Lesson 8: Reaching the SAFe Tipping Point (2-3 questions)

Question 1

What were the limitting factors that prevented Ad-hoc approach Agile teams from succeeding to the next level?

WB: slide 8-5

Answer 1

1. Lack of common approach to team Agility
2. Different taxonomies
3. Lack of coordination between teams

seriously limitted the potential benifits of implementing Agile

Question 2

What are the (two) reasons that enterprises reach their tipping point with respect to adoption of Agile at scale?

8-6

Answer 2

Two primary reasons to change:
– A burning platform: The company is failing to compete, and the existing way of working is inadequate to achieve a new Solution in time
– Proactive leadership: In the absence of a burning platform, leadership must create the sense of urgency to proactively drive change by taking a stand for a better future state.

Question 3

Without what?? a clever strategy or a logical plan can rarely inspire the kind of action needed to produce major change.

Answer 3

A good vision

Question 4

What are the key point required to establish a vision?
Hint: MAP

Answer 4

A vison must provide Purpose, Motivate and Alignment:
► Clarify the purpose and direction for the change and set the mission for all to follow
► Motivate people by giving them a compelling reason to make the change
► Empower and align people to take the detailed actions necessary to achieve the Vision, without the constant need for supervision

Question 5

What resources (SAFe toolkit) are available to the SPC to help establish a vision with stakeholders?

Answer 5

1. Introducting SAFe Toolkit
2. SAFe Executive Workshop Toolkit

Question 6

What are the (three) benfits of establishing a a clear vision for the future (for change)?

https://scaledagileframework.com/reaching-the-tipping-point/

Answer 6

With a clear vision you provide:
Purpose – a clear vision clarifies the purpose and direction for the change and set the mission for all to follow. It avoids potentially confusing details by focusing everyone on the why not the how of the change

Motivation – A clear vision starts to move people in the right direction. Change is hard, and pain is inevitable, especially in the early stages. People’s jobs will change. The vision helps motivate people by giving them a compelling reason to make the change. Perhaps most importantly, it underlines the fact there is no job security in the status quo.

Alignment – It helps to start the coordinated action necessary to assure that hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people work together toward a new and more personally rewarding goal.

Whether reactive or proactive, the primary reason to drive change in an organization is to realize the business and personal benefits the change intends to deliver.

Question 7

What SAFE course(s) would you recommend to train executives, managers and leaders?

Answer 7

Initial training focus:
- Introducing SAFe workshop
- Leading SAFe
- Leading in the Digital Age
- SAFe Executive Workshop

Other training:
- LPM
- SAFe value Stream and ART Identification Workshop

Question 8

Kotter identifies eight ‘accelerators’ of leading a change. What are they?

Answer 8

1. Create a sense of urgency
2. Build a guiding coalition
3. Form a strategic vision
4. Enlist a volunteer army
5. Enable action by removing barriers
6. Generate short-term wins
7. Sustain acceleration
8. Institute Change

Question 9

Experience shows that the organization must take four critical steps in creating a guiding coalition that has sufficiently powerful to initiate change. What are these steps?

Answer 9

1. Train Lean-Agile change agents as Certified SAFe® Practice Consultants (SPCs). They provide the knowledge and horsepower needed to implement the change.
2. Create a Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE). This working group becomes the focal point and continuous source of inspiration and energy for change management activities.
3. Train executives, managers, and other leaders. They sponsor the change and support the implementation. Leading SAFe® is a two-day course designed for this purpose. Leading in the Digital Age enables leaders throughout the organization to practice, within facilitated cohorts, the new mindset and behaviors needed.
4. Enlist leaders to engage and ‘lead the change’ of implementing SAFe, as summarized by Lead in the Digital Age.

Question 10

What are the areas of responsibilites for SPC?

Answer 10

1. Embodying a Lean-Agile Mindset
2. Leading the Change
3. Implementing SAFe
4. Coaching Flow
5. Accelerate Buisness Agility

Question 11

What are the responsibilities of the LACE?

Answer 11

1. Facilitate the transformation
2. Managing the transformation backlog
3. Foster Lean Agile learning
4. Coach leadership
5. Support lean portfolio management

Question 12

What is the optum size for the LACE team?

Answer 12

4 to 6

Question 13

Why is it important have a powerful and more than one (knowlegable colation) as the guiding power for instituting an adoption of SAFe?

Answer 13

Transformations led by a sole leader or a low credible committed rarely succeed.

Question 14

Leaders must understand that how they lead directly correlates to whether or not employees buy into the change and contribute to its success. They must communicate within this vision < with what > to the people they lead and their peers to obtain buy-in and commitment and generate more < what > through the organization.

