Archive for the ‘Who is ?’ Category

Who is Jukka Lindstrom ?

one comment | Posted on Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 | Read more articles about 'BookList, Who is ?'

Jukka was invited by Esther. She says: Jukka has boundless curiosity about how people and organizations tick. What I wonderfull way to describe someone. Interesting is the least you can say of Jukka. When you look at Jukka’s Linkedin profile, you see he was

and now

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

I went to Helsinki Upper Secondary School of Visual Arts for high school. The school had a strong emphasis on visual arts (maybe 1/4 of the classes was something related to arts and creativity ) and it had a big impact on me. The atmosphere at school was quite unconventional as high schools go (at least so I think) and we were provided a quite a lot of freedom (/w responsibility) on choosing our studies and where to spend our time.

A part of my open-mindedness and creative out-of-the-box thinking has likely been influenced by my years doodling stuff and hanging out with the creative and interesting people there.

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

Most likely an architect or engineer, but possibly a mathematician or physicist. Before high school I was striving to become an architect due my interest in arts. It would have been quite natural job selection as our family has a background in construction and engineering.

The employment situation at the time for architects wasn’t too good in Finland so I decided to pursue my childhood passion – computers and information science at the Helsinki University of Technology.

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

I become absorbed in new interesting things very easily. When I find something interesting, other things that I have been focusing on all fall to the background.

I get a huge boost of energy when I learn or do something new, whether that is doing gymnastics, a new book, playing chess or giving effective feedback to colleagues. Because of that good feeling and energy I get a lot of done in a short amount of time.

The drawback is of course the lack of attention to other things – for instance I might realize after a month that I have not finished some other things I had picked up earlier (read a book, create a new training module). This makes me sad as it means at times I have a lot of WIP or loose ends. For example I have a huge (and I mean huge!) pile of books that I’ve started with enthusiasm but haven’t finished.

Overall I think this habit is good for me, because I love learning and making associations. Reading and trying a lot of different things I get new insights about how things relate to each other; and I can help others by pointing out to sources of information on different subjects.

What drives you?

The thing that has always driven me is challenge. If there’s a challenge it is highly likely that I will be very motivated on what ever the challenge is about. Learning is another big thing for me, I love learning new things and I have almost endless curiosity :) . Having a new insights is so big a boost for me, that I’m almost addicted...

Something that I’ve found more and more motivating during the last couple of years is helping other people.

When I see someone become more motivated, satisfied, happy and energetic, I get a huge boost of energy for myself.  I don’t know whether this is the cause or effect of my focus from coding and solving technical challenges to helping people and coaching people.

What is your biggest achievement?

Tough question. When thinking of my life, no specific one achievement jump to my mind. What I do recall, is  the many many hours spent on pondering and working on some challenges or doing something else I enjoy.

For me, the destination is not that important, it’s how I got there that I remember and value.

One the my journeys that I treasure is my personal transformation from an expert to a coach – the biggest achievement is that I decided to start this transformation. There’s many great learnings and insights I’ve had during the years on this road – and still learning! 

What is the last book you have read?

Well well.. :-) Does a partially read book count ?

The last book I read fully was The Anatomy of Peace by Arbinger Institute. It is an outstanding novel that helped me understand how I am not only responsible of my actions, but also of my feelings and how this revelation affects the relationships with people. It had a huge impact on my outlook on life.

After The Anatomy of Peace I’ve started about half a dozen books. Here’s the one’s that I am multi-reading and almost finished with:

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

What’s your last significant insight related to your work?

I got big insight from David Rocks’ school of coaching which is based on latest brain science; When coaching, stay away from details, concentrate on the other coachee’s thinking.

Questions about details like "What happened next? What are the different factors of that problem?" are usually not too useful in helping the coachee go forward. They lead to information exchange between the coach and coachee, rather than create insights or momentum.

As a coach I don’t need to know the details of the dilemma, the coachee knows all of that already. In fact, my goal is not to know about coachee’s problem, but help that person go forward. For that I need to help that person come up with new insights about the situation. For example asking questions related to the coachee’s thinking has much higher probability on creating an insight for the coachee ("Where is your thinking right now on this issue? What have you learned? What else?").

