New Book

Dec

06

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Is Your Agile Team and Agile Release Train (ART) Like This Race-Car?

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

I was at the mall and saw this race-car... I then sent these pictures I've taken (shown here) to my fellow founding partners at Applied Lean Agile ... and Steve responded back to my text with this: "Built for performance! Tuned for Efficiency! Engineered for Speed! -- How can we orient our Teams like this? With Quality Built-in to what they do?" Impressive thought! Is Your Agile Team and Agile Release Train (ART) Like This Race Car? Is your SAFe Lean Agile Team and ART Built for Performance, Tuned for Efficiency, and Engineered for Speed?! If not... then how can…

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Dec

05

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Is Your Agile Team and Agile Release Train (ART) Like This Race-Car?

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

I was at the mall and saw this race-car... I then sent these pictures I've taken (shown here) to my fellow founding partners at Applied Lean Agile ... and Steve responded back to my text with this: "Built for performance! Tuned for Efficiency! Engineered for Speed! -- How can we orient our Teams like this? With Quality Built-in to what they do?" Impressive thought! Is Your Agile Team and Agile Release Train (ART) Like This Race Car? Is your SAFe Lean Agile Team and ART Built for Performance, Tuned for Efficiency, and Engineered for Speed?! If not... then how can…

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Dec

04

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Is Your Agile Team and Agile Release Train (ART) Like This Race-Car?

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

I was at the mall and saw this race-car... I then sent these pictures I've taken (shown here) to my fellow founding partners at Applied Lean Agile ... and Steve responded back to my text with this: "Built for performance! Tuned for Efficiency! Engineered for Speed! -- How can we orient our Teams like this? With Quality Built-in to what they do?" Impressive thought! Is Your Agile Team and Agile Release Train (ART) Like This Race Car? Is your SAFe Lean Agile Team and ART Built for Performance, Tuned for Efficiency, and Engineered for Speed?! If not... then how can…

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Dec

03

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Make It Small — Small Is Simple and Fast, And Increases Your Probabilities of Success

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

In Lean Agile, small is simple and fast ! "Why? And how small should it be?", you might ask. SAFe Lean Agile Principle #6 states: Make value flow without interruptions And accelerate the flow! One of the many flow accelerators is "Work in Smaller Batches". Why? The same "Why" we are moving away from Waterfall to Lean Agile: Faster feedback! Faster feedback is one of the primary reasons for working in smaller batches. The smaller the size, the faster teams can collect and evaluate the feedback to adjust. Think about it... Waterfall: One huge batch... and you can only see…

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Dec

02

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Make It Small — Small Is Simple and Fast, And Increases Your Probabilities of Success

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

In Lean Agile, small is simple and fast ! "Why? And how small should it be?", you might ask. SAFe Lean Agile Principle #6 states: Make value flow without interruptions And accelerate the flow! One of the many flow accelerators is "Work in Smaller Batches". Why? The same "Why" we are moving away from Waterfall to Lean Agile: Faster feedback! Faster feedback is one of the primary reasons for working in smaller batches. The smaller the size, the faster teams can collect and evaluate the feedback to adjust. Think about it... Waterfall: One huge batch... and you can only see…

Read More

Dec

02

2023

By Clarence Galapon

SAFe Is Like a Lean Factory — Lean and Lean Thinking Take Center Stage

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

SAFe is a “Lean Agile Software Factory”. It is very much like the “Lean Factory” of the Industrial Revolution Era. It is fully funded, limited in capacity, and yields things of prioritized value. -- The Lean Agile Guru One of the great things that SAFe 6.0 has is this: Lean and Lean Thinking take center stage! I am very ecstatic about Lean taking center stage with SAFe 6.0. I have been a Lean aficionado since the 1980s... and an Agilist since the 1990s... and I have had appreciation of this "Lean and Agile" pair back then (and I still do).…

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Dec

01

2023

By Clarence Galapon

SAFe Is Like a Lean Factory — Lean and Lean Thinking Take Center Stage

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

SAFe is a “Lean Agile Software Factory”. It is very much like the “Lean Factory” of the Industrial Revolution Era. It is fully funded, limited in capacity, and yields things of prioritized value. -- The Lean Agile Guru One of the great things that SAFe 6.0 has is this: Lean and Lean Thinking take center stage! I am very ecstatic about Lean taking center stage with SAFe 6.0. I have been a Lean aficionado since the 1980s... and an Agilist since the 1990s... and I have had appreciation of this "Lean and Agile" pair back then (and I still do).…

