Hey, sorry for the late reply, I've been really busy in the studio. Big thanks to all who jumped in and contributed to this thread:)!!

In my opinion, learning the CAGED system isn't necessary to learn the fretboard and become a better guitarist, as many of the posts in this thread will testify.

You can learn more about simple triad shapes by learning songs that actually use them! For example, check out the main guitar part to Brown Sugar or Free Ride:

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=2105

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=845

Hope this is helpful. Thanks for the compliment and Happy 2017 back at you!

Mike