How Disciplined Agile and FLEX Improve SAFe

 

I'm working on a 2-day subset of the DA Value Stream Consultant workshop called Disciplined Agile for SAFe. Here's a list of main changes & additions:

• The goal is not coordination of teams but decoupling of teams
• Focus on creating a network of semi-autonomous, cross-functional team or groups of teams (dedicated product team - DPT)
• Use flow/kanban to manage work between teams
• Use dedicated product teams instead of ARTs
• View SAFe from a value stream (Lean's definition) perspective
• How to improve value streams
• Use MBIs and MVPs (Ries’ meaning) as MVPs can't be done in a 3 month cycle
• Use FLEX's simpler budgeting, portfolio & product management method aligned around products (true project to product shift)
• Middle-up-down management
• calculate cost of delay on MBIs, not epics or features
• take a systems-thinking perspective
• one size does not fit all - look where to start
• attend to culture
• Use Big Room Planning to identify dependencies and to guide DPT creation - BRP deals with symptoms not root cause so don’t have it be your central method of planning
• Agreements to make across the organization
• Why you must start your improvements with test-first methods
• Use Goldratt's inherent simplicity to deal with complexity