Part 1: Frameworks are taking our eye off the ball

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. – Albert Einstein

How Frameworks Are Now Impeding Agile: Part 1

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

There is no question that Scrum & SAFe have transformed how we work. Both have created a new mindset around work- Scrum focusing on the importance of team & SAFe focusing on the necessity to coordinate teams.

And both have now created new challenges in somewhat the same manner. Each has taken our eye off the real task- working in an Agile manner. This is finding what’s of greatest value, allocating our capacity to work on it, properly decomposing it so it can be built in increments and being able to deploy frequently/continuously. Scrum’s focus on ceremonies has takes peoples’ eyes off of how they do their work – leaving it to the team with the unquestioned assumption that they’ll figure it out (& then blaming them for not doing Scrum if they can’t or change anything in their attempt).

SAFe has gotten management involved but mostly to demand that SAFe be done. SAFe is often led internally by agents who demand that SAFe be followed. Again, the focus is on the framework.

Frameworks were an excellent way to go when we didn’t understand the mechanics of Agile. We do now. We should attend to them or at least drive our frameworks with them.

How Frameworks Are Now Impeding Agile. Part 2 – Scrum

Take a look at the common challenges teams have when adopting Scrum:

• not being able to write small stories
• essentially doing waterfall in 2 week cycles-Scrumerfall
• having many open stories at the end of the sprint
• difficulties poised by being interrupted in a sprint
• not being able to coordinate well with other teams

The similarities across widely variant dev groups is striking. Not a surprise since systems-thinking would predict this. While Scrum proponents claim “if you did Scrum these things wouldn’t happen” is likely true, what does that matter? People are doing their best.

We need to attend more to what insights & skills would help us avoid these challenges directly.

The above challenges are due to not attending to:

• flow
• managing work in process inside the sprint
• the team’s part in the bigger picture

Yes, I know Scrum doesn’t say not to do these, but that’s not the same as saying to do them.

In the early days just getting teams co-located, cross-functional & working in small chunks was a major improvement. To go to the next level we need to shift our focus to the work & how to do it.

How Frameworks Are Now Impeding Agile. Part 3 – SAFe

Many people complain that SAFe is too complicated and doesn’t truly get management involvement. I would agree. But why is that?

Take a look at the common challenges organizations have with adopting SAFe:

• little improvement beyond the program
• little improvement in the area of portfolio management
• difficulty resolving conflicting requirements given to platforms and shared services
• a continuation of top-down management
• too much work in play overall
• not being able to get deliveries within a program increment

The similarities across widely variant organizations is striking. This validates systems-thinking’s assertion that the system people are in causes behavior. SAFe proponents claim it addresses the main issues & people just need to fill things in. I would suggest that the way SAFe addresses these issues prevents people from filling things in.

Pre-defining roles & artifacts takes our eyes off of the value stream and the work that is taking place in it. This is exacerbated by SAFe overloading and redefining terms.

In the early days getting a plan for a program & having teams work together towards that a major improvement. To go to the next level we need to shift our focus to the work itself.

How Frameworks Are Now Impeding Agile. Part 4 – The Solution

Actually, if you’ve been following my train of thought here, you’d know there is no solution. But there is an approach that will lead to a solution. It’s using Lean as an overall context for your work because Lean focuses directly on the work. Lean can help achieve business agility – the quick realization of value predictably, sustainably and with high quality.

Lean provides insights to shorten the time from beginning work until value is realized. It does this by starting with the question of what’s value to the customer? Then attending to the value stream so that we can improve it to eliminate delays in workflow and feedback. By attending to queues of work we can see where our bottlenecks are and improve them. Instead of overloading teams we have them manage their work by implementing pull systems. And, because we’re looking at improving our work directly we can continuously improve.

Fortunately, this doesn’t mean we have to re-invent the wheel. All we need to do is look at the outcomes we need at each step of the way and select the best method for us to get there. This is true agility – figuring out how to solve our problems instead of taking canned solutions.