban and scaling.
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If you've been in my SAFe classes, you've heard me talk endlessly about descaling when you can, scale if you must.
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If you've worked with me, you've likely heard me advise against building solution trains or introducing coordination patterns, instead preferring to simplify when possible.
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You've seen me discuss how SAFe is similar to the Kanban Method - meeting you where you are, showing you all your strengths and weaknesses, and empowering you to take evolutionary yet courageous leadership steps towards a more networked and agile organization.
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If you're an SPC or Scrum Master I trained, you heard me beg you and your organization to be patient. Thoughtful. Responsible. To not assume that a class and a certification exam, on their own, are enough to make you a master. They are the start of a continuous journey. But don't take your solo flight just based on playing flight simulator a couple of hours. ​
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If you've watched "Breaking the SAFe" you've seen how I feel comfortable deconstructing and even challenging some of SAFe's sacred cows.

If you've been around when I helped bring Kanban into the Scrum.org world you've seen me challenge the Scrum hegemony.
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But would you even go into my content once you see that I'm an Agile expert? or has that become the emdash? A reason to automatically discount what I'm saying?
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I was having a chat the other day about how impossible it has become to have conversations about this. To help people navigate this landscape.
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It's like the nuance is lost to the method wars.
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Leaving people on their own asking LLMs how to fix their SAFe implementation. How to organize their ARTs and Portfolios. How to make PI Planning a useful exercise. Or whether to have it at all. Because they're afraid to talk about it.
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And it's not just SAFe or Scrum, if we're honest. OKRs have also become a black and white topic.
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​So I've been wondering... ​
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Is it my calling to do more than talk about this?

Are you also feeling unsafe to have conversations about how to drive agility in your organization? to uncover better ways of working while building on established patterns?

I'm exploring some ideas for how we as leaders and change agents could tackle this reality and would love your perspective. Let me know if you're open for a chat.

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Scaling w/ Agility

A newsletter for leaders on how to think through scaling challenges and develop/grow organizations using product and agility principles and practices.

Are You Struggling to Scale Your Organization ? Need agility but dubious of process BS/dogma? I share reflective, pragmatic, principled takes on how to approach scaling your organization leveraging the essence (rather than theater) of product operating models, agile practices and frameworks, and business operating systems such as EOS and OKRs.

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