The SAFe Blog

Interesting thoughts and insights
from SAFe Fellow Ian Spence

The independent thinker and SAFe Fellow has co-authored a number of popular books. For Scagilize, he regularly writes down his thoughts and insights all around the world of SAFe

The Fundamental Difference Between Traditional and Lean Portfolio Management Approaches

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GO TO 03/24
How to benefit from LPM even when you’re not a ‘true’ portfolio?

We look at several ways that your ARTs can benefit from adopting LPM Techniques. Pt. 1: Local Epics of Convenience
GO TO 01/24
The Hidden Benefits of LPM Part 3: A Little Goes a Long Way

In this final blog we’ll take a look at how even the lightest of touch LPM adoptions can produce profound effects
GO TO 11/23
The Hidden Benefits of LPM Part 2: Eliminating Dark Work

What is dark work, and how can its elimination help us increase customer value?
GO TO 10/23
Talking down isn’t punching up

Instead of bringing the second part of the Hidden Benefits of LPM, this time it is about the question of proper communication. Plus some complimentary free-to-use slides for you ...
GO TO 09/23
The Hidden Benefits of LPM Part 1: Improved Decision Latency

Two important aspects of Lean Portfolio Management require frequent, hands-on input from the LPM Team. The first: the need to support improved decision latency ...
GO TO 08/23
Part 2 of Jargon-free LPM

This month, we will wrap up our jargon free comparison by looking at why you should stop being afraid of failure, use transparency to enable faster decision-making and let people focus and own their products
GO TO 07/23
A Jargon-free Comparison of Traditional and Lean Portfolio Management Practices

I was asked to do a 10-minute summary of Lean Portfolio Management – here is my presentation, part 1.
GO TO 06/23
"We Want ..." – A Simple Format for Writing Technical and Team Stories

The perfect format for the user stories – but what about technical stories?
GO TO 05/23
Where does the Business Agility Value Stream fit into my Business?

Portfolios are to the Business Agility Value Stream as Agile Release Trains are to the Development Value Stream.
GO TO 04/23
Why I am excited about SAFe Version 6

Last week saw the launch of a new version of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) and I must admit I’m genuinely excited about it ...
GO TO 03/23

Join us for the next Web Talk with SAFe Fellow Ian Spence

On April 18, Ian Spence, Scagilize Network Partner (Trainer & Consultant), Advisor and SAFe Fellow will discuss with Scagilize founder Gerd Wessling this hugely important topic: The Fundamental Difference Between Traditional and Lean Portfolio Management Approaches. With a Q&A session – if you want to be there live, just click here to register.

Based on Ian's LPM reflections – and the vast experiences both Ian Spence and Gerd Wessling have in helping their customers introduce and/or improve on their LPM journey – we will dig deep into these LPM aspects in this webinar.

Ian Spence

Scagilize Network Partner (Trainer & Consultant), Advisor & SAFe Fellow

Ian is an independent thinker, author and agile coach, and an advisor and partner to Scagilize on all things scaled and agile. He spends most of his time coaching the teams working on some of the world’s largest and most technically challenging endeavours – such as the Square Kilometre Array Organization (SKAO), building the world's largest radio telescope to explore the Universe – and works with industry thought leaders such as Dean Leffingwell, Dr Jeff Sutherland and Dr Ivar Jacobson to improve the art of software development. He has co-authored a number of popular books and led the creation of the OMG’s Essence Kernel and many of the most popular Essence Practices. He has many certifications, the best of which is probably SAFe Fellow.

LPM TRAININGS @ SCAGILIZE

„The course itself, the online materials and the trainer were excellent. Through the interactive course guidance we were very intensively involved, which is also important as the course is quite demanding. The time was very worthwhile and the exchange (remote) with the course participants was also very constructive."

