How Leadership Can Support Inspect and Adapt in SAFe

Blog Author

Siddharth

Published

15 Jul, 2025

How Leadership Can Support Inspect and Adapt in SAFe

Inspect and Adapt is not just a ritual in the SAFe calendar. It’s the core checkpoint where teams stop, reflect, and decide how to get better. But here’s the thing—this process can become a box-ticking exercise if leadership isn’t in the game. When leaders show up, support, and guide the process, real change happens. So, what does effective leadership look like in the context of I&A? Let’s break it down.

1. Set the Tone for Openness and Trust

If people sense that leadership wants honest feedback and is willing to listen, you get real insights—not sugar-coated reports. This starts with leaders making it clear, both by words and by their actions, that learning from failure is not just tolerated, but expected.

How to do it:
- Join I&A sessions and participate, not as the boss in the corner, but as a collaborator.
- Acknowledge team challenges out loud. Show you don’t have all the answers.
- React to tough news with curiosity, not blame.

Link: If you want to go deeper into how leaders set culture, Leading SAFe Agilist Certification Training digs into this topic.

2. Make I&A a Priority, Not an Afterthought

It’s easy for leadership to treat I&A like another meeting to fit in around “real work.” But when executives and managers schedule their own time around I&A events, it signals these sessions matter. This has a ripple effect on the organization.

How to do it:
- Block calendars for I&A across the ART. Treat it as non-negotiable.
- Show up on time and stay engaged. Don’t delegate your attendance.
- Follow up on actions that come out of I&A—not just in the moment, but weeks later.

3. Provide Psychological Safety for Problem Solving

Teams need a safe space to raise problems, admit missteps, and brainstorm without feeling like they’re under a microscope. Leaders can foster this by normalizing learning from failure and rewarding risk-taking.

How to do it:
- Celebrate “good fails”—when someone tries to improve but misses.
- Call out productive problem-solving during I&A sessions.
- Discourage finger-pointing and blame, especially in tense retrospectives.

For more on supporting Scrum teams, the SAFe Scrum Master Certification offers solid guidance on team dynamics.

4. Champion Data-Driven Improvement

Inspect and Adapt is about using facts, not gut feelings. Leadership should make sure teams have access to flow metrics, defect rates, and other actionable data. More importantly, leaders need to be comfortable talking about real numbers—even if they show issues.

How to do it:
- Invest in tools and dashboards that make metrics visible.
- Discuss metrics at the leadership level, not just with delivery teams.
- Encourage teams to propose improvement actions backed by data.

Check out external resources like Scaled Agile’s guide to Metrics and KPIs for practical approaches to measurement.

5. Sponsor Improvement Experiments, Not Just Fixes

It’s tempting for leaders to jump to solutions (“Just fix this, move on”). But the real value comes from supporting experiments. Let teams try new approaches, measure, and learn—even if the first attempt doesn’t pan out.

How to do it:
- Allocate time and budget for improvement experiments between PIs.
- Shield teams from backlash if an experiment fails.
- Ask for learnings, not just results.

Product leaders who want to drive these changes at the team level should look at SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager (POPM) Certification.

6. Follow Up—And Show That Change Matters

People notice when leaders actually follow up on I&A action items. If improvements are made, highlight them. If something slips, ask why, but from a place of support.

How to do it:
- Review past I&A commitments in team or ART syncs.
- Publicly recognize teams that deliver on improvement actions.
- Ask teams to demo what’s changed as a result of the last I&A.

7. Invest in Leadership Development

Supporting Inspect and Adapt isn’t a one-time thing. Leaders need ongoing training to get better at it, just like teams do.

How to do it:
- Sign up for advanced courses, not just the basics.
- Encourage cross-functional leaders (not just delivery) to attend agile workshops.
- Host leadership roundtables after I&A events to discuss learnings.

If you’re already on the journey, consider SAFe Advanced Scrum Master Certification Training or SAFe Release Train Engineer Certification Training for practical next steps.

8. Model Transparency

This isn’t just about sharing wins. Leaders should also admit when organizational-level issues get in the way of progress. Sometimes a team’s improvement work is blocked by company policies, tech debt, or cross-team dependencies.

How to do it:
- Share status on organizational impediments at I&A sessions.
- Invite feedback on leadership practices and structures.
- Show the organization you’re working to unblock their progress, not just observing.

9. Coach, Don’t Command

The best leaders see themselves as coaches. Their job is to ask questions that spark insight, not to dictate answers.

How to do it:
- Use open-ended questions in I&A workshops: “What’s the real blocker here? What have we tried?”
- Listen deeply, then help the team connect dots.
- Offer support and remove roadblocks, rather than prescribing detailed solutions.

If you want a structured way to develop this skill, dive into external resources like Harvard Business Review’s guide on coaching for leaders.

10. Make Continuous Improvement a Leadership Habit

Ultimately, leadership is about habits. When leaders consistently show up, ask the right questions, and reward learning, Inspect and Adapt becomes part of the DNA.

How to do it:
- Block time on your calendar for regular reflection as a leader.
- Share your own improvement goals with your teams.
- Make I&A the place where teams see that leadership walks the talk.

Wrapping Up: Why It Matters

Inspect and Adapt can transform teams—but only if leadership is genuinely invested. When leaders model transparency, encourage experimentation, and make time for continuous improvement, the rest of the organization follows. It’s not about grand gestures. It’s about small, consistent actions that show you care about getting better, not just getting by.

For leaders who want to take this even further, formal training matters. Get started or go deeper with programs like Leading SAFe Agilist Certification Training, SAFe Scrum Master Certification, or SAFe Release Train Engineer Certification Training.

If you want a wider perspective on organizational learning, read this MIT Sloan article on building a learning organization.

Key Takeaways

Leadership shapes Inspect and Adapt by making it safe, important, and actionable.
Show up. Listen. Follow through. Coach, don’t command.
Invest in your own agile learning and encourage your teams to do the same.

Want to become a change agent for your organization?
Reach out to AgileSeekers at +91 91 4396 4396.

Also read - Inspect and Adapt Workshop Agenda and Best Practices

Also see - Improving Team Performance Through Inspect and Adapt