What is one risk of eliminating an Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration?

 Eliminating an Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration can lead to uncontrollable growth in technical debt. The IP Iteration in SAFe provides a buffer for managing risks and unforeseen delays, ensuring a consistent and predictable delivery schedule. It also offers dedicated time for innovation, continuing education, PI Planning, and Inspect and Adapt (I&A) events1. Without this iteration, teams may miss out on opportunities for innovation due to the constant pressure of delivery, which can result in an accumulation of technical debt over time. This is because the focus remains on immediate feature delivery without the allocated time to address underlying issues or invest in system improvements2.