SAFe Business Agility Podcast

How is moving a couch the perfect metaphor for joint problem-solving and joint cognition? Gene Kim explains in this episode. Like what you hear? Connect with Gene on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here.

"We chase job titles, and then we chase salary, and we chase status, but we don't chase our version of happiness and success." In this episode, Adam talks to Adele Leah, a personal branding expert and career coach, about personal and professional growth. The two discuss why a personal brand is valuable, why evolving your career requires continuous growth, and the importance of finding happiness in work. The conversation touches on having clarity about your skills, strengths, and values, and the need to show your human side. Adele also offers advice and insights on how to start building your own personal brand. Like what you hear? Connect with Adele on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here.

If you’re an indirect leader, for example, a Release Train Engineer (RTE) or business owner, how can you ensure your intent is accurately communicated to the people doing the work? In this episode, Carl Starendal, SAFe® Fellow, shares proven science from Sweden about giving orders from an indirect leadership position. Hint: it involves the how, the what, and the why. Like what you hear? Connect with Carl on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here.

In this episode, Ali Hajou, an SPCT and self-proclaimed Agile nerd, shares his take on the many elements contributing to the challenges and evolving landscape for organizations producing physical products. Like what you hear? Connect with Ali on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here.

Leadership involvement can make or break any Agile transformation. In this episode, Alena Keck, head of the Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) at Vodafone shares four detailed tips to help you keep leaders informed and keep the transformation headed in the right direction. Like what you hear? Connect with Alena on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here.

How can you help an existing Agile Release Train (ART) be successful and ensure that any new ARTs you launch can do the same? Heidi Hatch, Agile coach and iSPCT candidate shares her tips. Hint: leadership plays a big part. Like what you hear? Connect with Heidi on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here.c 

“I got to teach a group of high school kids some Agile basics. The kids went through a couple of iterations to design a classroom. Then they had to give feedback. And it was funny how some of them were afraid to say anything. So I told them, don’t hold back, this is Agile, you let it loose because feedback is good.” In this episode, Adam talks to Karen Lewison, a senior events manager who is part of the team that designs and executes the SAFe® Summits. Based on her background in marketing and event planning, Karen offers a different perspective on SAFe and Agile. She and Adam dive into topics including why SAFe and Agile aren’t as intimidating as they seem, why experimenting and continuous improvement are so important, and how positive thinking, kindness, and compassion contribute to a successful work environment. Like what you hear? Connect with Karen on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here.

From the Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) to Agile teams, collaboration is key to success. In this episode, Eshan Chawla, SPCT candidate, explains where else you can find that theme in SAFe and why it’s critical to solving complex problems. Like what you hear? Connect with Eshan on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here.

RTEs are very busy people, particularly when it comes to keeping tabs on commitments, such as PI objectves, features, and the work that teams committed to during PI Planning. Good news! SPCT candidate and former RTE Diego Groiso with Cprime has two amazing tips to help RTEs like you track all the stuff to work smarter. Like what you hear? Connect with Diego on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here.

“If you aren’t clear on what your values are and the way that you think about answering questions or making decisions, that doesn’t empower people.” In this episode, Adam talks to Andrew Hall, co-founder of No Story Lost, a company that turns people’s life stories into personalized coffee-table books. The two discuss Andrew’s professional history as business-consultant-turned-entrepeneur to make the world a better place, the difference between academic lessons versus actual lessons learned when launching a startup, and the power of flow, empowerment, and decentralized decision-making. Like what you hear? Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here. Check out the books mentioned in the podcast: Anything You Want by Derek Sivers and Turn the Ship by David Marquet.

More often than not, team members estimate story points based on time—something we’re advised to avoid. Jeff Wilson, iSPCT candidate with RTX explains why and shares a key tip to help teams correctly and realistically estimate their story points. Like what you hear? Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here. Read the Framework article on Stories here.

Agile estimation is a balancing act and it’s important to understand the larger purpose behind it. Amogh Joshi with Advance Agility, a Scaled Agile Gold Partner, shares his tips to achieve that balance. Like what you hear? Connect with Amogh on LinkedIn. Explore SAFe courses here.