ComparisonScaling Software Development - ZeroBlockers vs LeSS Huge: Which scaling framework is better for you?

LeSS Huge addresses efficiency by creating feature teams (long lived, cross-functional, co-located teams) instead of component teams (group of specialists working on a particular technical component). By linking the teams to feature they are more customer aligned and can build features from start to finish with minimal blockers. The challenge is that they all share the same code base so there will be merge conflicts and forced dependencies.

The ZeroBlockers approach advocates for similar cross-functional teams but we align them to value streams instead of features because a value stream has completely independent code as well as being feature independent. This removes even more of the blockers that slow down delivery speed.

LeSS uses a single product backlog to define the scope of work. This means that PO's can compare the value of each feature and prioritise them accordingly which ensures that different feature teams are all working on the highest value items. The challenge is that since the PO is defining the solutions the team is only accountable for building the solution and not the effectiveness of the solution.

ZeroBlockers believes that you cannot know how customers will react to new features until they have them in their hands. It is not fair to ask a business person to specify the outcome of a feature because we don't know. We all have ideas that sound great but few of them work. Therefore solution evaluation and iteration are integral parts of the process. The core metric is whether customers change their behaviour as a result of the feature.

Shared code is subject to the tragedy of the commons. Each team has a tight deadline so they need to cut corners at the end. While LeSS include a principle of continuous refactoring it is in direct competition with a measured KPI: sprint velocity. That is why in ZeroBlockers each team owns their own code. They are responsible for ensuring the health of their code so they can work sustainably.

There are a million ways we can change how we work but not all of them are improvements. Even though managers have a lot of experience comparing improvements can lead to battles of opinions unless there is a clear vision. ZeroBlockers has a vision of having zero blockers in the flow of work so teams now have a target to aim towards and something to use to compare alternative options for improvement. You'd be surprised how much time this saves.

Burnout isn't caused by challenging targets or high workloads. It is caused by being held to targets that you can't control such as an unrealistic deadline that was imposed on you. By giving teams autonomy over the way they achieve the product goals you are putting them in control. We can still set challenging stretch targets but, once teams can control how they achieve the targets, this can energise rather than cause burnout.

LeSS Huge follows a traditional Scrum approach at the team level with a PO defining what is to be built and the team building it.

The ZeroBlockers approach is that we don't know exactly what customers want so the team needs to uncover the best solutions to build. This means that the team needs to do research, ideate on potential solutions, evaluate them using experiments and then build the winning ideas iteratively so the team can continue to improve the solution over time.

In LeSS Huge scaling is achieved by breaking a large product into multiple Product Areas. The Area Product Owner works together with the POs to define the scope of work for each Area. Managers shift from making detailed decisions about how teams operate to enabling teams to be self-managing and self-organising.

The ZeroBlockers approach is similar to LeSS Huge in that it splits up a Product into different areas to reduce complexity and managers are to help teams be more self-managed. However ZeroBlockers goes another step in that teams have autonomy over their backlog, architecture and path to production. This frees up the Product Team to focus more on the strategy and validating that the initiatives being worked on by the Stream Teams are achieving the desired business goals.

LeSS Huge doesn't cover scaling to a portfolio level. The intent is that Areas are independent so they do not need cross-coordination. Area Product Owners can self-organise to manage work across Areas.

ZeroBlockers believes that there are benefits to having a portfolio level. The products in a company are often connected, both in terms of an overall company strategy as well as more directly in terms of integrations or just look and feel. An Ecosystem can coordinate the work of separate Products, Enabling Teams and Internal Product Teams via an ecosystem vision, strategy and funding model.

LeSS Huge builds on the Scrum operating model which is already in place in many organisations. This, coupled with the fact that the changes involved in implementing LeSS Huge are largely limited to the IT department, makes implementation easier compared to ZeroBlockers.

ZeroBlockers involves changes across the business - because software is integral to our products today - not something just tacked on. This means you need more buy-in to get started. But you can start small - one product, one value stream. With over 10 years of UXDX content and case studies, there is also a large body of resources to assist in the rollout of the framework. It might be tougher to implement but it will deliver better outcomes.