The insight was not really while hearing or reading about this, but as I started trying this out. I’ve have great results trying this approach. You can read more about this from Quiet Leadership or Coaching with the Brain in Mind by David Rock.

Who do you think I should ask next?

Bas Vodde, who a nice wise guy living in Singapore.  I’ve known Bas for many years and I’ve never won an argument with him :) .

 

If you like these answers, you can find more in the “Who is agile” book. Jukka also answerd the Ola Ellnestam’s question: What is your favorite question right now?

Who is Jenni Jepsen

one comment | Posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2012 | Read more articles about 'Agile, Who is ?'

I met Jenni a few years back at XPDay Benelux. She did a wonderfull session together with Portia Tung. I have to admit I was at the session because of Portia. I was so impressed with Jenni, I went to her flirting with your stakeholder session the next day. I left even more impressed. I had numerous online conversation with Jenni since. I was really glad when Nicole invited her.

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

Many people do not know that I had a sister who died in a car accident. She was nearly 18, I was 20. That was the first time I’d experienced a death of someone close to me. I felt a lot of guilt at the time – she was a much happier person than I was. And being the only surviving sibling, I felt a bit lost dealing with my and my parents’ grief. Of course, this is a sad story, but it has had a major influence on my life. I really appreciate who my sister was, and afterwards I can see that I appreciate others so much more, I think, than I would have without having gone through this loss. Living each day to the fullest is not a cliché for me. It’s helped me to make some courageous decisions.

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

Hmmm, I guess I am now working in IT, aren’t I? I’m helping project teams improve their communication and collaboration. But I don’t have an IT background, so I don’t necessarily identify myself as “in IT.” I think that if I had not discovered Agile, I would still be working with executives and organizations helping them communicate the benefits of their products and services to end-user customers. I like what I do now much better. It’s more challenging, more interesting and I can see a greater good created by using Agile methodologies within the entire organization.

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

My biggest challenge right now is to continue to integrate in Denmark. I moved here from the U.S. in 2008 (for love). My Danish is not quite fluent yet, but I’ve made major steps. My next goal is, in two years, to be doing my work completely in Danish if that is what the client prefers. Really learning the language is good for me because it’s been an unexpected “test” that I think helps keep my mind sharp. Isn’t that what they say, you should challenge your brain by learning another language? It’s either that or crossword puzzles…

What drives you?

Two things: my desire to share what I know with others to help them align with goals, create meaning for their stakeholders, and build trust within the organization, AND my perfectionist tendencies, which are not always a good thing. I want to do the best job I can at all times. Making my clients happy is critical, but making sure I feel I’ve done my very best is even more important to me.

What is your biggest achievement?

Helping raise my independent, clever, curious son. He’s 24 now and it’s so great for me to see his transformation and know that I played a part in that.

What is the last book you have read?

Fiction: Fire dage i marts, about a woman’s relationship with her mother, grandmother, son and boyfriend, and events that span four days in March – in Danish.
Non-fiction: SWITCH, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath about organizational change.

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

Q. Where do you go to learn?
A. Many places: conferences (especially the smaller ones), books, courses, blogs, twitter…but conversations, really deep conversations, with others both in and outside of the Agile community, seem to be where I learn most.

Who do you think I should ask next?

There are so many smart, talented people in this community. How about:

  • Ole Jepsen – my partner in all things, and the man that brought “Agile” to Denmark.
  • Martin Heider – young, energetic, helping lead the Agile movement in Germany.
  • Michael Sahota  – okay, I just feel good hanging around Michael. His focus is on using games as a way to align with strategies and get people really communicating.
  • Portia Tung  – her ability to get at the heart of the matter and work with teams to find answers is uncanny.

If you like these answers, you can find more in the book: who is agile. Jenni also answered Lisa’s question: What are you looking forward to most in the next few months?

Who is Shane Hastie

2 comments | Posted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 | Read more articles about 'Agile, BookList, Who is ?'

