Anyone who explores agility comes across a whole range of frameworks and methods. Scrum, Kanban, SAFe®, LeSS, and OKR are now part of the standard repertoire of many companies. What I observe time and again is that the discussion often revolves around the question of which framework is the best. In my view, however, that’s the wrong question.
The crucial question is rather: What problem are we actually trying to solve?
After all, frameworks are tools—nothing more, but also nothing less. They only deliver value when they align with the specific organization, its goals, and its context. Each framework was developed to address different challenges and places emphasis on different aspects.
Anyone who equates agility with the implementation of a framework runs the risk of prioritizing form over substance.
Scrum
The classic approach to complex product development. When people talk about agility, they often mean Scrum—and for good reason. Scrum provides a clear framework for teams working in complex and dynamic environments. Short development cycles, regular feedback, and clearly defined responsibilities create a high level of transparency regarding progress and challenges.
Scrum is particularly well-suited for:
Product development
Innovation projects
Complex problems
Interdisciplinary teams
At the same time, I see a common misconception in many organizations: Scrum is implemented, and then people automatically expect better results. But Scrum doesn’t work simply because daily stand-ups are held or boards are maintained. Scrum works when its underlying principles are actually put into practice. These include personal responsibility, continuous learning, and the willingness to make decisions where the work is done.
Kanban
Often underestimated, but extremely effective. While Scrum is frequently at the center of agile transformations, in my experience, Kanban is often underestimated. Yet Kanban is an excellent introduction to agile working methods, especially for many established organizations.
The key elements are:
visualizing work
limiting parallel tasks
optimizing the workflow
continuous improvement
Kanban is particularly effective in:
service and support departments
administrative processes
operations organizations
teams with many unplanned requests
What I particularly appreciate about Kanban is that it doesn’t force organizations to completely overhaul their entire way of working overnight. Instead, existing processes are made visible and improved step by step. This can often be the more realistic approach, especially for companies looking to gain their first experiences with agility.
Scaled Agility: When Agility Grows.
Agile frameworks often work exceptionally well at the team level. However, things get complicated as soon as multiple teams work together on products, services, or value streams. This raises new questions:
How are dependencies managed?
How do we establish shared priorities?
How do we align strategy with execution?
How do we coordinate changes across team boundaries?
Scaled frameworks have been developed to address these challenges.
SAFe®
It provides structure for large organizations through a clear, comprehensive approach: connecting agile teams with strategic and organizational levels. Especially in large companies, this often creates direction and shared structures. At the same time, I regularly observe that SAFe® is misunderstood. Some organizations use it to rebrand existing hierarchies with new terminology without truly changing their understanding of leadership or their approach to collaboration. While this results in a new framework, it does not lead to true agility.
LeSS
Less structure, more consistency. LeSS takes a significantly leaner approach and extends the principles of Scrum to multiple teams. The focus is on consciously reducing organizational complexity rather than introducing additional processes. In practice, LeSS is often more challenging than many people assume. This is because the framework requires organizations to consistently question cherished structures, areas of responsibility, and silo mentality.
Both approaches can be successful. However, what matters most is not the framework itself, but the organization’s willingness to actually implement the necessary changes.
OKRs
...as a link between strategy and execution. In my view, one aspect is often underestimated in many agile transformations: strategic alignment. Teams work agilely, projects run successfully, and yet at some point the question arises:
Are we actually working on the right issues? This is exactly where OKR shows its strength. Objectives and Key Results help organizations
make strategic goals transparent
set priorities
track progress in a measurable way
align teams toward shared goals
This creates a link between long-term strategy and day-to-day work. What I find particularly exciting is that OKR isn’t a traditional management tool. When used correctly, it fosters personal responsibility and focus rather than creating additional control. For many companies, it is precisely this combination of direction and autonomy that is a decisive success factor in modern organizational development.
Finding the Right Framework
When I help organizations choose a framework, I first try to shift their focus away from the methods and toward the actual challenge.
After all, the key question isn’t, “Which framework is currently the most successful?” but rather, “What do we need as an organization to better achieve our goals?”
This involves asking questions such as:
What challenges do we want to solve?
How complex are our products and processes?
How many teams are working together?
What is our current culture and level of maturity?
How open are we to change?
Conclusion
It is not the organization that should adapt to a framework; rather, the framework should support the organization. Frameworks can provide guidance, standardize language, and accelerate change. They are valuable tools on the path to greater agility. However, there is one thing they cannot do: replace the actual transformation work. In my view, organizations succeed when they do not apply frameworks dogmatically, but rather select them consciously, adapt them pragmatically, and consistently align them with their strategic goals.
After all, agility does not ultimately come from Scrum, Kanban, SAFe®, or LeSS, but from people who learn to collaborate more effectively with one another.