Why do many companies struggle to achieve success with Agile implementations?
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The answer is
simple: many companies are using Agile for the wrong purpose and expecting
results it was never designed to deliver. Agile, at its core, was created for
team level agility, not for transforming entire enterprises. It’s like trying
to use antibiotics to cure cancer—antibiotics are powerful when used
correctly but aren’t a cure all. So, what’s
missing? The answer is
Lean. |
Why Lean Complements Agile
Lean isn’t just about relentless improvement, it’s a mindset
and philosophy that focuses on value creation, reducing waste, and continuously
improving workflows. Lean is first and
foremost a way of thinking, that leads to a different way of doing. With five core principles and numerous
patterns and practices (e.g., the 5S’s, Kaizen, and flow efficiency), Lean
provides the enterprise-level structure that Agile lacks.
- Example:
While Agile helps teams deliver working software incrementally, Lean helps
ensure that work flows efficiently through value streams, reducing delays,
dependencies and handoffs.
The Real Power Lies in Combining Lean and Agile
I am in no way discounting the value of agile values,
principles, practices, and mindset. However, we have been asking too much from a
standalone agile approach. Incredibly powerful when properly focused,
incredibly disappointing when spread too thin and trying to solve problems it
was never designed for. By combining
Agile’s team-level collaboration with Lean’s focus on enterprise flow and value
delivery, organizations can solve problems more effectively.
- Agile’s
Role: Improve team collaboration, delivery, and iteration.
- Lean’s
Role: Understand and optimize value streams, reduce waste, and instill
relentless improvement.
Adding the bedrock of lean thinking, principles, and
practices to focus on understanding value streams, waste reduction, minimizing
dependencies and handoffs, and instilling a relentless improvement mindset is
vital to success with an agile approach.
Without Lean, Agile often leads to frustration because organizations
attempt to apply team-level solutions to enterprise-level challenges.
Agile + Lean in Scaled Agile (SAFe)
As Dean Leffingwell, creator of SAFe®, correctly said:
“Agile for the teams and Lean for the enterprise.” The Scaled Agile Framework
is built on this principle, yet many implementations fail because they
overemphasize Agile while neglecting Lean.
What happens when Lean is missing:
- Teams
deliver incrementally, but enterprise-wide bottlenecks (e.g.,
dependencies, handoffs, or unclear value streams) slow progress.
- Improvements
are localized, but systemic inefficiencies remain hidden.
- Agile
is expected to “cure” everything, leading to disappointment.
The Antibiotic Analogy: Applying the Right Treatment
Antibiotics are a key component of today’s medical
field. However, they cannot cure
everything. Agile is like a powerful antibiotic,
effective at solving specific issues like team collaboration and incremental
delivery. But when applied broadly to systemic organizational issues, it fails
to deliver results, just as antibiotics can’t treat cancer. Lean acts as the
enterprise-level treatment, addressing large-scale inefficiencies by improving
the overall flow of value.
Practical Steps for Success:
- Assess
your current SAFe® or Agile implementation: Are you applying Agile
principles where Lean practices are required?
- Map
and optimize your value streams: Use Lean principles to understand
where delays, waste, and bottlenecks occur.
- Combine
Agile’s team delivery with Lean’s flow efficiency: This ensures local
improvements translate into enterprise-level outcomes.
- Focus
on relentless improvement: Lean instills a relentless improvement
mindset across the organization.
Conclusion:
Agile, when used correctly, is incredibly powerful at the team level. But
without the foundational support of Lean principles, organizations will
continue to struggle with scalability and efficiency. Lean and Agile are two
sides of the same coin—embrace both to unlock their full potential.
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