Why the size of an Agile approach is not the issue, its architecture is

 

Agile tends to go to extremes. Scrum prides itself on being simple and small but ignores it being insufficient for many. At the other extreme is SAFe, an Agile behemoth that keeps growing and has become overly complicated. Size is the wrong measure of efficacy.

Consider Wikipedia. It’s pretty big. Would it be better if it had fewer or smaller entries? I think not. In fact, it could double in size and be better for it.

More relevant is the architecture in which the information is presented. Consider how Wikipedia is both sufficient (for the most part) while avoiding cognitive overload. It accomplishes this with an architecture that enables quick access to information (briefs for each topic) with an ability to provide more information as needed (hyperlinks). It enables the right amount of information at the right time without causing cognitive overload. This is the issue.

DA FLEX is architected to achieve the same result – have sufficient information, allow for adding as much as is useful, all the while avoiding cognitive overload. It accomplishes this by being organized around the value stream. A relatively small number of entries that can be expanded as needed