Fluid Adaptive Scaling Technology (FAST) is a way for people to self-organise around work - that scales.
FAST is widely used as an agile method - for delivery and discovery work.
What People are Saying About FAST
Vilius Poska, Engineering Manager - XPanse
In our fully remote workplace, this is the closest I've felt to being in an office. Previously, our team was working in silos, but this new framework has transformed us into a fully-functioning, cohesive unit again. It's created an environment for swift and pragmatic decision-making. Instead of processes gathering dust in Confluence, all decision-makers, engineers, and UX people are part of the FAST call, allowing for a short feedback loop. This approach enables us to handle the unpredictable nature of customer requests, where meticulously planned timelines and priorities often get scrapped. It allows us to organically revisit the question of 'how are we delivering value to our client' on a daily basis. Huge thanks to everyone for embracing this change and working together so effectively!
Paige Watson, Engineer @ Premera
This is the only way I ever want to work again.
Ariel Pérez, VP of Engineering - Split
I'm taking FAST with me wherever I go. They'll need to pry it out of my cold, dead hands!!!
Developer @ Xpanse
I started 3 months ago and I never want to go back to the ways of working from my previous 20 years. I don’t wake up angry anymore…I wake up every day excited to work with the team.
Do we really need another agile method? What problems does FAST solve?
FAST set out to solve Dark Agile, Agile Scaling, and be a method that caters to product-led efforts (not just delivery).
Dark Agile
FAST hopes that making self-organisation inescapable (not just lip service) will resolve why so many agile implementations turn out dar/flaccid/zombie agile.
Talking with software developers working with traditional agile methods, you will hear a common complaint about spending too much time in meetings. FAST set out to solve this and make an environment that software developers truly thrive in and enjoy.
Agile Scaling
How do you split work across multiple teams and keep them in sync is the challenge of agile scaling. FAST creates a team of teams approach to solve this. This is unique in the industry as it harnesses networked organisational models with fluid teaming to create a pure, complex and adaptive system.
A network and fluid collective solves issues that static teaming and silos create:
limited knowledge resources are easier to share
knowledge and skill sharing
flexing workforce/labour to where it is most needed
dependencies fall away
Product-led Efforts
If you read books and materials by modern product managers like Marty Cagan, Melisa Perri, John Cutler and Teresa Torress, you will notice that agile methods pre-FaST did not help them with product work, only delivery work. Legacy agile methods were not suited for their product discovery activities, and they only recommended these agile methods for delivery work.
How is FAST different from other agile methods and frameworks?
FAST represents a step change and next-generation method/framework to agile and agility.
FAST is the first to recommend fluid teaming over static and to create a network structure rather than a siloed command of teams structure that requires heavy orchestration.
FAST is the first agile method to cater to product discovery and delivery.
FAST is extremely lightweight. It is also easy to learn and implement.
FAST can represent a much lower cost of ownership compared to other methods.
What is FAST Good For? Who Should Look at FAST?
FAST is a product-centric agile method. FAST is just as much a method for product teams as for delivery teams. Ideal for product-led organisations and ventures.
FAST solves issues with Dark/Flaccid/Zombie Agile and Agile at Scale.
FAST represents a much lower cost of ownership due to fewer roles and lower overhead on management. FAST will be the cheapest and quickest to adopt if you want to start an agile transformation.
FAST harnesses intrinsic motivation, which increases employee engagement and lowers staff turnover.
Need more innovation? FAST sits at the cusp of chaos and complexity - where innovation is most likely to happen.
FAST can achieve more with less.
Anyone doing anything creative and collaborative can benefit from FAST.
Learn More About FAST
Read the FAST Process Overview, and then go download the FAST guide.