Shane Hastie was proposed by Dennis. Shane is a CKE. CKE as in Chief Knowledge Engineer. I love that title. You might know Shane from [his articles for InfoQ. Shane lives in New-Zealand in a timezone exactly 12 hour difference from Belgium (where I live). That makes skype calls between us kinda funny. When I talk to him at 21 PM (my time), it’s 9 am the next morning (on his side).

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

As a teenager in the 70‘s I was really fortunate to get involved in a progamme run by the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) that was an introduction to computer science. I spent many Saturdays writing programs in Fortran and Assembler; we even had to build our own controlled logic device 4-bit computer to understand how they work. That instilled an interest in computing and gadgets, but I didn’t go into computing straight from school. Instead I initially worked in retail – jewelry and food – which gave me a reasonable understanding of ensuring that the product you sell must meet real people’s needs. When I moved into computing as a career I brought this customer focus into my work and have found that it helps me deliver better products that meet the customer’s needs.

Malcolm Watson from Pronto Software puts it perfectly: Technology exists to serve the human need, not to be the human need.

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

Before I trained as a programmer I was managing a jewelry store, and was seriously considering becoming a gemologist. I’m still interested in sparkly things :-) I suspect that my wife would have enjoyed it if I’d taken that path.

What is your biggest challenge and why is it a good thing for you?
I tend to be a workaholic, and struggle to say “no” when asked to take on something new, especially if it’s something I am interested in.

Getting the right balance is really hard, and I don’t think I’ve got there yet; my wife is certain that I haven’t!

Not so sure about the “good for me bit” – it’ll be good when I do manage to find the right balance though :-)

What drives you ?

I’m passionate about sharing what I’ve learned over the last 30 years in IT. I think that I’ve made most of the mistakes that are out there and have learned lots by doing so. If I can help some people and teams improve their way of working and instill a real focus on building products that create customer delight while having fun and working effectively together then I feel I have achieved something of value.

I’ve just spent some time with a team in Brisbane, helping them implement Agile techniques in their workplace. It was a wonderfully satisfying experience to hear them debating the merits of the practices and come to a deep understanding of what it means to work in this way. They really “got it” and we were able to put it into practice right away. The delight and happiness that this team feel in their work shines out of them and their customers really appreciate the products they’re building. Being able to help people rekindle their joy in work is tremendously satisfying. We spend most of our waking hours at work – it should be both fun and satisfying.

What is your biggest achievement?

Nancy and I have raised five wonderful children to adulthood, this I feel is the ultimate legacy – the values and principles we’ve helped instil in the lives of those who are closest to us.

My relationship with my wife Nancy has to count as a hugely important part of who I am – we’ve had 31 wonderful years together, have truly experienced the “in sickness and in health for richer, for poorer; for better, for worse” and are still on honeymoon.

On a professional level I would say getting my Master’s degree as an adult learner (I didn’t go to university after school, I got married instead) is something that I have found personally very satisfying. I approached it with a degree of arrogance (I’ve been doing this for over 20 years, what can these academics teach me) and found that there was a huge amount that I didn’t know, and needed to learn. It also gave me a strong understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of why the practices that I espouse work – I was working with a company in Melbourne who were adopting Agile as their way of working and studied them before and after the process change. So I learned (again) that Agile works, and also why it works so well.

What is the last book you have read?

I’ve just finished Specification by Example by Gojko. I’m busy building a course on business analysis in agile projects and his approaches are wonderful – he clearly explains the value and benefit of the ATDD practices in a simple pragmatic way. I’m planning to include his book as part of the course material.

I recently finished Radical Management by Steven Denning – another great read. He talks about overturning the fundamental ideas that underpinned management in the 20th century and focusing on the principles that drive business in the 21st – customer delight, joy in work, self-organising teams and professionalism.

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

What are you working on at the moment and why does it matter?
Thanks for asking – I’m really glad to be working with an international team under the auspices of the Agile Alliance and the International Institute for Business Analysis on defining the Agile Extension to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge.
Currently there is a vast gulf in understanding about the role of analysis on agile projects, which is leading to distrust and misunderstanding in the professional communities. I want to bridge these gaps – analysis is a vital skillset that every team building software products needs to have, and the fundamental knowledge of the analyst is really important on an agile project. How analysis is undertaken changes significantly and business analysts need to understand that their role will be different on agile projects – in my opinion it becomes much richer and more rewarding as we shepherd the product to delivery rather than focusing on writing cumbersome documents that are frequently ignored.

