Scaled agile, without the old system underneath
How to save SAFe
Many organisations implement SAFe and change nothing underneath. The events land in the calendar and the roles get new names, while the old system carries on: the steering committee becomes the QBR, the PMO becomes the VMO, the project becomes an Epic. Only the vocabulary changes, and the results stay the same.
The map below is a scaled agile system that works on three levels. Click any of its 25 parts to see what it is for, what it turns into when it is mapped onto the old system, how you notice, and how to make it work.
Decisions are taken as late as responsibly possible, at the lowest level where the best information is.
Every block, picture, level title and dashed line is clickable. On a phone, scroll the map sideways or use the list below.
One pattern on every level
Five events, three levels
Every level runs the same five events. Together they scale Scrum's pillars of transparency, inspection and adaptation from the team to the portfolio.
Make the next work decidable, just in time.
Align on goals and commit to valuable increments. Plans stay adjustable.
Make progress visible, surface exceptions early, correct course.
Inspect the outcome against the goals, on evidence.
Inspect the way of working and adapt it.
About
Why this site exists
SAFe gives an organisation a vocabulary and a calendar. Whether it works depends on what happens to governance, funding, decision rights and measurement. This site is written by Martijn Oost of Beyond Agile, after more than twenty-five years of Lean and agile work, including scaled transformations with more than a hundred teams.