SAFe really just feels like a way of doing Waterfall a bit better more than anything else. That doesn't mean it's bad. I think Waterfall has its place, and I think Agile has its place. As someone who has worked in professional services much of their career, where it's really tough to sign a contract without some sort of roughly-defined goals and budget and timelines, I understand why Agile gets a lot of lip service without action. And so things like SAFe... suddenly make a lot of sense.

Is this "Agile"? Surely doesn't feel like it. As you say, the trick is to "be agile" not "do Agile" (and note the capitalizations...), the more formal and process-driven you are, the less "agile" you are. Forcing people to color within the lines never gets you to greatness.

But can these big orgs "be agile"? Do they have the people? Statistics says "no way". It's hard to hire more than a handful of folks and all have them have the personal characteristics needed to excel and thrive with empowerment and self-motivation.

J.Ja