The document outlines 10 "commandments" or best practices for successful implementation of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). The commandments are: 1) Create a strong Agile foundation before implementing SAFe, 2) Exploit SAFe flexibility but don't compromise fundamentals, 3) Train everyone in SAFe with no exceptions, 4) Focus on optimizing delivery time not people's time, 5) Don't skip the Innovation and Planning sprint in each Program Increment, 6) Conduct a SAFe pilot with PI-Zero before full implementation, 7) Avoid sharing resources between teams as much as possible, 8) Keep an open mind about using Scrum, Kanban or hybrid approaches, 9) Include DevOps in

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Ten Commandments for
Successful SAFe® Implementation
Ten Commandments for
Successful SAFe® Implementation
Mandar Kulkarni, Enterprise Agility and SAFe Coach, Author, Trainer and SpeakerMandar Kulkarni, Enterprise Agility and SAFe Coach, Author, Trainer and Speaker
Mandar Kulkarni
MBA, PMP, CSM, PMI-ACP, SAFe SPC4.5, KMP, IC-BAF, IC-ATF
• Founder and Principal Coach/Consultant at Millennium Mantra, Inc.
• Career Coaching, SAFe® Agile Consulting, Training (PMP®, Agile, SAFe® )
• 31+ years in IT and Consulting fields in India and US; Entrepreneur, PM, Agility Coach
• Developer, Entrepreneur, Program Manager, Enterprise Agility and SAFe® coach
• Key clients: Fortune 500 companies (Micron Computers, Cisco Systems, Accenture,
PG&E) and T. Row Price, Northrup Grumman, Brocade etc.
• Director of Certifications: PMI® Silicon Valley chapter
• Director of IT: California Arts Association – CalAA
• Author of a leadership book: From Team Player to Team Leader
• Podcaster of first-ever Marathi Podcast - Vishwasamwaad
• Filmmaker: Documentary and Short film

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What is this SAFe® all about?What is this SAFe® all about?
1.4© Scaled Agile, Inc.
SAFe® is a knowledge base of proven,
integrated principles and practices for
Lean, Agile, and DevOps.
SAFe® is the world’s
leading framework for enterprise agility
scaledagileframework.com

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70% US Fortune 100 enterprises have
SAFe-trained professionals
2 million
Annual visitors to SAFe
and Scaled Agile websites
30 - 75%
Faster
Time-to-Market
25 - 75%
Increase in
Productivity
20 - 50%
Improvements
in Quality
10 - 50%
Increased Employee
Engagement
170Scaled Agile Partners
in 50 countries
220,000SAFe-trained
professionals
in 110+ countries
SAFe cited as preferred solution for scaling Agile:
• 2017 Agile in the Enterprise survey by Gartner Research
• 11th Annual State of Agile Report by VersionOne
• 2017 Scaling Agile Report by cPrime
Configurable
SAFe is able to accommodate enterprises of all
sizes and industriesA comprehensive
role-based
curriculum
for successfully
implementing SAFe
and skills validation
through
professional
certification.
Why SAFe?
Pledged 1%
Scaled Agile stock
equity & employee
time to Pledge 1%
campaign
Freely Available
SAFe’s knowledge base is freely available at
scaledagileframework.com
S A F e C A S E S T U D I E S
Fastest Growing Method
Training
Does SAFe® really work?Does SAFe® really work?

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Yes, SAFe certainly works!!
The SAFe website has quite a few case-studies where you can
see this evidence. Additionally my assertion is grounded in my
hands-on experience of Implementing it.
It is not an easy endeavor and there are quite a number of
ingredients essential to make this recipe successful.
This is my earnest effort to share what helped me and what
could have helped me even better.
A SAFe® projectA SAFe® project

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A classic exercise in scaling the Agile
A large group within the global company
The team members are geographically distributed in
continental US, Europe, Australia and India
The areas included software, hardware and the operations
The teams have divided affinity for Scrum and Kanban
The leadership provided a strong support
Commandment I
Create a strong
foundation in Agile
before implementing
SAFe®
Commandment I
Create a strong
foundation in Agile
before implementing
SAFe®

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SAFe framework is founded strongly on scrum methodology. It
employs Kanban as well.
The teams with training and experience in using Scrum and
Kanban helps expedite the SAFe journey.
The uninitiated teams/members find it daunting to adopt SAFe
and may become an impediment.
It is worth the time and investment to create a strong Agile
foundation, BEFORE building a tower of SAFe.
Commandment II
Exploit the flexibility of
SAFe®,
not at the cost of
fundamentals
Commandment II
Exploit the flexibility of
SAFe®,
not at the cost of
fundamentals

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By definition, SAFe is a recommended framework to scale Agile in
the enterprise.
Obviously, it implies that each implementation will be a unique case
study on its own, still following the guidelines from SAFe.
Example: A company can have more or less number of iterations in
each PI, than the recommended number (5).
Beware of adopting a practice that suits you well but call it as ”our
version of SAFe”.
The role definitions, cadence events, terminology used in SAFe is
grounded in certain principles; understand and adopt them.
Commandment III
Train everyone in
SAFe®,
no exception
Commandment III
Train everyone in
SAFe®,
no exception