Who do you think I should ask next?

1. Johanna Rothman: she’s a great author, inspirational and wonderfully pragmatic in her writings, fantastic to work with (I recently had the opportunity to build and deliver a workshop on working effectively in distributed teams with her), and deeply passionate about improving the world of work. The AYE conference (she is one of the organisers) is a life-changing event. If you haven’t got her already then she’s my number one.

2. My colleague Sharon Robson- one of the Influential Women in Testing, she was also profiled in the Women in Agile program at Agile 2010. She is a great tester who is influencing the direction of the craft, tells great stories and is making a real difference with her work.

3. A friend and confederate James King, he has a low profile in the Agile community but is doing some great stuff with the teams he’s working with across Australia. He has designed a couple of really good games that help imbed the agile attitudes and understand the principles.

If you like these answers, I hope you buy the book: Who is agile
In the book lots of agilists answer the same questions and Shane’s answers also
Yvonne vanderLaak’s question: Who inspires you/is your role model?

Who is Yvonne van der Laak?

one comment | Posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 | Read more articles about 'Agile, BookList, Who is ?'

When I asked Yvonne to be in the book, she was really surprised. Not fake suprised, as some actresses do when they get an Oscar, she was surprised because technically she is not an agilist. She used to work for the Dutch branch of Xebia) as a Marketing Coordinator. I have not met Yvonne, yet for me, her interaction on twitter showed me that her mindset was really agile. I don’t know if that’s because of the influence of working for an agile company (which some of us would like) or because Xebia has great hiring skills. This book wants to show off people who understand agile and who breathe it and that is why Yvonne is in the book.

 

 

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

I am an idealist. My goal in life is to make the world a better place, especially when it comes to animal welfare. I have always known that this is something I care about, but only recently realized that it is actually the thing that drives me. My goal is to make a difference in the world. Social media helps me to get there.
 
If you would not have been in IT, what would have become of you?

Well actually, I am not in IT myself anymore. I used to work for Xebia, but started my own business – Start With Y – in social media and online branding. I have a background in communication and marketing. Some of my clients, however, are from the Agile community.
I have never deliberately chosen to be in IT. It sort of happened, but I must say that working at Xebia has definitely changed me. I have met so many great, driven people that have inspired and encouraged me. They have introduced me to the wonderous world of agile which still comes in handy as agile is definitely not just an "IT thing" anymore.
 
What is your biggest challenge and why is it a good thing for you?

Being an entrepreneur. I am not a very disciplined and orderly person, so having to manage myself and not having anyone to report to, is quite a challenge sometimes. Still, I am also the one that feels the pain as soon as I am slacking, so that keeps me going.
Just recently I have decided to look for a ‘real’ job  again and keep my business on the side. Working for myself has been an amazing experience so far. It helped me figure out what I want and like and how to get there. It made me very independent, but it also reminded me that I have to ask for help sometimes…
 
What drives you?

Happiness. Respect. Personal development. Fun. My fiancé. Animal welfare. And of course, world peace Winking smile

I am always looking for new things to broaden my horizon. This often results in my friends saying ‘You are doing what?! Why?!’ or ‘That’s so typical for you’, whenever I tell them about my new Russian language course, sports club (rarely), collecting books for schools in Surinam (in progress) or organizing a beach cleanup (coming soon). I love learning new things and contributing to social or environmental projects. I love sharing knowledge and creating awareness, especially amongst my friends. And I am fortunate to have the most amazing guy supporting me and watching my back, no matter what I do.
 
What is your biggest achievement?

Leaving the stability of a job behind and starting my own business. With all the struggles and insecurities that come with it. And I am enjoying every minute of it. Well, maybe not every minute, but at least a few hours every day ;)
 
What is the last book you have read?

