Bridging the Chasm: A Manager’s Role in nurturing LeSS in a traditional, hierarchical mechanical corporation

Talk by Mauro Sacchi and Sofia Ahläng
LeSS Conference Amsterdam 2026

What is the role of a manager in a LeSS adoption inside a traditional, hierarchical company?

In this talk, Mauro Sacchi and Sofia Ahläng share their experience from a long-established industrial organization operating in a complex mechanical and digital environment. Their story explores what it means to support LeSS principles in a company shaped by hierarchy, legacy structures, and a much broader business ecosystem.

Rather than focusing on frameworks for their own sake, Mauro and Sofia speak from the perspective of management and controlling: how to improve organizational performance, create the conditions for better product development, and build bridges between digital product teams and the rest of the business.

Topics covered in this talk

• Moving from multiple backlogs to one product backlog
• Shifting escalation and prioritization toward a true Product Owner role
• Reducing hierarchy and enabling self-managing teams
• Creating a “heat shield” so teams have space to learn and improve
• Translating software development for stakeholders in traditional mechanical environments
• Using metrics to improve transparency without damaging the system
• Building bridges between agile product development and the wider organization

Mauro and Sofia also reflect on an important tension in large traditional companies: digital product teams cannot succeed in isolation. To survive and thrive, they must be understood by and connected to the rest of the organization — including functions shaped by very different rhythms, expectations, and ways of working.

At its core, this session is about leadership, trust, and culture. What should managers do to help LeSS grow? And how can they help create an environment strong enough to survive even when leadership changes?

This talk is especially relevant for managers, leaders, controllers, and change agents working in established organizations where product development must coexist with legacy structures, industrial realities, and traditional management expectations.

LeSS Conference Amsterdam 2026
https://less.works