Going with the Flow of SAFe 6.0

Working as a technology professional is a mixed bag. Some days you feel like the most competent person in the world. Others, you are brutally humbled in ways that threaten to question your self-worth. The key to survival in this industry is ensuring the highs are not too disorienting and the lows do not undermine your self-worth. Since it is the Christian season of Easter in the United States, I had time to concentrate on professional development. With time to study and prepare, I upgraded my SAFe credentials to 6.0. I was also fortunate to earn my Leading SAFe certification. I skeptically endorsed SAFe 6.0 in a previous blog, and something has occurred to me now that I have upgraded. SAFe 6.0 is all about flow, and we need to discuss it. 

I posted a rather jokey video online about SAFe 6.0. The good folks at Scaled Agile revamped many of their training materials and revised a SAFe principle to emphasize the importance of flow. The critical takeaway from the upgrade is the concentration on improving how work flows through the organization. So what is flow? According to this great article from the BBC, flow is a unique state of concentration where we can focus, time distorts passing quickly, and you feel part of something bigger than yourself. When I program or write and am in a flow state, I liken it to my creator placing their hand on my shoulder and nudging me to do better work. I get lost in the act of building something new and different. It is an intoxicating feeling. While in a flow state, I can write hundreds of words in one sitting. Otherwise, putting together a well-formed paragraph is a significant accomplishment.

Fortunately, the folks at scaled agile have provided some good resources for measuring and managing flow. These practices seem commonsensical to people working in Agile for a while, but it is still nice of them to spell it out clearly and concisely. I am particularly impressed with the metrics section of SAFe when they talk about flow. I also appreciate that the folks at Scaled Agile point out that metrics measure progress instead of acting as guidelines or quotas. Goodhart's law looms large over SAFe 6.0, and it is encouraging to see other agile professionals embrace that understanding. 

Is SAFe 6.0 perfect? No, but it is improved, and that is enough. It isn't straightforward, and the 5.1 and 6.0 materials talk about achieving perfection in the organization. No organization is going to be perfect. We should strive for excellence in word and deed rather than perfection because the standards of excellence will continually improve, but perfection is a mythical and unattainable state. It is easier to be in a flow state when striving for excellence rather than attempting perfection.

So SAFe 6.0 is about flow and achieving it as a leader. It's an excellent addition to the agile canon and a helpful concept to understand when helping organizations achieve excellence. So go with the flow and SAFe 6.0.

Until next time.