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Nov

30

2023

By Clarence Galapon

SAFe Is Like a Lean Factory — Lean and Lean Thinking Take Center Stage

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

SAFe is a “Lean Agile Software Factory”. It is very much like the “Lean Factory” of the Industrial Revolution Era. It is fully funded, limited in capacity, and yields things of prioritized value. -- Lean Agile Guru One of the great things that SAFe 6.0 has is this: Lean and Lean Thinking take center stage! I am very ecstatic about Lean taking center stage with SAFe 6.0. I have been a Lean aficionado since the 1980s... and an Agilist since the 1990s... and I have had appreciation of this "Lean and Agile" pair back then (and I still do). In…

Read More

Nov

29

2023

By Clarence Galapon

SAFe Is Like a Lean Factory — Lean and Lean Thinking Take Center Stage

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

SAFe is a “Lean Agile Software Factory”. It is very much like the “Lean Factory” of the Industrial Revolution Era. It is fully funded, limited in capacity, and yields things of prioritized value. -- Lean Agile Guru One of the great things that SAFe 6.0 has is this: Lean and Lean Thinking take center stage! I am very ecstatic about Lean taking center stage with SAFe 6.0. I have been a Lean aficionado since the 1980s... and an Agilist since the 1990s... and I have had appreciation of this "Lean and Agile" pair back then (and I still do). In…

Read More

Nov

29

2023

By Clarence Galapon

SAFe Is Like a Lean Factory — Lean and Lean Thinking Take Center Stage

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

SAFe is a “Lean Agile Software Factory”. It is very much like the “Lean Factory” of the Industrial Revolution Era. It is fully funded, limited in capacity, and yields things of prioritized value. -- Lean Agile Guru One of the great things that SAFe 6.0 has is this: Lean and Lean Thinking take center stage! I am very ecstatic about Lean taking center stage with SAFe 6.0. I have been a Lean aficionado since the 1980s... and an Agilist since the 1990s... and I have had appreciation of this "Lean and Agile" pair back then (and I still do). In…

Read More

Nov

28

2023

By Clarence Galapon

SAFe Is Like a Lean Factory — Lean and Lean Thinking Take Center Stage

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

SAFe is a “Lean Agile Software Factory”. It is very much like the “Lean Factory” of the Industrial Revolution Era. It is fully funded, limited in capacity, and yields things of prioritized value. -- Lean Agile Guru One of the great things that SAFe 6.0 has is this: Lean and Lean Thinking take center stage! I am very ecstatic about Lean taking center stage with SAFe 6.0. I have been a Lean aficionado since the 1980s... and an Agilist since the 1990s... and I have had appreciation of this "Lean and Agile" pair back then (and I still do). In…

Read More

Nov

28

2023

By Clarence Galapon

SAFe Is Like a Lean Factory — Lean and Lean Thinking Take Center Stage

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

SAFe is a “Lean Agile Software Factory”. It is very much like the “Lean Factory” of the Industrial Revolution Era. It is fully funded, limited in capacity, and yields things of prioritized value. -- Lean Agile Guru One of the great things that SAFe 6.0 has is this: Lean and Lean Thinking take center stage! I am very ecstatic about Lean taking center stage with SAFe 6.0. I have been a Lean aficionado since the 1980s... and an Agilist since the 1990s... and I have had appreciation of this "Lean and Agile" pair back then (and I still do). In…

Read More

Nov

17

2023

By Clarence Galapon

WIP Limit — Why Use It!?

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

Can you imagine what a busy road looks like without "Traffic Cop" directing the traffic? Imagine there is no traffic light... The busy road becomes congested quite easily... and the number of cars going from point A to Point B in a span of time (the throughput) will be less... compared to... if the same busy road has a "Traffic Cop" directing the traffic, the number of cars going from point A to Point B in the same span of time (the throughput) will be more. The "Traffic Cop" is like the "WIP (Work In Process) Limit... both have the…

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Nov

16

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Close The Lean Agile Software Factory?!

