A lightweight introduction to the Scaled Agile Framework

1. SAFe
A Blueprint for Enterprise Agility
by Jared Richardson
Principal Consultant
Agile Artisans, Inc.
Who Am I?
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Jared Richardson
CoAuthored Ship It! and Career 2.0
Screencast editor for PragProg.com
Started AgileRTP in 2007
2nd public signatory of the Agile Manifesto
Agile coach
AgileArtisans.com
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Scaled Agile Framework®

2. What is it?
Template
for enterprise
Agile adoptions
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Best Face
Ready made program
Pour your organization
Accelerator
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Worst Face
Feels Agile
No thinking!
Rename everything
Agile in a can!
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3. flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2712985992
Big Picture
Terms
Roles
Flows
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Workflow
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Team execution
Business vision
Themes
Portfolio
Backlog
Stories
Epics
FeaturesProgram
Backlog
Team
Backlog(s)
Workflow Key Concepts
Themes => Budget allocation
Portfolio backlog (kanban)
PSI (Potentially Shippable Increments)
PSI => 10 weeks => 5 sprints
Release Train Engineer
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4. Story Terms
Epics span PSIs
Features fit in a PSI
Stories fit in a sprint
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Planning Meeting
Sprint
Iteration
(ship event
or usable
product)
Vision/
Initiatives/
Customers
Retrospective
Demo
Product
Owner
Daily
Meetings Daily
Meetings
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Iteration
(ship event
or usable
product)
Workflow Slow Feedback
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Ship event
(beta? alpha?)
6 to 24 month project

5. PSI
10 weeks
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6. 21
In Other Words...
Scrum of scrums
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1 2 3 4 5
Scrum teams
Scrum of scrums
Scrum of scrums of scrums
Scrum of Scrums (of scrums!)
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...there is nothing new
under the sun...
Ecclesiastes 1:9flickr.com/photos/drb62/4157075530

7. 25flickr.com/photos/gsfc/8705752000
That's okay
Different point of view
Pros
Jump start
Understanding
-ish
Sales tool
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No matter how it looks at
first, it's always a people
problem
Gerald Weinberg
Valuable Tool
Engage upper management
Capture imagination
Start the process
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8. 29flickr.com/photos/spicuzza/4661202721
Cons
We're Agile!
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Cons
One size doesn't fit all
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Cons
Silver bullet syndrome
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9. Agile's Hard
Discipline
Hard work
Experience
33flickr.com/photos/tamaranai/514501365 agilemanifesto.org
agilemanifesto.org 36

10. flickr.com/photos/npobre/2601582256/ flickr.com/photos/ladybeames/2896787167/
Two Choices
Lead
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Follow
Own the Message
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SAFe Process Smells
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11. Big Work
Focus on PSI delivery
Sprints lose meaning
Small increments of work?
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Wrong Focus
Metrics
Velocity
Team organization
Working software?
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Technical Practices
AWOL
Lots of organization
No tests
No continuous integration
Regular delivery of crap?
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Relabeling
Change the labels
Change the org chart
Wallpapered waterfall
Changed mindsets?
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12. 45
Travel through,
not to...
flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6839570706
An Exercise for the Reader...
Grab a pad paper
Write 3 reasons SAFe could help you
Write 3 impediments to SAFe use
Move to someone you don't work with
Brainstorm on each other's impediments
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