Who is Lv Yi (@yi_lv)

Lv Yi was suggested by Bas. Here is what Bas has to say about Lv Yi. It has been more than 10 years since I first met Lv Yi. We worked together on the same product in Nokia Networks (now Nokia Siemens Networks) and we both had a drive for improving software quality. I cannot count the number of discussions I’ve had over the years and it is the discussions that always left me impressed with his ability to think and ask the right questions. When Lv Yi asks questions, the questions sometimes seem naive, but if you think about his questions, they are often extremely well thought and to the point. They often frustrate me at first and almost always lead me to new insights. Over the last 10 years we’ve often gone different ways, kept contact and then started working closer together again. I always enjoy working with and talking to Lv Yi.

What is something people usually don’t know about you but has influenced you in who you are?

I was always one of the best students in school until I went to high school. In high school, I found that I was not good at all. I started to fail exams in many subjects, while many classmates did very well. I was losing my confidence, and questioning my intellectual ability, and the ability to improve. Fortunately, with the encouragement and support from the teacher of one subject, I gradually did better on that subject, which helped me see the possibility to improve also in other subjects. I realized that the effort would pay off once you believed in it. That influenced me to treat the “failure” better ever since.

If you had not been in IT, what would have become of you?

I don’t know. I think more about what I may do in the future 🙂

What is your biggest challenge and why is it a good thing for you?

My biggest challenge is to balance family and work. I love work, but as a coach and trainer, I travel a lot; and I love spending time with my family, especially my 3+ year old daughter. It is not a good thing per se, but there is also a positive side. It helps me focus. It helps me learn how to balance. It helps me learn new skills on customer development in my town. It also helps me appreciate more about family.

What drives you?

Being helpful to people around me. The experience of changing for the better and influencing others to live a better life.

What is your biggest achievement?

We made an Agile transformation in a big product line. I grew myself a lot, and helped lots of people grow in the course.

What is the last book you have read?

Mindset from Carol Dweck

What question do you think I should also ask and what is the answer?

What would you like to do in the future? I’d like to apply experiential learning for kids. I’d like to work with my daughter on this first. If it works out well, I may create a startup to pursue this.

Whom do you think I should ask next?

August 2012

Hangzhou, China