Answer 14

sense of urgency
urgency

Question 15

Case studies and customer stories show that enterprises can expect to see benefits in four major areas as a result of adopting SAFe. What are those four areas?

Answer 15

Time to Market
Quality
Productivity
Engagement

Question 16

A consistently effective way for organizations to reach the tipping point is the shared experience of leaders and key influencers who have attended < what course>

Answer 16

Leading SAFe

This experience also brings leaders together to align on how to move forward by scripting the critical moves necessary to realize the change vision.

Question 17

What are the four critical steps to create a coalition that is sufficiently powerful to initiate this change?

Answer 17

1. Train Lean-Agile change agents as Certified SAFe® Practice Consultants (SPCs). They provide the knowledge and horsepower needed to implement the change.
2. Create a Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE). This working group becomes the focal point and continuous source of inspiration and energy for change management activities.
3. Train executives, managers, and other leaders. They sponsor the change and support the implementation.
   Leading SAFe is a two-day course designed for this purpose.
   Leading in the Digital Age enables leaders throughout the organization to practice, within facilitated cohorts, the new mindset and behaviors needed.
4. Enlist leaders to engage and ‘lead the change’ of implementing SAFe, as summarized by Lead in the Digital Age.

Question 18

SAFe Guiding Coalition are compose of: (what mix of people/skills and/or organization)

Answer 18

SAFe Guiding Coaltion is compose of:
1. SPCs
2. Trainined Lean-Agile Leaders
3. LACE organization

Question 19

What are some of the characteristics of the people who form the LACE?

Answer 19

Respect of peers – Individuals in the organization who, regardless and sometimes despite their current title, have the respect of others. They already influence new behaviors and practices. They are known for getting things done.

Motivated by helping others – Individuals who are happiest when they are engaged in helping others. They are motivated by seeing those around them succeed. They may not have leadership titles or management responsibilities, but they play critical roles in the organization.

Pragmatic optimism – Individuals who work to find solutions to current problems and remain hopeful for the organization’s future. They are not easily discouraged or shy about bringing up areas the company can improve. They are able to do so in a positive and team-oriented way.

Question 20

The lean Agile mindset that executives and leaders must embrase includes what two disciplines?
Hint: Becomes the foundation for the new mindset

Answer 20

Lead Agile mindset includes:
- Thinking Lean – Much of the thinking in Lean is represented in the SAFe Lean-Agile Mindset. Initially derived from Lean manufacturing, the principles and practices of Lean thinking applied to software, product, and systems development are now deep and extensive.
- Embracing agility – SAFe is built entirely on Agile teams and leaders’ skills, aptitude, and capabilities. The Agile Manifesto provides a unified value system that has helped introduce Agile practices into mainstream development.

Question 21

True or False

An effective LACE should include people with a variety of perspectives and skills who work as a high-performing team.

Answer 21

True

The LACE members should inspire trust and build buy-in for the change as they train and coach the organization in adopting SAFe roles, practices, and mindsets.

Question 22

Transformational < blank > are an effective tool for describing the specific objectives (and measuring them as well) for implementing SAFe.

Hint: specify specific objectives

Answer 22

Transformation OKRs are an effective tool for describing the specific objectives for implementing SAFe.

The key results provide the details for how each outcome will be achieved and how those results will be measured.

Applying OKRs to the SAFe transformation provides a focus on the expected benefits, generates alignment and transparency, and creates commitment to the journey that is about to begin.

Question 23

One of the most powerful ways to overcome objections to change is to
< do what > ?

Answer 23

One of the most powerful ways to overcome objections to change is to create visible, unambiguous success as soon as possible and throughout the transformation.

Leaders and the LACE should showcase short-term wins immediately any time the new ways of working produce a faster flow of value, better quality, motivated teams, or happy customers.

This creates a pull culture for more teams to be excited about starting their own SAFe journey.

Question 24

The final step to permanent change is
< what >??

Answer 24

The final step to permanent change is identifying and adjusting processes, policies, and systems to anchor the change.

Question 25

The most helpful technique for driving the cultural change needed to succeed in the digital age by implementing SAFe is for leaders to < do what> ??

Answer 25

The most helpful technique for driving the cultural change needed to succeed in the digital age by implementing SAFe is for leaders to model the behaviors and mindsets of the new culture that enable others to follow their example.

Question 26

What Core compentencies are covered in the Leading Agile course?

Answer 26

1. Team and Technical Agility
2. Agile Product Development
3. Lean Portfolio Managment
4. Lean Agile Leaderhips

Question 27

< blank > provides a unified value system that has helped introduce Agile practices into mainstream development.

Answer 27

The Agile Manifesto provides a unified value system that has helped introduce Agile practices into mainstream development.