★★★★★

P. S., Head of Software Product Development, Hilti
„ ... never before have I been so intensively looked after in a training session and tailored to my needs ...“

★★★★★

M. H., Portfolio Management & Controlling, BSH GmbH (Bosch Siemens Hausgeräte)
„Two days packed with information and knowledge - and all in a very entertaining way. I liked it very much."

★★★★★

C. B., Agile Coach & Scrum Master, Bosch
„It is obvious that the trainer has extensive experience in the subject matter, which enables him to convey the complex content in a clear manner. He was able to answer all questions fully at all times and put himself in the shoes of the questioners."

★★★★★

Participant Feedback, Course "Leading SAFe" on 20-21/12/21
"Gerd succeeded in transferring his own positive and motivated attitude to the course participants right to the end. This resulted in interesting technical discussions that moved the heterogeneous team forward as a whole."

★★★★★

Participant Feedback, Course "Leading SAFe" on 20-21/12/21
„The clear guiding thread made it easy to follow Gerd through the wealth of information. Group exercises and videos made the training very varied, which also made it easy to stay attentive virtually. We also received valuable tips on certification. You can feel Gerd's great enthusiasm for the subject as well as his great experience as a training provider."

★★★★★

A.F., Projekt Manager, Wüstenrot & Württembergische AG
"It was an exceptional online course experience. Excellently prepared learning material and a highly professional instructor. For anyone looking to take a SAFe POPM course. I highly recommend Scagilize."

★★★★★

A.R., Product Owner Integration Service, Die Schweizerische Post
"It was impressive to see with what calmness, clarity and professional Gerd Wessling and his team successfully prepared, launched and accompanied the first SAFe ART at our organisation - and that in an environment of 40,000 employees who had previously worked in a strongly phase-oriented way."

★★★★★

S. R., Project Manager, BOSCH
"Gerd Wessling and his team provided excellent technical and change management support for the global roll-out of our CRM system over several years. Thank you for that!"

★★★★★

K. W., Head of Change Management, DMG Mori

The SAFe Blog

Interesting thoughts and insights from SAFe Fellow Ian Spence

The Fundamental Difference Between Traditional and Lean Portfolio Management Approaches

How to benefit from LPM even when you’re not a ‘true’ portfolio?

The Hidden Benefits of LPM Part 3: A Little Goes a Long Way

The Hidden Benefits of LPM Part 2: Eliminating Dark Work

Talking down isn’t punching up

The Hidden Benefits of LPM Part 1: Improved Decision Latency

Part 2 of Jargon-free LPM

A Jargon-free Comparison of Traditional and Lean Portfolio Management Practices

"We Want ..." – A Simple Format for Writing Technical and Team Stories

Where does the Business Agility Value Stream fit into my Business?

Why I am excited about SAFe Version 6

Join us for the next Web Talk with SAFe Fellow Ian Spence

Ian Spence

Scagilize Network Partner (Trainer & Consultant), Advisor & SAFe Fellow

„ ... never before have I been so intensively looked after in a training session and tailored to my needs ...“

„Two days packed with information and knowledge - and all in a very entertaining way. I liked it very much."

„It is obvious that the trainer has extensive experience in the subject matter, which enables him to convey the complex content in a clear manner. He was able to answer all questions fully at all times and put himself in the shoes of the questioners."

"Gerd succeeded in transferring his own positive and motivated attitude to the course participants right to the end. This resulted in interesting technical discussions that moved the heterogeneous team forward as a whole."

"It was an exceptional online course experience. Excellently prepared learning material and a highly professional instructor. For anyone looking to take a SAFe POPM course. I highly recommend Scagilize."

"It was impressive to see with what calmness, clarity and professional Gerd Wessling and his team successfully prepared, launched and accompanied the first SAFe ART at our organisation - and that in an environment of 40,000 employees who had previously worked in a strongly phase-oriented way."

"Gerd Wessling and his team provided excellent technical and change management support for the global roll-out of our CRM system over several years. Thank you for that!"

Interesting thoughts and insights
from SAFe Fellow Ian Spence