LeSS 2025 Amsterdam - Q&A with Bas Vodde and Craig Larman

With Bas Vodde, Craig Larman, and Bastiaan van Hamersveld
LeSS Conference Amsterdam 2025

What happens when the LeSS community gets direct access to Bas Vodde and Craig Larman for an open Q&A?

In this lively closing session from LeSS Amsterdam 2025, Bas Vodde and Craig Larman, joined by Bastiaan van Hamersveld, respond to audience questions on some of the most practical and challenging topics in large-scale product development and organizational change.

The discussion ranges from specific implementation details to broader reflections on why organizational change is so difficult, what makes adaptive organizations different, and how LeSS continues to evolve.

Topics covered in this session

• The difference between a separate tech backlog and using prioritization buckets
• Which LeSS principles are hardest to implement in practice
• Why managers need to go and see for themselves
• How teams balance specialist depth with broader multi-learning
• What has changed in LeSS thinking since the books were written
• Why LeSS has not become more widespread — and what that says about real change
• What makes an organization truly adaptive
• Where the LeSS community may be headed in the coming years
• How large groups can make decisions without centralizing everything
• How coaches and change agents stay sane when change is slow
• How case studies and practical learning can be shared more effectively

The session also includes reflections on inclusion in the LeSS community, the changing role of training and coaching, and examples of organizations applying LeSS principles in very different contexts around the world.

This Q&A is especially relevant for coaches, Scrum Masters, leaders, and practitioners who want to better understand not only how LeSS works, but also how the thinking behind it continues to develop.

LeSS Conference Amsterdam 2025
https://less.works