{"id":14105,"date":"2024-05-13T11:00:53","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T10:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ee.yelkdev.site\/?p=14105"},"modified":"2024-12-09T21:34:37","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T21:34:37","slug":"problems-with-safe-framework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/blog\/our-thinking\/problems-with-safe-framework\/","title":{"rendered":"Three reasons why Equal Experts doesn\u2019t recommend the SAFe framework"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe\u00ae) is an enterprise agile framework. Our advice is \u2018don\u2019t do SAFe\u2019, and it\u2019s based on customer and consultant feedback in the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/our-people\/our-network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Equal Experts network<\/a>. I\u2019m a certified SAFe 6.0 Agilist, and my colleague <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/stevesmithtech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Steve Smith<\/a> and I would like to explain why SAFe usually fails to deliver business agility.<\/p>\n<p>At Equal Experts, we\u2019ve helped enterprise organizations with 10 to 100 teams in achieving business agility. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/our-services\/scale\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scale service<\/a> is based on the knowledge of our customers and consultants, and that includes in-depth experiences with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scaledagileframework.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SAFe<\/a>. It\u2019s an enterprise agile framework incorporating industry practices like OKRs and Continuous Delivery, and proprietary practices like PI planning and release trains.<\/p>\n<p>We empathize with senior technology leaders when they ask us about SAFe. They\u2019re often under pressure to closely manage stakeholders and teams to deliver results, like the digital director who told us &#8220;I want to get the business in a room, and force them to tell me what they want.\u201d And as a delivery framework, SAFe is well marketed, well documented, and well known in the IT industry.<\/p>\n<p>But if you\u2019re playing on an American football team, you should warn your coach if the playbook isn\u2019t going to work. Equal Experts\u2019 advice is \u2018don\u2019t do SAFe\u2019, because so many of our customers and consultants have had negative experiences. From their feedback, we believe SAFe has serious limitations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">SAFe doesn\u2019t accelerate delivery speed<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">SAFe doesn\u2019t satisfy product demand<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">SAFe doesn\u2019t create adaptive architectures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And we always do what\u2019s best for our customers! If you implement SAFe, we\u2019ll leverage our expertise to ensure the best outcomes. Positive experiences do exist, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rupert-m-woolmer-tyler-a913a92b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rupert Woolmer-Tyler<\/a> at a financial services company: \u201cSAFe was used to move from 5 year plans to quarterly planning. It forced teams to collaborate, and try new ways of working. We ended up in a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>SAFe doesn\u2019t accelerate delivery speed<\/h2>\n<p>Increasing delivery speed requires aligned, autonomous teams:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Alignment is a shared understanding of business goals. It steers team decisions towards a single direction, which reduces unplanned work and delivery speed<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Autonomy is the capability and confidence to act. It drives intrinsic motivation and problem solving within teams, which increases team productivity and speed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>SAFe achieves alignment through <a href=\"https:\/\/scaledagileframework.com\/pi-planning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PI planning<\/a> &#8211; a two day, quarterly session where teams and stakeholders set business goals, integrate dependent backlogs into <a href=\"https:\/\/scaledagileframework.com\/agile-release-train\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">release trains<\/a>, and vote on deliverables. This results in a programme board with product objectives and delivery dates. This does produce alignment, and it can be reassuring to see teams committed to a single plan.<\/p>\n<p>However, this approach massively slows teams down. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/blog\/our-thinking\/why-you-need-alignment-with-autonomy-at-scale\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">why you need alignment with autonomy at scale<\/a>, we showed organizations need contextual alignment and autonomy to succeed. SAFe doesn\u2019t do this. It couples teams together and tells them to build solutions, which drags down productivity and speed. It\u2019s an autocracy, full of top-down approvals and cross-team handoffs. You need to lead with context, but SAFe leads with command and control.<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-14108 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/unnamed.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/unnamed.png 960w, https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/unnamed-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/unnamed-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/>\n<p>I (Louise) once worked as a delivery manager at a retailer using SAFe. Teams were forced into certain ways of working, couldn\u2019t make decisions, and work was assigned without considering tech skills or system knowledge. These all affected morale and speed. Other negative experiences in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/our-people\/our-network\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Equal Experts network<\/a> include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">A CTO in finance: \u201cSAFe is a gigantic, chaotic, three-legged race you want to avoid.\u201d<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/liis-laulik-991a7624\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liis Laulik<\/a> was a delivery lead at a bank: \u201cThere was no innovation because teams were just given solutions to build. There was no autonomy with so many dependencies. PI planning would overrun beyond two days, and people didn\u2019t have the psych safety to vote down deliverables.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There\u2019s plenty of industry critiques of SAFe. Steve Denning said in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/stevedenning\/2019\/05\/23\/understanding-fake-agile\/?sh=7c99c7974bbe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forbes,<\/a> \u201cIt subordinates the agile teams to the bureaucracy, rather than doing what is necessary to achieve business agility.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>SAFe doesn\u2019t satisfy product demand<\/h2>\n<p>Product demand can be satisfied by embedding continuous learning and experimentation into teams. Constantly assessing market conditions and user needs fosters a strong yet flexible product vision, providing clear direction while allowing for course corrections. This enables a gradual refinement and reprioritization of the product roadmap, to maximize business value and streamline feedback loops.<\/p>\n<p>SAFe centers <a href=\"https:\/\/scaledagileframework.com\/product-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">product management<\/a> on value stream coordination. Every quarter, PI planning brings together the teams and stakeholders in a value stream. Product managers align on outcomes with business owners and customers, prioritize the release train backlog, and communicate agreed solutions to their teams. This does encourage teams to build relationships, and think holistically about product delivery.