Note: This newsletter is a blend of our full newsletter of June 20 and our LinkedIn newsletter of June 26.
We have four exciting announcements this newsletter – including one for those trying to improve their organization’s development process and one for you techies.
Becoming a FLEX Trainer
First, the really big news – we’re looking for trainers in our new FLEX patterns framework for Agile at all scales
As many of you know, I have been working on a better approach to Agile at scale than is currently available. There are several challenges I have seen with virtually all of them. I recently wrote a blog Checklist for a good framework that lays out what I consider to be the minimum requirements for a framework. FLEX has developed to the point of meeting those requirements and more. If you’re looking for a method where you can learn to train it or if you are a consultant and want another offering, please let me know. You can learn more about FLEX here.
Some other blogs:
- FLEX as a Pattern Framework. FLEX Is a breakthrough not just for content but for how it is organized.
- Robust Vs Complicated. Having a robust system does not have to be complicated.
Webinar: June 27th. Creating the Next Paradigm Shift in IT and Product Development
Agile has been around for more than two decades. This is more than a lifetime in the information age. Dark Agile has been around for just about as long and seems to be increasing. The reason is reflected in Einstein’s observation, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” The next paradigm is not based on Agile but on flow and Lean-Thinking. It acknowledges the reality that it is easier to work your way into a new way of thinking than it is to think your way into a new way of working.
This talk discusses the main shifts required for the next wave after Agile:
- Focus on achieving Business Agility, the quick realization of business value predictably, sustain-ably and with high quality.
- Attend to lowering the cost of delay to achieve this. The cost of delay is the costs to an organization of deferred value achieved, higher risk sustained, and lost opportunity.
- Provide a customized starting point and road-map.
- Focus on the work to be done, not on the framework.
- Understand the critical factors of systems thinking, attending to complexity, and the role of Lean-Management.
- Organize practices as groups of patterns so that knowledge can be added without making things more complicated.
For those considering or wanting to improve SAFe.
As a former contributor to SAFe, an SPCT and Gold partner, I know how to make SAFe better. If you’re considering doing SAFe or want to see how to improve it, see Part IX: Using FLEX to both enhance and simplify SAFe.
The TDD Companion
This book is meant to be a lightweight companion to the TDD practitioner. Each entry is a page long at most.
These pages are loosely organized, except where specific pages relate to each other.
The idea is that you can pick it up, open it anywhere, and gain a useful insight without having to spend hours poring over it.
As always, happy to chat with you about your challenges and how we can help.
Al Shalloway
CEO, Net Objectives
425-269-8991 @alshalloway
SAFe® is a registered trademark of Scaled Agile, Inc.
| Don’t see one in your area? Let us know so we can see about scheduling one nearby! | ||
| Date | Events | |
| June 27 | Webinar: Creating the Next Paradigm Shift in IT and Product Development | |
| July 22 | Online Course: FLEX for SAFe Scaled Learning Workshop | |
| July 22 | Online Course: FLow for Enterprise Transformation Workshop | |
| Now | Online Course: Advanced Scrum Master and Kanban Online Workshop | |
| Now | Online Course: Lean-Agile at Mid-Scale: FLEX Essentials | |
| Now | Online Course: Foundations of Sustainable Design | |
| Now | Online Course: Agile Product Management Essential Concepts (Free!) | |
| Sep 25-27 | Public Course: FLow for Enterprise Transformation Workshop | |
| Let us know if we can schedule a public course in your area | ||
I’ve been following you for years and really appreciate your constant desire of improving things.
I’m convince that you took some good lessons from SAFe and that’s your FLEX proposal is quite interesting and much lighter while keeping core changes to bring.
However, I still find two flaws that bother me in your approach which doesn’t mean alas I’ve got a solution:
1) framework usually starts with good intent. Creators try to put a lot from their experience in designing something that works and is sustained by lean-agile principles. So far, so good. But then, the framework becomes a commercial product and now it’s no more about being aligned, it’s about selling, making money and pleasing the customer (those with the old mindset, because when they buy they’re still thinking the old way, the one Einstein is talking about). And things go bad, promoting productivity, best practices, certifications, one-size-fits-all, etc. Old song.
2) I’ve got the belief (this is far more subjective than point 1) that a business agility framework can not come from IT people. How clever and inspired they might be, they’re still stuck in IT premisses. Say differently, it’s about designing a framework from a business perspective and not scaling IT experience at the business level.
That’s said, I still think FLEX is a valuable contribution to the movement of ideas in lean-agile thinking.
Best.
Thanks for this comment.
1) Yes, I’ve seen this happen for 20 years. Scrum and SAFe being one of the worst. I will not let this happen with FLEX. It is designed to be inclusive and extensible and my intention is to create a community around it.
2) Totally agree. FLEX is designed from the business perspective. At its heart are concepts that did come from business folks. I just learned to include it in the dev area.
Thanks for these – you are highlighting two differences in FLEX from other approaches.