Episode
Agile Didn’t Fail. Procurement Did.
- Podcast
- Better Ways of Working
- Published
- Dec 29, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 1571
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://bwow.substack.com/p/agile-didnt-fail-procurement-did
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Summary
Most Agile transformations don’t fail in delivery.They fail at procurement. Teams move fast.Contracts don’t. That gap quietly kills momentum. Backlogs flow—until sourcing, legal, and vendors pull everything back into a months-long, document-driven process designed for predictability, not complexity. In my recent conversation with Mirko Kleiner , one of the pioneers of Lean Agile Procurement , I learned how his teams flipped sourcing on its head: * ERP vendor selected in 2 days * Engineers talking directly to engineers * All vendors in the same room * Solutions co-created , not specified upfront * Contracts negotiated during the workshop * World Procurement Award winner It all starts with one uncomfortable question: “What if we had just one day to select a supplier — and sign the contract?” That constraint forces a redesign of the system:less delegation, fewer handoffs, real ownership, and radically more transparency between buyers and suppliers. This isn’t fringe thinking anymore. Mirko and the Lean Agile Procurement community recently released a joint whitepaper with SAFe that directly addresses a problem many organizations feel but can’t name:Agile at scale breaks down when procurement and other supporting functions stay traditional. You can read it here:👉 https://www.lap-alliance.org/resources/our-blog/boost-your-safe-implementation-with-lean-agile-procurement-n2km7 What’s emerging is bigger than procurement. It’s a global movement focused on cross-company collaboration and value streams that don’t stop at the company’s front door . That movement is growing quickly—and they’re actively looking for trainers to help meet demand worldwide:👉 https://www.lap-alliance.org If your Agile teams move fast but your vendors don’t, you’re not missing another framework. You’re mi…