You mean actually finished? Let me think… I am halfway through Start With Why by Simon Sinek, the same goes for Social Media ROI by Olivier Blanchard. I am reading a few Dutch books about starting up your own business. And I have a pile of about 20 books that I still want to read, most of them related to social media, general management or personal development.
Furthermore, I’ve just read The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz by Denis Avey and I am now reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
The next book I am going to buy for fun is Il Etait un Fois by Benjamin Lacombe. I love fairy tales and picture books with pretty drawings.
 
What question do you think I should also ask and what is the answer?

Who inspires you/is your role model? Similar to ‘what drives you?’ but not quite the same.
If I would have to name a few of my role models they would be

Sir Richard Branson (a self-made business man and idealist who works together with the biggest leaders in the world, trying to make a change and having fun while doing it),

Farah Fawcett (an amazingly strong woman who even when she was dying, wanted to help others by making a documentary of her illness)

Lady Gaga (a very young, driven and talented woman who has managed to build one of the biggest and tightest fan clubs in just a few years time).

And closer to home: Roos van Vugt, who is one of the biggest influencers in the Dutch social media/online community, has a great career, 4 kids and is a very nice person.

Last but not least my soon-to-be-hubby. Corny but true.
 
Who do you think I should ask next?

Definitely some Dutchies! I’d be curious about the anwers of Lillian Nijboer and some of my fomer collegues e.g.  

Last week Yvonne’s answers were already published in the Who is agile book together with the answer to the question: If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Who is Ola Ellnestam

one comment | Posted on Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 | Read more articles about 'Agile, BookList, Conferences, Who is ?'

Who is Ola Ellnestam?
Ola Ellnestam was invited by Zuzi. Zuzi wrote she was interested in Ola‘s answers.
You might know Ola from his Mikado method. You gotta love a man that invents a method called Mikado. I’m not sure where I met Ola, I think it was at SDC 2010. Oh and don’t mix Ola up with Ole one letter different, two different countries (Ola is from Sweden, Ole from Denmark) and two total different people, both in their own special way.

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

I have no formal education when it comes to programming. Actually I haven’t attended any ‘higher’ education at all. After 13 years in school I decided I’ve had enough. So, at the age of nineteen I told my mother I wanted to work with people and computers and she looked at me like I was from outer space. ‘You can’t work with computers and people, it’s either or …’

Two months later I was hired as a software & hardware support technician at Sweden’s largest emergency hospital, where I stayed for three years. After coming in contact with a lot of bad and good computer programs, and more importantly the people who used them I realize how important it is for software to be really fit for purpose.

If I had continued studying I probably would have missed the computerization of the Stockholm area health care and a lot of learning opportunities as well.

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

My first real memory regarding a career choice was related to flying. I dreamt about being a fighter pilot or traveling in space. Probably because I built a lot with Lego and around that time the coolest parts were the space Lego. Later when I considered myself too old for playing with Lego, I felt something was missing and it would take me another 5 years before I could put my finger on what. It was programming that filled the hole I’d felt, the creative, experimental aspect of it and the development and realization of ideas I had. They could all be done with computer programs.

In a way I have my dream job so I haven’t thought much about an alternative. But if I were to reconsider my career now, it would definitely include people and something very creative.

Maybe creating social games or being an artist.

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

Living in the ‘now’ is what causes me most conflict really. I sometimes catch myself planning the next family dinner or party in my mind, while being at a party or having dinner with the family. It’s sort of the opposite of running around and taking photos of everything. Photographing would be documenting, while sort of trying to imagine the future and creating it, there and then.

What comes out of this constant planning for the future is a lot of options though, which I do appreciate. And this inclination I have towards exploring options and preparing comes in handy in my work where adaptivness and flexibility often are appreciated and a lot easier if you have thought a bit ahead.

What drives you ?

I guess it’s an [un]healthy mix of curiosity and a feeling that there’s always a better way. I constantly have this nagging feeling that I can do better, this code could be a bit clearer and I just can’t sit idle and watch something being done inefficiently. Or even worse, see people spend energy, money or time in a manner that I feel is ineffective.

What is your biggest achievement?