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What SAFe recommends is a new way of working. A substantial
amount of new concepts, ideas and paradigms are introduced in
the SAFe Body of Knowledge.
Everyone, from team members to the executives, need to
understand this new way of working, to ensure a common level of
understanding.
Selectively training only a few people may save the cost but
certainly proves detrimental in the long run.
Unending discussions on basic concepts, resistance to adopt new
practices, forced diversions from the SAFe structures and
conventions are all results of this PWPF approach.
Commandment IV
Focus on optimizing
delivery time, not
people’s time
Commandment IV
Focus on optimizing
delivery time, not
people’s time

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”Respect for people and culture” is one of the pillars of “SAFe House
of Lean”.
Under this principle, it is recommended not to overload people,
force them to do wasteful work and to make them wait. In short,
SAFe recommends to empower people to make their own decisions
about work and schedule.
At times, some team members may have free time or nothing to do.
This is a normal scenario for the self-organizing teams.
Do not be concerned about ”not utilizing people’s time fully”.
Instead focus on optimizing the overall delivery time.
Commandment V
Do not skip Innovation
and planning sprint in
each PI
Commandment V
Do not skip Innovation
and planning sprint in
each PI

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SAFe recommends a special iteration called Innovation and
Planning (I&P) at the end of each Program Increment (PI).
I&P iteration offers multiple benefits to the team: Focus on
innovations, time to complete the spilled over stories, opportunities
for learning and Inspect and Adapt event.
Each of these items are thoughtfully included in I&P iteration to
make the PI productive, effective and meaningful.
It is not a wise idea to skip I&P iteration in PIs; it must be a mandatory
part of each PI.
Commandment VI
Invest in SAFe® PoC:
Pilot with PI-Zero
Commandment VI
Invest in SAFe® PoC:
Pilot with PI-Zero

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Implementing SAFe in any company is an experiment in itself. Tasting
the waters before sailing the ship is highly recommended.
SAFe recommends 5 iterations in each PI: Four regular iterations and
one Innovation and Planning (I&P) iteration.
For a new SAFe implementation, planning the first PI with these
many iterations can become overwhelming and discouraging. It
may induce a lot of stress for the teams.
My tip: New teams should plan a pilot PI, called a PI-Zero with 2
regular iterations and 1 I&P iteration. This scaled down PI allows the
team experience the entire PI cadence and learn from it.
Commandment VII
Avoid sharing of
resources
as much as you can
Commandment VII
Avoid sharing of
resources
as much as you can

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SAFe, based on Scrum methodology, recommends standard roles of
scrum master, product owner and team members.
Many companies force sharing the resources who play these critical
roles.
In any new implementation, there is substantial amount of confusion
and stress in the team. Sharing key resources between multiple
teams complicates the situation further.
The resources are spread thin, continuously juggling with priorities
between the teams and ultimately lowering moral and dampening
the team spirit.
Commandment VIII
keep open mind: use
scrum, kanban or
scrumban
Commandment VIII
keep open mind: use
scrum, kanban or
scrumban

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SAFe recommends using scrum methodology at team level for a
typical software development teams. Kanban is recommended at a
program level.
Practically, the teams need to be creative and keep an open mind
while adopting the methodology based on their work-type
(plannable work versus unplannable work).
In some cases, a single team may need to use Scrum for
development work and Kanban for support work. This may be called
as ScrumBan.
Commandment IX
Ensure that your SAFe®
strategy includes
devops
Commandment IX
Ensure that your SAFe®
strategy includes
devops

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Implementation of SAFe for development work is only a partial story.
Without implementing DevOps with Continuous Integration and
Continuous Deployment (CI/CD), it is difficult to realize the real
benefits of SAFe implementation.
No doubt that it is challenging to implement DevOps and may take
a long time to implement it fully.
Even if DevOps is not implemented immediately, it must be an
essential part of any SAFe implementation strategy and should be
included right from the beginning.
Commandment X
Do not shortchange a
SAFe® Coach
Commandment X
Do not shortchange a
SAFe® Coach

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Coaching the teams in SAFe implementation is a pivotal
responsibility of a SAFe Coach. Without a coach, the SAFe
transformation initiative can take loner, become a drudgery and
may end up in a disaster.
A role of a SAFe coach starts with an assessment of team’s maturity.
To derive the benefits of this role, the coach should be present with
the team until the team becomes comfortable with all SAFe
recommendations.
Appointing a coach just in the initial PI may sound an economically
right decision. But then do you know any team of professional sports
where the coach is present only for the first game?
Questions and
Answers
Questions and
Answers

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Thank
You!
Mandar Kulkarni
mandar@millmantra.com
+91-86988-80882
+1-408-529-6312
www.millmantra.com
www.linkedin.com/in/mandarkulkarni
Mandar Kulkarni
mandar@millmantra.com
+91-86988-80882
+1-408-529-6312
www.millmantra.com
www.linkedin.com/in/mandarkulkarni