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Escaping-Build-Trap-Melissa-Perri\/dp\/149197379X\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Escaping the Build Trap<\/a>, Melissa Perri warns against focussing on static stakeholder requirements rather than dynamic user value, and SAFe plunges into that build trap. It emphasizes outputs instead of outcomes, and assumes three months of unchanging market conditions and user needs. It leaves teams working on yesterday\u2019s features instead of today\u2019s objectives, which results in painful prioritization conflicts, unplanned work, and less time for actual product development. You need to be product-centric, but SAFe is project-centric.<\/p>\n<p>At the retailer, I saw product managers with teams during PI planning, but there wasn\u2019t much experimentation during a release train. We had to make extra efforts to keep teams aligned on business goals, and they didn\u2019t know if they were making a difference. Other Equal Experts experiences include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/marcelbritsch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcel Britsch<\/a> was a product manager at a finance company: \u201cSAFe didn\u2019t create a product-led culture, control scope, or manage overheads. We had 20 people working full-time on PI planning.\u201d<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/werner-smit-16203533\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Werner Smit<\/a> was a delivery lead at a logistics company: \u201cBusiness people continually changed direction outside the release train, so we had outdated plans with no scope control. And SAFe was only in the digital division, so commitments dependent on heritage systems weren\u2019t on time.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Industry product experts have been extremely critical of SAFe. Marty Cagan said in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.svpg.com\/revenge-of-the-pmo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SVPG<\/a>, \u201cI don\u2019t know a single strong product company using SAFe\u201d, while Jeff Gothelf <a href=\"https:\/\/jeffgothelf.com\/blog\/safe-is-not-agile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> \u201call the principles we\u2019ve built into Lean UX don\u2019t seem to exist in SAFe\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2>SAFe doesn\u2019t create adaptive architectures<\/h2>\n<p>Engineering excellence relies on teams building and running adaptable software services. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Technology-Organizations\/dp\/1942788339\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Accelerate<\/a> book by Dr. Nicole Forsgren et al highlighted software architecture as a key predictor of delivery outcomes. Teams designing domain-driven, well-architected services can independently build and deploy their changes, accelerating development cycles and ensuring teams can react to changing circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>In large enterprise organizations, there\u2019s often badly defined business domains split across multiple services, which produces a lot of dependencies. SAFe addresses this through the <a href=\"https:\/\/scaledagileframework.com\/pi-planning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">programme board<\/a> during PI planning. Teams identify features that can\u2019t be delivered in isolation, and dependencies are marked on the board. Managing visible dependencies does facilitate more collaboration between teams.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, SAFe only has band-aids for tough engineering challenges. Guardrails like value stream reconfiguration defer problems without solving them. Brittle failure modes and time-consuming team handoffs create unplanned work, and steer teams away from engineering excellence. There needs to be an investment in re-architecting services, and activities like rescoping business contexts and reducing temporal decoupling are beyond SAFe. You need to escape dependency hell, but SAFe only endures it.<\/p>\n<p>At the retailer, I saw plenty of engineering challenges. Our dependency problems were visible, but they were tolerated because SAFe made the status quo seem comfortable. Other experiences include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/dr-oliver-shaw\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Olly Shaw<\/a> was a technical architect at a media company: \u201cMultiple teams worked daily on three large Java monoliths. Adopting SAFe was supposed to improve the flow of work, but there was no change. Features still trickled out because they touched all the monoliths.\u201d<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/beth-piner-francis-a216b29\/?originalSubdomain=uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Beth Piner-Francis<\/a> was a delivery lead at a bank: \u201cRelease trains were functional areas, not value streams, so with no end-to-end ownership of user journeys we had a lot of dependency problems.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>We understand why senior technology leaders ask us about SAFe. Its structured approach to large-scale planning, product management, and engineering looks compelling, and it lacks clear commercial alternatives. But the range of negative feedback from Equal Experts customers and consultants means our advice is \u2018don\u2019t do SAFe\u2019. It\u2019ll help with parts of your journey, but you won\u2019t reach your destination.<\/p>\n<p>We recommend forming your own contextual structures around similar practices. An engineering director described this as \u201cdon\u2019t bother with SAFe, adopt big room planning and modern engineering, and talk to your customers\u201d. Although this approach appears slower and more costly than SAFe, it\u2019ll yield better long-term results. That\u2019s why it\u2019s part of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/our-services\/scale\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scale service<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re pragmatists, not purists. If you implement SAFe in your business, we\u2019ll use our expertise to work within its boundaries, as my team did at the above retailer. We delivered urgent needs on time, with a high degree of customer satisfaction and team net promoter score improving from -33 to +75. We built strong stakeholder relationships, adopted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.equalexperts.com\/our-services\/deliver\/you-build-it-you-run-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">You Build It You Run It<\/a> to increase team autonomy, and used a steel thread to deliver business value three times a week.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to Ambika Ashok, Beth Piner-Francis, Brian Mason, Jon Fulton, Katie Coleman, Liis Laulik, Marcel Britsch, Michael Pajak, Olly Shaw, Rupert Woolmer-Tyler, Sarah Godsell, Sally Whittle, Werner Smit, and the many other customers and consultants worldwide who shared their lived SAFe experiences with us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe\u00ae) is an enterprise agile framework. Our advice is \u2018don\u2019t do SAFe\u2019, and it\u2019s based on customer and consultant feedback in the Equal Experts network. I\u2019m a certified SAFe 6.0 Agilist, and my colleague Steve Smith and I would like to explain why SAFe usually fails to deliver business agility. At Equal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":19983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[306,309,674,671,244],"location":[397],"class_list":["post-14105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-thinking","tag-architecture","tag-autonomy","tag-safe","tag-team-autonamy","tag-you-build-it-you-run-it"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Challenges with the SAFe Framework: What You Need to Know<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Equal Experts advises its customers to not use the SAFe framework. 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