That’s a really tough one because I don’t feel like I ever achieve something as I tend to minimize my own part in what I do. But if I trick myself and rephrase things a bit I would say I’m very proud of my family, my three kids and my lovely and supportive wife. I’m also proud of the company I started 5 years ago with my colleagues. Again if you look at what drives me, I think my biggest achievement is somewhere in the future, I like to think that tomorrow I’m going to do even better.

What is the last book you have read?

The last one I’ve actually read the final page of was Idealized Design by Russel Ackoff et al. It was interesting because of its practical advice and interesting stories about systems thinking.

But my reading is more this pile of books that are lying around and waiting to be finished. I got a handful going at the moment and somehow it feels like I never really finish books, apart from fiction books, which I feel are more important to actually read from cover to cover. Books that are non fiction almost always cause me to pick up a new book, as I get ¾s into them. That obviously doesn’t help me in finishing books. At least not in the sense ‘reading the last page’.

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

What is your favorite question right now?

The answer is ‘Could you please tell me something I don’t know about <>.

I love asking people that because it spawns really interesting conversations when you time it right.

Who do you think I should ask next?
Chris Matts or Aki Salmi .

Chris because of his energy, his drive and constant challenging of current views and ideas.
(Ola answered this before Chris his Who is was published.)

Aki because of his humility and his engagement in creating an active Agile community in Finland.

If you like these answers, you might want to buy the Who is agile book it contains tons of answers like this, with extra questions not on my blog.

Who is Zuzi Sochova

one comment | Posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 | Read more articles about 'BookList, WebExpo, Who is ?'

I met Zuzi at the first edition of AgileEE in 2009, were she gave a presentation about scrum under extremely short conditions. I did a presentation directly after her in the same room. Usually I concentrate on my own presentation and don’t pay much attention to what is being said. And then she started talking about half a day sprints. Taking about extreme agile. Yes I heard Pascal Van Cauwenberghe talking about small sprints too, but this proved he was a leader and not a lone nut. There went my concentration…

Some time later she invited me to WebExpo, where she organized the agile part of a great conference. I was really pleased when she said yes to Who Is and I could learn some more about this smart women with great organizing skills. And again I learned more then I could wish for. Enjoy her answers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is something people usually don’t know about you but has influenced you in who you are?
I’ve always wanted to have the hair of bright color, but all the time I was afraid to go for such colors so I was experimenting with just light tones. And then, one day I went to a hairdresser and left with real bright red hair color. I was kind of scared at first, but after a while, I realized it was really me and from that time I’m changing the hair colors almost every month.

If you would not have been in IT, what would have become of you?
I guess I would like to be a photographer. Or a dive master. But seriously, I had chosen IT and I still like it. It’s fun. Working with developers and testers on daily basis is a creative work. I like software, it’s easy and fast to try out your ideas and prove them by prototyping, a thing that is not possible in any other industry.

What is your biggest challenge and why is it a good thing for you?
My biggest challenge is to run my own business. In order to start it, I had to learn how to find people to cooperate with, which skills I need myself and which is better to find elsewhere. I would say the biggest lesson learned so far was to accept that I have to let some businesses pass away if they don’t fit, in order to get the right ones later on.
Speaking more general, the biggest challenge is to keep doing things in my way, even though the rest of the people say I should not. Do what I want and believe in, not what I’m expected to do.

What drives you?
The biggest satisfaction and motivation to go on for me is seeing the success of my work. If I help individuals, teams or companies to be better, more efficient and flexible or just have less stress and more fun, it’s the best bonus I can ever get.

What is your biggest achievement?
About six years ago, I had been working at one huge US company for 6 months. After a while I was able to succeed in the different culture and to fit the team there.  In the end, I started the long-term cooperation with that company back from the Czech Republic and it’s still successfully running even without me :)

What is the last book you have read?
The last book I have read is called End of Punk in Helsinki (Konec punku v Helsinkach). It’s a Czech book, I’m afraid there is no translation planned yet.

