No successful company thrives by copying others’ ways of working

TL;DR; Successful companies do not achieve success by copying others’ processes; instead, they create ways of working tailored to their unique challenges, culture, and customers. Relying on packaged frameworks like SAFe or the Spotify Model can hinder genuine growth and adaptation. Development managers should focus on designing and evolving their own approaches to scaling rather than outsourcing this critical work to external models.

Published on 26 April 2025

Written by Martin Hinshelwood

1 minute read

https://nkdagility.com/resources/GcanwqIp5ok

No successful company got where they are by copy-pasting someone else’s way of working.

Yet, so many businesses fall into the trap of adopting SAFe, the Spotify Model, or some other packaged framework, thinking it will magically solve their scaling challenges.

Here’s the reality: Your company is unique. Your challenges are unique. Your approach to scaling needs to be unique.

Every successful organisation designed its own way of working, tailored to its market, culture, and customers. That’s what made them successful in the first place.

So why abandon that approach now?

Scaling isn’t about applying a framework. It’s about learning, adapting, and evolving, on your terms.

Is your organisation designing its own future, or outsourcing it to a framework?

Also published on: LinkedIn

Connect with Martin Hinshelwood

If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.

Our Happy Clients

We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.