Speeding up Development to deliver true value to Customers efficiently




In the fast-paced world of software development, we often hear organizations claim they’ve been doing Agile for decades. Yet, look under the hood of many of these companies, and you’ll find a familiar, frustrating reality: rigid silos, meetings focussed on ceremonies, jira ticket policing, specialized bottlenecks, and "manufactured" work designed to keep specific engineers busy rather than to deliver the highest business value.

When architects, directors, managers and senior engineers adopt the mindset that "the way we’ve always done it is best," they risk stagnation. In an environment where everyone is expected to step up to do more, we no longer have the luxury of mediocrity. We are under immense pressure to do more with less, yet many organizations continue to throw resources at inefficient structures, only to breed more inefficiency.

I have been fortunate to lead a team of high-performing engineers who decided to challenge this status quo. A few years ago, our new scrum-master/system engineer at that time introduced a new way of doing things. We moved away from the "pigeonholed", process heavy, specialist model and adopted FAST (Fluid Scaling Technology). The results have been transformative.

What is FAST Agile?

FAST is a lightweight, innovative framework designed to solve the very problems that traditional Agile methods often struggle with: overhead, silos, and lack of flexibility.

Unlike Scrum, which organizes people into long-standing, fixed teams, FAST organizes people into a tribe (a group of 5 to 20+ people) that works together to solve a single backlog.

How the Process Works:

  • The Value Cycle: FAST operates in short iterations called Value Cycles (typically 2 days to a week). It begins with a "Meeting of the Whole."
  • The Marketplace: At the start of each cycle, the Product Manager shares the highest-priority items. The engineers then self-organize in a "marketplace" to decide which pieces of work they will tackle. They form small, fluid "micro-teams" around those specific goals.
  • Team Stewards: Instead of a traditional manager directing tasks, each micro-team has a Steward. The Steward is a volunteer who ensures the team stays focused and facilitates communication, but they are not a "boss."
  • Fluidity: Once the Value Cycle ends, the micro-teams dissolve. In the next marketplace, engineers can choose to stay on the same project or move to a different area of the system.

FAST vs. Scrum vs. Kanban

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Why It Changed Everything for Us

Before FAST, we saw the same risks many of you face: Fixed Kanban teams were organized around delivery of specific features. Not everyone was aware of what the other teams were doing. Each Kanban team had their own specific prioritized list of work even though it wasn't the highest overall priority.

By adopting FAST, my team broke those chains.

  1. Eliminating Bottlenecks: Because engineers are encouraged to "push the envelope" and learn new areas, information is disseminated naturally. Through pair programming and mob programming, knowledge isn't trapped in one person's head.
  2. Focus on Business Value: We no longer manufacture work just to fill a specialist's backlog. We take the topmost priority of the business, and the team self-organizes to swarm it.
  3. Engaged Engineers: My team loves this process. They no longer feel stuck doing the same thing forever or sitting through endless, unnecessary ceremonies. They are empowered to be "full stack" in the truest sense—flexible, proactive, and aligned with the bigger picture.
  4. No More "Tribe Mentality": When everyone belongs to the same fluid collective, the needless competition between sub-teams disappears.

The Bottom Line

Executive management often allocates resources to whoever spins the best story, but real success comes from building an organization that can pivot as fast as the market moves.

We have proven time and again that when you trust high-performing engineers with a lightweight, fluid process like FAST, they won't just hit their targets—they will shine. If your organization is struggling with "Agile-in-name-only" and siloed inefficiency, it might be time to look at FAST Agile.

It’s time to think of ways to speed up and start delivering true value to customers.

#Agile #FASTAgile #SoftwareEngineering #Leadership #DigitalTransformation #Innovation #Scrum #Kanban


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