What question do you think I should also ask and what is the answer?
My favorite question is ‘where do you want to be in 10 years?’
Just imagine one of the nice islands somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, white sand, beach, coconut trees, and myself, lying in a hammock with my new 23rd generation iPad, driving my own business. However, why should I wait all 10 years to make it true? ;)

Who do you think I should ask next?
I will suggest Ola Ellnestam as I’m really interested in his answers

If you like stories like this, please buy our Who is agile book. It contains answers from different people and in the near future will contain an answer from Zuzi on another question.

Writing a book the agile way…

one comment | Posted on Saturday, February 4th, 2012 | Read more articles about 'Agile, BookList, PairWork, Who is ?, WorkLifeBalance'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For quite some time I have been asking (bugging) agile authors why they don’t write their books in an agile way.

Most told me it’s impossible.
Some of them have tried. With (in my opinion) nice results.

Agile Retrospectives is written by two authors. If I remember well Diana & Esther had writing sessions where they would write together. (PairProgramming)

For Agile Coaching Rachel and Liz both wrote on their own, but they reviewed and reworked each other’s text (collective code ownership). They also used a kanban board to make their work visual.

Robin Dymond and Gabrielle Benefield have been doing distributed pairwriting using skype and google docs.

All very nice examples, yet I hadn’t yet heard of iterations or at least regurly deploys.

I was told that a book is a one shot option. Hmmm, how many clients have told me that? And how many of them were right?

Last year when I was working on a book on Agile Games, I set up CI server and built the book at regular intervals. I only had a pdf version, but having a real version felt good. The big problem was I was spending so much time on layout and building issues I hardly had time to write. At the same time Johanna told me that writing a book with multiple authors was much harder then with one author. Looks like I was trying to run before I could walk. As a result I failed in public.

Now having time free, I started the Who Is Series on my blog. It is a weekly publication that includes one new person who answers the same set of questions. That very quickly became popular, so popular I had a stock of answers ready to post.

And then I noticed that Laurent Bossavit had published a book. Now Laurent is one of those people in the agile world who is miles ahead of all of us. He used LeanPub.

Leanpub gives people the possibility to publish in a lean way and to republish a book whenever there are changes.  Hmmm, looks like my idea of publishing a book the agile way is coming closer. I made up my mind that if I ever write a book, I would use LeanPub.

And then Elisabeth published There is always a duck. She had the idea. She created the book on LeanPub and after only 4 days she published her book. Wow that was LEAN.

OK, it was content she had been creating the last 15 years. Yet, for someone who had been trying to create multiple books and never succeeded, creating a book in 4 days was impressive.

Now I wanted to start writing myself. Although my first blog post was in 2002, I had abanded that blog. So Elisabeth’s option of using my blog content was not an option for me. Or was it?

I realized that the Who Is series was actually a good candidate for a book. I had popular content and I added answers every week. And it was written by multiple people.

The Who is Agile book was born. It took me a week or 3 to publish the first version - not because I wanted it to be perfect, but because safety is important to me and I wanted to be sure that I had the permission from all 30 people in the book. That was the hardest part.

When I had the permission of 25, I decided I would publish that week, no matter what.

I would withdraw the people that had not given me permission.

And so yesterday the first version was published.

Is it finished? No, it’s a MVP
Do I know what will be in the finished version? No it’s an MVP, so I use this to figure out what my customers want.

Is it bug free? No. At this moment the pictures are not optimized for the book. This means the book is too big. That’s fine. People can read it. And when I update that part (or find someone who is better than me at doing this) I will republish the book and my readers will get the new version of the book in their mailbox.

Along the way Andrea Chiou presented herself to edit the book. She is an agile coach with a quality control history and some free time. Wahoo - now I had a real team.

We used a google spreadsheet to keep track of the work. We did not have standups but used mail to synchronize the work, looks like we have some place for improvement in our team.

That is the future of publishing for me. At least for technical books where people can’t wait for the book to be finished to learn about a technique.

Why would people pay for content that is already free on the web?

I have asked the authors to answer one extra question. So people that read the book do get extra content. It seems to work as I let people pay what they want – some pay nothing, but most pay 29,99.

And while publishing, I thought about so many other things that I want to add to the book.

Does that sound familiar? Yes - pushing the release button has that effect on projects.

