Interview with Dean Leffingwell- Leading SAFe Workshop
Enterprise solutions for Agile have always been a challenge for many organisations. Dean Leffingwell, software industry veteran and creator of Scaled Agile Framework (pronounced as SAFe) is running a workshop at Agile India 2014. This workshop will introduce the participants to the principles, values and practices of SAFe.
His deep rooted expertise and his pragmatic solutions to real time problems have resulted in successful enterprise level implementation of Agile across organisations. His hands-on approach and practical examples make him as one of the sort after expert in this domain.
He is also the founder and CEO of ProQuo- a consumer marketing identify company, and the author of Agile Software Requirements, Scaling Software Agility, and Managing Software Requirements.
We had a short chat with him, where we discussed about SAFe and his experience with various kinds of organisations.
1. In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge companies are facing while scaling agile methods at their org. level?
Primarily, educating ALL the stakeholders to the new process, and bringing everyone to understand the benefits, and the changes necessary to achieve the new common, SAFe/ Lean|Agile way of working.
2. ‘Enterprise Agile’- Is it an oxymoron?
No. SAFe has been successfully applied to enterprises with hundreds, and even thousands, of practitioners.
3. There is a common misconception that Leadership has no role to play in Agile. What do you think is the role of leadership in implementing SAFe ?
In SAFe, Leadership is not excluded. Indeed, leaders assume the primary responsibility for successfully implementing the new way of working. Training is provided to help them on this new learning journey.
4. In your experience, is SAFe more suitable for Services or Product Company? Is there any difference?
No tangible differences. The principles and values of SAFe, and the underlying principles of product development flow, apply in both contexts.
5. Are there any gotchas that teams should be aware while implementing SAFe?
Any transformation of this scope is hard. If enterprises could have achieved the benefits via their old way of working, they would have already done so. Lean, Agile and Scaled Agile change most everything! But SAFe is powered by Agile, so the personal, team and business benefits are well worth the effort.
6. What is the key take away from your 1-Day SAFe workshop?
This workshop is a distillation of the popular two-day “Leading SAFe” course. While it lacks the depth that the two-day course provides, it covers all the foundational elements and is delivered by Dean Leffingwell, the creator of SAFe.
This workshop has limited seats. Book early to avoid disappointments: http://booking.agilefaqs.com/agile-india-2014#workshops
