Module 2 - Frameworks and Methodologies
Jonas and Lova's Agile Journey
Jonas down the corridor to Lova’s desk, his mind racing through potential solutions. When he arrived, Lova greeted him with a warm smile.
"Jonas, just the person walked I wanted to see! How’s everything with the new role?" Lova asked, her smile warm but her eyes showing a glimmer of concern.
"It’s been an adjustment," Jonas admitted, his mind racing. "I wanted to talk to you about the new features you’ve proposed. The AI recommendation system—it’s a great idea, but I’m worried we’re not equipped to handle it."
Lova leaned back, her expression serious. "I expected some challenges. What’s the biggest concern on your mind?"
"Honestly, it’s the scope," Jonas said. "There are a lot of unknowns, especially for something this complex, and with the tight deadline, I’m worried we won’t be able to deliver the quality we need.”
“I see.” Said Lova. “How are you thinking we should mitigate those risks?”
“I was hoping you’d have an idea.” Jonas admitted.
“I think it’d be a mistake to step back too hard right now.” Lova said. “What if we consider a different methodology and incorporate more stakeholder communication and feedback?”
Jonas considered, then said, “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Enterprise-targeted Approaches in a Nutshell
Let’s talk ways of working and, very specifically, methodologies and frameworks. I’m leaning hard into Agile here because it’s ubiquitous and tied very closely with product management.
First up, the big-business Agile frameworks. We’ve got SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), the also popular LeSS (Large Enterprise Scaled Scrum), and Nexus, to name a few. If your company is practicing one of these, you’re locked into very specific ways of working, and will have to look for other opportunities for levelling up value delivery. LeSS & Nexus are closely related to Scrum, so if you’ve worked with Scrum, stepping into them will not be seamless, but fairly low friction. SAFe is about scaling agile practices across large organizations. SAFe is also big, heavy, & very prescriptive. It shares product role titles with Scrum, so you’ll see PO, SM, & PM, but these are very different beasts.
SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) | LeSS (Large Scale Scrum) | Nexus |
|---|---|---|
SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) is a big-business Agile framework. It focuses on scaling agile practices across large organizations. SAFe is big, heavy, and very prescriptive. It shares product role titles with Scrum (PO, SM, PM), but these roles are different. Practicing SAFe locks you into very specific ways of working. | LeSS (Large Enterprise Scaled Scrum) is a big-business Agile framework. Closely related to Scrum, making the transition fairly low friction if you’re familiar with Scrum. Emphasizes simplicity and uses minimal additional processes. Practicing LeSS locks you into very specific ways of working. Stepping into LeSS will not be seamless but is relatively straightforward. | Nexus is a big-business Agile framework. Closely related to Scrum, easing the transition for those familiar with Scrum. Focuses on scaling Scrum for multiple teams working on a single product. Practicing Nexus locks you into very specific ways of working. Stepping into Nexus will not be seamless but involves fairly low friction. |
Scrum and Kanban in a Nutshell
Then there’s Scrum. Scrum is popular in software development, focusing on sprints, backlogs, and regular ceremonies like stand-ups and retrospectives. In my experience though, it’s rarely practiced well. It’s iterative & leans heavily on stakeholder feedback, so if your product is highly experimental or there are a lot of unknowns, talk to your PM about trying Scrum.
Finally, Kanban and Lean methodologies. Kanban is about visualizing work, limiting work in progress, and improving flow. It also emphasizes throughput. It has no sprints or any kind of iterative development; it emphasizes limiting work in progress. That makes it a great choice for situations when work is well understood, like sustaining & maintenance teams, for example. It can have up to 7 meetings, or cadences, but these are not mandated. If your team is working on well understood, non-experimental activities, talk to your PM & see if Kanban might be a good choice for you.
Scrum | Kanban |
|---|---|
Scrum is very popular for software development. It utilizes iterations called sprints, the backlog product, and regular ceremonies like stand-ups and retrospectives. It’s iterative and emphasizes stakeholder feedback. If your product is highly experimental or there are unknowns, consider Scrum. Scrum is often abused, and not practiced well (in my experience). | Kanban emphasizes visualizing work, limiting work in progress, and improving flow. It prioritizes throughput and is not iterative. It’s a great choice for situations where work is well understood, like sustaining and maintenance teams. Kanban has up to seven meetings (called cadences). If your team is working on well-understood, non-experimental activities, consider Kanban. |
Jonas took a deep breath. "So, our current Kanban practices are optimized for throughput, but Scrum emphasizes iterative development and stakeholder feedback. Instead of trying to deliver the entire AI system in one go, we could break it down into smaller, manageable pieces. We could start with a basic, rule-based recommendation system—something achievable within our current capabilities—and then build on it in future iterations."
Lova nodded slowly, considering his suggestion. "That would certainly reduce the pressure on the team and allow us to gather user feedback earlier in the process. It might also give us room to adapt if we run into unexpected issues."
"Exactly," Jonas agreed, feeling more confident. "By leveraging Scrum, we can ensure continuous improvement and avoid the risk of delivering an undercooked product. Plus, it helps us keep the release schedule intact."
"Let’s do it," Lova said decisively. "We’ll pivot to Scrum and phase the AI system over multiple releases."
With this decision made, Lova and Jonas work together to update the roadmap before he returns to his desk.