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

Close the Factory?! Well… it is more like ‘Stop the production line!!! Problem has been encountered… let us fix this before it negatively affects the quality of our work down the line. This problem cannot persist.’ That is what we call in Lean, ‘Andon’. In SAFe, we have a similar time wherein we ‘Close the Lean Agile Software Factory’… to solve the topmost and significant problems that were encountered during the Planning Interval and ART Execution. The time is the last iteration of the Planning Interval: the IP Iteration… IP stands for Innovation and Planning. The ‘Factory’ is practically closed…

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Nov

15

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Vintage Lean Plus Agile — Better Together

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 5.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

I saw a very cool Volkswagen -- it is not like the modern ones... it is antique-looking... vintage. I had to take photos of it... This car reminded me of Lean... Classic Lean...not the Lean-Six Sigma thingy... but the Lean that came up after World War II. Just like this car, Classic Lean is timeless... I love it! Now... pair Lean with Agile... you get an awesome duo: Lean Agile... these two are better together! SAFe 6.0 likes this duo... hence they named their 10 SAFe principles as "10 SAFe Lean Agile Principles". Do you think that your initiatives will…

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Nov

14

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Slow Down

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

In SAFe, there's an IP Iteration -- the last Iteration in a Planning Interval (PI). This is where, among other things, we focus on Innovation... and Planning for the next PI. It has a "Slow Down" effect... a needed "Oasis" between long Planning Intervals. After the 2-day Punta Fuego trip, there is an upcoming three-day long trip ahead of us. We needed an “Oasis” between these long trips. We had to slow down. So, we had the following "Oasis": At BGC: At Greenbelt, Makati: Key Idea: Slow down... delight in the things you can see only when you slow down.…

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Nov

09

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Divergent Thinking

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

Halo Halo Halo Halo (mix mix) is a popular dessert in the Philippines. Click here to read more about it. The diverse ingredients, once mixed together, create a very delicious dessert. The same is true when divergent thoughts come together, beautiful things emerge. When elaborating an epic, a feature, or a story, do not do it alone. Do it with the right set of people… they bring their unique perspectives to it. When divergent thoughts come together, beautiful things emerge. Ideas from 10 people are better than one person’s knowledge 10 commandments of Kaikaku There are more ideas like this…

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Nov

08

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Land Your PI Smoothly

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

Land your PI (Planning Interval) smoothly like an airplane would as it lands smoothly to conclude its journey. Make sure you have the ‘Inspect and Adapt’ done… specially the retrospective and problem-solving workshop. This will make the next PI better. Do the qualitative and quantitative part as well specially the ‘ART predictability measure’ to see how predictable the ART is. Do also the PI System demo… Did you know that you can demo — this is part of the PI System demo — the achievement of a PI objective anytime during the PI without waiting for the IP iteration? This…

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Nov

07

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Create with Passion

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

To me, cooking is an art … creating something that nourishes our body… mind… senses… even soul. But it is not a given … love + purpose + creativity + passion + visualization + desire + belief + action, are the magical ingredients… in the pursuit of the achievement of things that are desired and believed in. I love creating things. It is satisfying to me to see something in my mind then seeing later for real. You get to manifest. Thoughts are things! Everything is seen twice: during visualization and upon creation. This visualization is applicable in SAFe as…

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Nov

06

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Fast Short Strides

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

Make ‘em short strides… and make ‘em fast… Foot in the air does not move you forward… only when foot has landed on the ground. Short strides keep air-time shorter than long strides. In SAFe, think of air-time as WIP (Work in Process). Keep WIP to a minimum by applying WIP Limit. And start finishing … fast. Think of ‘Foot has landed on the ground’ as ‘Value delivered’ … Kublai Khan, whilst trying to conquer China, said: ‘there is no value of anything until it is finished’ He must complete what he has begun… conquer China… only then when his…

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Nov

05

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Measure and Visualize the Trend of “Actual over Planned” Ratio

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

There is a topic my new book, "SAFe  (6.0) Is Like ...", titled "Measure Actual Versus Planned" . It tackles the fact that a lot of us measure planned velocity and actual velocity; however, a lot of us stop short. Too short. We forget to apply Statistical Control to our Processes. Statistics is the study of numerical information, called data. Planned velocity and Actual velocity are just data. However, when we use these information as part of a "large mirror", it shows us if our processes are in-control or out-of-control. So... don't stop at Planned velocity and Actual velocity data...…

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Nov

04

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Vision Must Be Clear

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

Your product Vision must be clear... as a Product Manager, making your Vision clear is your job... and do not do it alone... bring the right set of people to get that Clear Vision. You are like a Photographer... you could start wide with a Wide-Angle Lens... then look for that shot... maybe the scene is too wide... perhaps a clear tight money shot is what you want. Or... your lens (Vision) could be fuzzy at first... just like what I have, 60 years old Nikkor (Nikon) 50mm 1.2f manual lens... I had to adjust it manually... until I see…

