Each week in SAFe Connect, we share one practical tip from a member of the community to help you apply SAFe in more meaningful ways.
This week, Danielle Gerber shares an approach I rely on in complex environments: make the work and dependencies visible before deciding what needs to change.
💡 Tip of the Week: Make the Work—and the Dependencies—Visible
In complex environments, I start by making the work—and the dependencies between teams—visible.
Many delivery problems are not caused by a lack of effort or even a lack of agility. They come from hidden dependencies, unclear decision rights, competing priorities, and work entering the system faster than it can be completed.
Before adding more SAFe practices or events, I look at how value actually moves through the organization. I want to understand where work consistently waits, gets redirected, or requires escalation. Once those constraints become visible, I can apply Lean-Agile principles to address the specific problems we uncover.
For me, a few questions help sharpen that thinking:
- Where is work waiting or slowing down?
- Which dependencies are affecting flow?
- Where are priorities or decision rights unclear?
- What trade-offs are we making with the way we work?
I ask, “What are the trade-offs?” about almost everything. To me, every decision about the way we work, how products are developed, and how effective we are comes down to understanding those trade-offs.
The goal is not to implement every element of the Framework. I want to use SAFe intentionally to improve alignment, flow, and outcomes—and then adapt based on what the organization learns.
When I’m advising leaders, I also recommend Don Reinertsen’s The Principles of Product Development Flow. It reinforces the kind of principles-based thinking that helps me look beyond practices and focus on how the system actually works.
For me, that is the takeaway: make the work visible, understand the constraints and trade-offs, and then use the Framework intentionally to improve the system.
