How does SAFe recommend using a second operating system to deliver value?

SAFe adopts John Kotter's concept of a dual operating system. This approach does not replace the traditional organizational hierarchy but complements it with a second, network-based operating system focused on value delivery. The hierarchy provides stability, efficiency, and governance, while the value stream network (composed of Agile Release Trains) provides the speed, innovation, and customer-centricity needed for business agility. This allows an enterprise to leverage the strengths of both structures simultaneously.

A. SAFe does not advocate for a complete reorganization of the existing hierarchy; it builds a network that operates alongside it.
B. The dual operating system is about using both models concurrently, not choosing one over the other for the entire enterprise.
C. The entrepreneurial network is built to work with the existing hierarchy, not to replace it. Replacing it would be disruptive and lose its benefits.

1. Scaled Agile, Inc. (2023). Business Agility. Scaled Agile Framework. Retrieved from https://www.scaledagileframework.com/business-agility/. (The section "SAFe: The Second Operating System for Business Agility" explains this concept).

2. Kotter, J. P. (2014). Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World. Harvard Business Review Press. (This book is the foundational source for the dual operating system concept, which SAFe cites and builds upon).