More and more Agile leaders are steering clear of SAFe certs — and here’s why:
🔹 It signals bureaucracy over true agility
🔹 Contradicts core Agile values (think: top-down vs. empowered teams)
🔹 Pigeonholes you into slow-moving, enterprise roles
🔹 Seen as “Agile theater” by product-led, lean orgs
🔹 Cert fatigue is real — experience > badges
Summary of the opinions from key Agile leaders
🔴 Ken Schwaber (Co-creator of Scrum, Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: SAFe is like RUP (Rational Unified Process)—a heavy, outdated methodology.
Key Point: It suffocates teams by replacing empiricism with predictability.
Quote: "The people doing the work are the people who can best figure out how to do it. The job of management is to help them—not to suffocate them with SAFe."
Verdict: Philosophical misalignment between Scrum and SAFe.
🔴 Jeff Sutherland (Co-creator of Scrum, Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: SAFe is inconsistent with the Scrum Guide and codifies dysfunctions that cripple teams.
Key Point: Heavily prescriptive, limits team empowerment, and undermines agility.
Verdict: Anti-Scrum and not truly Agile.
🔴 Mike Beedle (Co-author of the Agile Manifesto, early Scrum pioneer)
Critique: SAFe is not Agile and contradicts every Agile value.
Key Point: Called out Agile Release Trains as violations of Agile principles.
Verdict: SAFe is a framework of dysfunction, not agility.
🔴 Alistair Cockburn (Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: SAFe wastes money that could be better spent improving collaboration and delivery.
Quote: “Stopped defending SAFe. There is a better way to spend the money.”
Verdict: Expensive distraction from real Agile transformation.
🔴 Martin Fowler (Agile Manifesto Signatory, Chief Scientist at ThoughtWorks)
Critique: Publicly expressed strong dislike for SAFe at industry events.
Alignment: ThoughtWorks (his company) advises against SAFe due to observed harm across clients.
Verdict: Incompatible with real Agile.
🔴 Ron Jeffries (Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: Long, detailed critiques of SAFe published—but ignored.
Key Point: Issues have worsened in later SAFe versions.
Verdict: Deep structural problems persist.
🔴 Andy Hunt (Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: “SAFe is not Agile.”
Key Point: Knows professionals who’ve built careers cleaning up after SAFe failures.
Verdict: Not aligned with Agile values or results.
🔴 Brian Marick (Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: Describes SAFe as prescriptive, rigid, anti-collaborative.
Key Point: Encourages rule-following rather than co-creating tacit knowledge.
Praizion (Leadership, Agile, PMP)
🚫 Why SAFe Certification Might Hurt Your Resume in 2025 🚫
There is nothing "safe" about it. I have a lot to unpack about this. Video here:
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Interview with Rob a former SAFe consultant:
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Expansive Paper with Case-studies - Safe Delusion:
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www.safedelusion.com
More and more Agile leaders are steering clear of SAFe certs — and here’s why:
🔹 It signals bureaucracy over true agility
🔹 Contradicts core Agile values (think: top-down vs. empowered teams)
🔹 Pigeonholes you into slow-moving, enterprise roles
🔹 Seen as “Agile theater” by product-led, lean orgs
🔹 Cert fatigue is real — experience > badges
Summary of the opinions from key Agile leaders
🔴 Ken Schwaber (Co-creator of Scrum, Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: SAFe is like RUP (Rational Unified Process)—a heavy, outdated methodology.
Key Point: It suffocates teams by replacing empiricism with predictability.
Quote: "The people doing the work are the people who can best figure out how to do it. The job of management is to help them—not to suffocate them with SAFe."
Verdict: Philosophical misalignment between Scrum and SAFe.
🔴 Jeff Sutherland (Co-creator of Scrum, Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: SAFe is inconsistent with the Scrum Guide and codifies dysfunctions that cripple teams.
Key Point: Heavily prescriptive, limits team empowerment, and undermines agility.
Verdict: Anti-Scrum and not truly Agile.
🔴 Mike Beedle (Co-author of the Agile Manifesto, early Scrum pioneer)
Critique: SAFe is not Agile and contradicts every Agile value.
Key Point: Called out Agile Release Trains as violations of Agile principles.
Verdict: SAFe is a framework of dysfunction, not agility.
🔴 Alistair Cockburn (Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: SAFe wastes money that could be better spent improving collaboration and delivery.
Quote: “Stopped defending SAFe. There is a better way to spend the money.”
Verdict: Expensive distraction from real Agile transformation.
🔴 Martin Fowler (Agile Manifesto Signatory, Chief Scientist at ThoughtWorks)
Critique: Publicly expressed strong dislike for SAFe at industry events.
Alignment: ThoughtWorks (his company) advises against SAFe due to observed harm across clients.
Verdict: Incompatible with real Agile.
🔴 Ron Jeffries (Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: Long, detailed critiques of SAFe published—but ignored.
Key Point: Issues have worsened in later SAFe versions.
Verdict: Deep structural problems persist.
🔴 Andy Hunt (Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: “SAFe is not Agile.”
Key Point: Knows professionals who’ve built careers cleaning up after SAFe failures.
Verdict: Not aligned with Agile values or results.
🔴 Brian Marick (Agile Manifesto Signatory)
Critique: Describes SAFe as prescriptive, rigid, anti-collaborative.
Key Point: Encourages rule-following rather than co-creating tacit knowledge.
Verdict: Works against Agile’s intent.
#Agile
#SAFe
#ScalingAgile
4 months ago | [YT] | 1