From Framework to Fieldwork: Making Sense of SAFe’s New Disciplines

“The disciplines are about problem solving. They’re a way to navigate to knowledge… Different people love to find their knowledge different ways.” — Mark Richards

Introduction

SPCs Unleashed returns with a stepwise, hard-nosed look at the new Scaled Agile “disciplines” announced in Sorrento—an architectural shift intended to make the framework more usable, less dogmatic, and ultimately more valuable in the context of enterprise change. With Mark Richards guiding the connection points and Stephan Neck leading the inquiry, the team (joined by Nikolaos “Niko” Kaintantzis) explores what this modular reframe really means for practitioners and transformation leaders invested in real agility, not just surface adoption.

No hype here. The Unleashed crew does what they do best: challenge received wisdom, probe for real-world risks, and test whether the new direction delivers what coaches and organizations actually need.

Actionable Insights

Here’s what the crew surfaces—directly and by friction—about adopting the “disciplines” model for Scaled Agile:

- Navigation over prescription: The move from static configurations to adaptable disciplines creates more tailored entry points for actual business problems—if you’re willing to begin with context, not the “one true path.”

- Optionality introduces risk and clarity: The flexibility is real, but so is the risk of new “disciplinary silos.” Systemic glue—often in the form of LACE or a Value Management Office—matters more than ever.

- Depth and teaming over overwhelm: Coaches shouldn’t be daunted by the number of disciplines now in play. The days of aspiring to be a master of everything are gone; the model favors T-shaped expertise—broad awareness, with real depth in focus areas, working in cross-functional teams where strengths combine instead of one coach trying to cover all bases.

- Leadership isn’t a module: While there’s a dedicated discipline for Leadership & Culture, raising actual executive capability will almost always demand more than the framework prescribes.

Highlights Goodbye “Fit All” Configurations—Hello Study, Inquiry, Focus

The team unpacks what a discipline means—a field of study, not just a “box to tick.” As Stephan frames it: “You study something… you inquire—it’s not a given, then you dive into the methods, theories, and principles.”

For coaches, this isn’t a theoretical shift. Navigation starts with the problem at hand. Mark calls out the storytelling value: “You can now sit and see a connected story… Discipline names guide you, then the disciplines can tell a story that is meaningful to you.”

The Silo Risk: Specialization Without System Fragmentation

There’s energy around the newfound freedom to “specialize”—but also caution. Niko reframes the “silo” anxiety, saying: “If there are silos, I love them—as areas of specialization. It’s better than forcing full SAFE because you think you have to do everything.” Still, the LACE becomes responsible for ensuring the overall flow: “The LACE should be the glue between the disciplines.”

Not Just Clicking Around: Adaptive Learning and Agentic Guidance

Mark and the crew recognize that modern knowledge-seeking isn’t about browsing static pictures: “Structuring your knowledge for a modern person means providing clarity to the information and guidance SAFE has to offer—in their particular context and situation. People are going to do what most of us do… ask our CoPilots or ChatGPT questions.”

This has implications for framework design—and for the way coaches help others find, not just receive, useful knowledge.

Practice as Organism, Not IT Upgrade

Niko spotlights a critical mindset shift: “With disciplines, it feels more human—a living organism you actively tend, not just a system to install or upgrade.” The conversation pushes for systemic coaching and change—not checklist compliance. In Stephan’s words: “It’s a step from crawling to walking, even running.”

Leadership & Culture: Essential, Yet (Still) Not Enough

On the leadership discipline: Mark is frank—perhaps provocatively so: “Personally, I don’t know that teaching senior leaders to be better leaders is SAFE’s strong suit… If an enterprise wants better leaders, they’ll go elsewhere.” Niko echoes the call for “outside bodies of knowledge” and cautions that even with more content, “leadership training is not everything.”

Yet, the team affirms the new model’s “red thread”: contextual, cross-cutting, lived behaviors matter. Stephan frames it clearly: “Culture isn’t a poster on the wall; it’s the sum of our behaviors… you either live it or it doesn’t exist.”

Product Development Flow: Feedback Isn’t Optional

When exploring the Product Development Flow discipline, Niko delivers a caution to those who see themselves as “special cases”: “Never say, ‘I don’t need this competency; everything is clear.’ Nothing is clear.” Mark adds, “The discipline gives you a starting place for a conversation. Where you begin is not always where you should end.”

The Donut Problem: Expertise, Teaming, and Copilot Reality

Don’t be a donut. Both Mark and Niko agree: you can’t—and shouldn’t—try to become a generalist who is “a jack of all trades, master of none.” Mark points out, “If you’re an SPC, you’ve got to find some way to do better than copilot. I don’t know that you’re going to do that if you chase being a donut.”

The answer? Cross-functional, specialized LACE teams—moving as a team sport, not as isolated experts.

Conclusion

This episode doesn’t romanticize SAFE’s evolution—it interrogates it. The new disciplines model offers real leverage for coaches to navigate, not just replicate, patterns of agility. But it comes with risks: potential fragmentation, the need for new forms of glue, and an increased demand for coaches to specialize, stay context-sensitive, and admit where outside expertise is essential.

If you’re leading an enterprise journey, start with the context. Let the problem, not the picture, guide your engagement. Don’t chase donuts; build a team where depth and cross-pollination are your differentiators.