Three steps are needed to create a guiding coalition: Train a number of Lean-Agile change agents as SAFe Program Consultants (SPCs), Train executives, managers, and other leaders, and Charter a Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE).
SPCs—acting as change agents—can ignite transformation within an enterprise. But they alone do not constitute a “sufficiently powerful guiding coalition” for change. For that, other stakeholders and senior executives must step in, step up, and lead the change. After all, as Deming noted, “It is not enough that management commits themselves to quality and productivity, they must know what it is they must do.” This article describes the second part of the coalition—the need and mechanism to train executives, managers, and leaders.
Strong leadership is needed to successfully implement any change in an organization. In the context of SAFe®, some of these leaders will provide direct and ongoing sponsorship for the change by participating in the LACE; others will be directly involved in implementing SAFe or be leading, managing, and influencing the other players in the transformation. Their role could include participating directly in launching Agile Release Trains (ARTs). Or, it could mean that they will work at higher levels to eliminate impediments that arise in the company’s current governance, culture, and practices. All of these stakeholders need the knowledge and skills to lead—rather than to follow—the implementation.
Exhibit the Lean-Agile Mindset
To effectively implement SAFe and to provide the inspiration for relentless improvement, the enterprise’s leaders must embrace the Lean-Agile Mindset. This includes:
- Thinking Lean – Much of the thinking in Lean is represented in the SAFe House of Lean icon. It is organized around six key constructs. The roof represents the goal of delivering value. The pillars support that goal via respect for people and culture, flow, innovation, and relentless improvement. Lean leadership provides the foundation upon which everything else stands.
- Embracing agility – SAFe is built entirely on the skills, aptitude, and capabilities of Agile teams and their leaders. While there is no one definition of what an Agile method is, the Agile Manifesto provides a unified value system that helped introduce Agile practices into mainstream development.
Putting these concepts into practice has proven to be a powerful recipe, but when leaders support the Lean-Agile mindset only through words and not actions, their efforts are quickly recognized as a half-hearted attempt at change. When a leader’s actions don’t match their words, it can produce the exact opposite of the intended effect, and harden people against change. When that happens, the journey will end before it begins without leading to the personal or economic benefits of SAFe.
Apply Lean-Agile Principles
For an organization to successfully integrate SAFe, management must understand and reinforce its values. Leaders are expected to embrace and apply the ten principles that underlie SAFe, as highlighted in Figure 1.
Learning New Skills
All of the above raises a question: how do leaders learn these new skills? The two-day class, Leading SAFe®: Leading the Lean-Agile Enterprise with the Scaled Agile Framework is designed for this purpose.
This course teaches leaders the SAFe Lean-Agile mindset, principles and practices, and the most effective leadership values for managing the new generation of knowledge workers. They will also learn how to:
- Execute and release value through ARTs
- Build large systems with Large Solution SAFe
- Build an Agile portfolio
- Lead a Lean-Agile transformation at enterprise scale
It’s important to understand that this class is just the beginning of the journey. As Bill Gates reminds us, “The moment you stop learning is also the one in which you will stop leading.” Wise advice for anyone wanting the full benefits that are achievable through SAFe. To this end, the class provides a recommended reading list and many other activities and exercises to help emerging Lean-Agile leaders master these new skills. Leaders are also responsible for building a Continuous Learning Culture as an organizational competency, starting with a commitment to their own learning journey.
To test their knowledge, attendees have the opportunity to take an exam and, upon passing, become Certified SAFe® Agilists (SAs). This gives them access to the SAFe community platform, which hosts various assets, such as training videos and a dedicated forum for sharing knowledge.
@ Scaled Agile, Inc.
The original article can be found here.
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