Get Faster Feedback means that results and hypotheses are reviewed as early as possible in order to reduce risks, accelerate learning, and deliver value faster. Feedback comes from customers, stakeholders, systems, or data—and is a key driver of lean-agile working methods.
Practical relevance
In SAFe, rapid feedback is anchored through several mechanisms:
• System demos at the end of each iteration/PI → validation at the ART level.
• PI Objectives & Business Owner Review → Feedback on business value.
• Inspect & Adapt workshops → Feedback on system & collaboration.
• Continuous Delivery Pipeline → Technical feedback loops (CI/CD, monitoring).
Outside of SAFe:
• Design Thinking: Test early prototypes instead of discussing concepts for months.
• Lean Startup: Validate hypotheses through minimum viable products (MVPs).
• DevOps: Automated testing, monitoring, feature toggles for fast customer feedback.
Typical misunderstandings
❌ "Feedback takes time, better to deliver directly" – in fact, early feedback saves time because wrong directions can be corrected early on.
❌ "Feedback only means customer surveys" – feedback also comes from system metrics, quality tests, or internal reviews.
❌ "More feedback = more meetings" – the opposite is true: automated feedback loops reduce meetings and discussions.
Relevance for organizations
• Risk reduction: Errors are detected early on instead of being corrected late at a high cost.
• Customer benefit: Stronger focus on real needs.
• Innovation: Experiments and hypotheses can be tested quickly.
• Culture: Feedback promotes willingness to learn and transparency.
Organizations that slow down feedback run the risk of developing in a direction that misses the market.
Practical example
An insurance company developed a new app feature in the traditional way over a period of nine months – with the result that it was poorly received by customers. After switching to increments with rapid feedback from selected pilot customers, adjustments could be made within three months. Use of the feature increased by over 60% as feedback loops revealed genuine customer needs.
Application outside of SAFe
The principle is universal:
• Product development: MVP instead of "big bang" release.
• Change management: Feedback on transformations through pulse surveys.
• Strategy work: Test hypotheses in small strategy sprints.
• Teamwork: Short retrospectives instead of annual reviews.
The shorter the feedback cycles, the faster the learning—regardless of the context.
How good coaches use feedback in practice
• Encourage experimentation: Formulate hypotheses and make them measurable.
• Introduce metrics: Business metrics instead of pure output measurement.
• Develop a feedback culture: Encourage teams to show imperfect results early on.
• Technical automation: CI/CD pipelines for continuous feedback.
• Involve stakeholders: Shorten feedback loops between business and development.
CALADE perspective
At CALADE, we use "Get Faster Feedback" as a central learning principle. Whether in transformations, strategy work, or product development, we help organizations radically shorten feedback cycles through prototyping, data-driven reviews, and continuous validation. This way, feedback becomes a driver for learning and innovation rather than a tedious control mechanism.
Related terms
• Inspect & Adapt Workshop
• System Demo
• Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
• Continuous Delivery Pipeline
• Design Thinking
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