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Nov

03

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Fractals

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe Is Like…

Nature reveals perfect fractals. Take, for example, a rose flower. A rose flower’s petals reveal recursive patterns, the smaller parts mirroring the larger parts and vice-versa … one petal is a fractal smaller or larger scale of the other. Fractals are everywhere in SAFe. Take the ART, for example. The ART is a larger fractal scale of the Agile Team. Both are self-organizing and self-managing entities but in different scales. Another example: the RTE role is a larger fractal scale of the SAFe Scrum Master Role. And many more! Try to find these. Once you know one thing, its larger…

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Nov

02

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Slow Down

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

In SAFe, there's an IP Iteration -- the last Iteration in a Planning Interval (PI). This is where, among other things, we focus on Innovation... and Planning for the next PI. It has a "Slow Down" effect... a needed "Oasis" between long Planning Intervals. After the 2-day Punta Fuego trip, there is an upcoming three-day long trip ahead of us. We needed an “Oasis” between these long trips. We had to slow down. So, we had the following "Oasis": At BGC: At Greenbelt, Makati: Key Idea: Slow down... delight in the things you can see only when you slow down.…

Read More

Nov

01

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Ikigai

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

Ikigai is a Japanese word which means your life’s purpose. It is that thing that inspires you to get out of bed every morning. Product Management should paint a vision that would inspire their people to get out of bed in the morning… do you agree? Imagine… A vision to build a desirable, viable, feasible and sustainable solution that delivers value and then realized in the hands of the customer in the least sustainable lead time and meets the portfolio’s objectives… That, to me, is a cool and meaningful ikigai that gets me out of bed every morning ready to…

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Oct

31

2023

By Clarence Galapon

WIP Limit — Why Use It!?

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

Can you imagine what a busy road looks like without "Traffic Cop" directing the traffic? Imagine there is no traffic light... The busy road becomes congested quite easily... and the number of cars going from point A to Point B in a span of time (the throughput) will be less... compared to... if the same busy road has a "Traffic Cop" directing the traffic, the number of cars going from point A to Point B in the same span of time (the throughput) will be more. The "Traffic Cop" is like the "WIP (Work In Process) Limit... both have the…

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Oct

30

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe Is Like…

Stumbling Blocks? Nah … Stepping Stones! That’s right… it is what you make of it… Facing challenges in your SAFe Transformation? Find the opportunity in it! Every challenge lies in it an opportunity … add this in your mindset! Folks finding Volatility in your initiative? Counter it with clear Vision! Use this as an opportunity to collaboratively craft a clear, concise, consistent, compelling, and committed Vision! There are more ideas like this in my two books -- both are available for purchase on Amazon. SAFe (6.0) Is Like...This reached "#1 New Release" on Amazon SAFe 6.0 PracticeMy new book, released…

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Oct

29

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Know and Write Well Your Outcome — Two Keys To Writing PI Objectives

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe Is Like…

PI Objective is a LYNCHPIN... a lynchpin is something that when it is missing, everything crumbles... it holds everything together... a very important piece of the whole grand scheme of things! Therefore, since PI Objectives are LYNCHPINS... make sure that these are: 1) Actionable... each PI Objective starts with a verb!  2) SMART objective/goal -- Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic (Relevant), Time bound! Bottom line: Know and write well your outcome... your objectives... the "end"... and be flexible to your approach (the "means" (i.e., Features, stories)) to that "end".Your outcome is actionableYour outcome is SMART   Details: This is the Pattern…

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Oct

28

2023

By Clarence Galapon

User Story and Enabler Story are Like…

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

One concept that some folks find hard to grasp is the two types of stories in SAFe: User story Enabler story User story is what customers see… and interact with… directly. Whilst enabler story is behind the scenes supporting directly or indirectly the user story… enabler stories are typically technical in nature. Think of user story as your conscious mind… you interact with it… whilst enabler story is your subconscious mind… is stealth (not in a state of awareness)… behind the scenes... you don't consciously interact with it.  An iceberg is a great visual … see image below... the iceberg…

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Oct

27

2023

By Clarence Galapon

Ichi-go Ichi-e

Announcement, New Book, SAFe 6.0, SAFe 6.o Practice, SAFe Is Like…, Travel

Means… make every moment a once in a lifetime experience … will not happen again. Do you practice this ichi-go ichi-e? Try it… You will find that every day will no longer be ‘same old same old’ … each day will be full of unique moments worth remarking about when someone asks you: ‘How is your day so far?’ I saw the moon in a different setting last night… There are more ideas like this in my two books -- both are available for purchase on Amazon. SAFe (6.0) Is Like...This reached "#1 New Release" on Amazon SAFe 6.0 PracticeMy…

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