Darren Wilmshurst and Radtac had the great chance to run a Q&A session with Dean Leffingwell, creator of the Scaled Agile Framework®. Dean’s answers on SAFe® updates, implementation advice, challenges, and more are captured in a series of blog posts and short videos. This is the second part of the series - view the first part here.

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In this second episode of our ‘10 Questions with Dean Leffingwell’ series, I’m talking to Dean about what he sees as the major challenges for implementing SAFe in an organisation.

Dean Leffingwell, Entrepreneur, Author, CEO of Scaled Agile Inc. and creator of the Scaled Agile Framework® makes a rare visit to the UK. I’ve had the great chance to spend a day with Dean and Radtac, where we engaged in a series of events.

Dean Leffingwell Executive Briefing by Radtac

If you are in any way familiar with SAFe®, then the name 'Dean Leffingwell' will surely resonate with you. Creator of the Scaled Agile Framework®, Dean is a fantastic author and speaker - and we had the honour to spend an exciting day with him in London on June 12th. More below on how the day unfolded, what Dean taught us, and why you won't want to miss Darren's SPC class in August.

Just in case you missed any of them, or would like to refresh your learnings reading them again, here are our top six blog posts of 2016 from the Radtac Blog.

1. Organisational Culture and Agile Frameworks: How to Create an Alignment

Can you map a certain type of organisational culture against an Agile framework? Is a certain Agile approach better suited to a certain culture? How can various culture types affect the success of your chosen Agile approach?

Whether you a.) heard something about SAFe and are not sure what it is, b.) want to learn more, or c.) just need to refresh your knowledge, here is a list of resources that will come in handy.

1. The Book

The seminal book “Agile Software Requirements – Lean Requirements Practices for Teams, Programs and the Enterprise” by Dean Leffingwell was first published in December 2010. This was one of the first books to address the specific needs of multiple collaborating Agile teams, and then extending to the program and portfolio levels. It was based on proven enterprise adoptions - none more so than Nokia.

I guess the inspiration for the Scaled Agile Framework® came from this book. The Scaled Agile Framework is now at version 4.0, and, when you first look at the ‘big picture’, it’s not unusual for your reaction to be ‘ Wow – that looks complicated’.

Keeping pace with the fast-moving digital world whilst facing increasing customer demands has never been more challenging than today. Enterprise  agility  is the key to meet market pressures, ensure faster response to change, reduce costs, and stay afloat of the competition. The Times has dedicated its supplement from September 13th to Enterprise Agility, in collaboration with Raconteur.

Radtac collaborated with journalist Cath Everett to investigate the challenges faced by organisations, and how an Agile approach focusing on people and mindset change would benefit the business in overcoming those challenges.