Publishing a book the agile way, it’s no longer the future. You can do it today.

Next up? A retrospective with Andrea to see what we can improve…

Update: If you want to experience how agile publishing works for readers, buy the Who Is Agile book and see for yourself.

Who is Peter Saddington

2 comments | Posted on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 | Read more articles about 'BookList, Diversity, Who is ?, WorkLifeBalance'

Peter was proposed by Don Gray. I know Peter from Agile Scouts. His top 200 Agile blogs was one of the reasons I started the WhoIs serie.  I have not met Peter in person, but we are reading eachothers blog and tweets. I know he is looking forward to have his answers published. We both share the same idea that the WhoIs should be fun. He send me multiple pictures, all pretty hilarious.
An agile coach with a supersonic crossbow, wow…

What is something people usually don’t know about you but has influenced you in who you are?
The biggest influences in my life are good books and education.
First off, good books: People may look at my copious amounts of writing and think that I tend to be very light-hearted (which I am) and somewhat surface level (which I am), but I’ve spent more of my adult life in education than many people that I know. I’m a HUGE consumer of books. Books on technology, social media, and software development are my daily reads. Frankly, one of the reasons I wrote a book “The Scrum Pocket Guide is really a response to the plethora of 300+ page management and software development books that line my bookshelf. I wanted to write something pragmatic, useful, and easy to consume. It’s only 50 pages after all. I’m a huge consumer of philosophy, social science, and even theology books. They bring the rest of the human issues to light and round out the technological slant that I generally have.
Second, higher education: I have a Computer Science and Engineering undergraduate degree. But most people don’t know that I also have three (3) Masters degrees in social sciences: M.A. Counseling, M.A. Education, and a Masters Divinity in Theology. Just think about how much time I have spent in higher education! Learning everything from the human aspect of communication and counseling, understanding empathy, root-cause issues, and communication techniques. What about education philosophy? Everything from different learning styles, to personalities, to education techniques for every group of people. What about Theology? How our ideas about God transform our morals, ethics, ethos, and our worldviews? Mash all of these together and I think you begin to more fully understand the nature of man, his drivers, his personalities, and the deep parts of the soul that make people work.
I always encourage people to “grow their craft” . I believe you become ineffective the day you stop personally striving to learn and grow yourself. Armchair theorists and philosophers have no place in my worldview. That’s why being an Agile Coach  is a perfect fit for me as a role and a passion. I love working with people and technology. It doesn’t get much better than that.

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

I can’t imagine a world where I would be without IT. I love technology, social media, people, and coaching teams to agility. I’ve been doing it since I was a developer back in the mid 90′s. Ever take the Strength Finders test? Well I’m a: Futurist, Competitive, Communicative, Significance, Individualization. This means that I look for the best in people, I want to win, I love to collaborate, I want to do something important for myself and others, and I care deeply about others and their goals. Being an Enterprise Agile Coach allows me to do all of that!!!
But… if I were to stretch my thinking, I think I would be in some sort of medical field, helping others… and probably over time, finding Agile-approaches to doing medicine…

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

My biggest challenge was pushing myself through a decade of higher level education. Knowing the challenges, the TIME COMMITMENT, and the long late nights of studying it was hard to keep a positive attitude about it at times. Thank God for Agile practices though. I planned accordingly, used a personal kanban board and completed my education and learned discipline, time management, and work-life balance that you can’t learn from a book. Nothing worth working for that is hard will yield little. You learn through the process, you grow as an individual, and end up on the other side grateful that you pushed yourself to do that which is hard. I will soon be embarking on a doctorate in the next couple of years. Why? Because it’s so much fun to learn.

What drives you?

Goodness. Have I covered this enough? Learning and growing. I’m addicted to information. My blog, is a testament to that. I love gathering data, radiating that data and information, and seeing what happens. Some could call me an education junkie. Sure. That works for me. Now, if you actually get some time to sit down with me, you’ll see that I’m a full-of-energy and passionate guy. I may even be a little ADHD, but never had anything diagnosed. I just love to work, seeing the fruits of my labor, and #winning at life.

What is your biggest achievement?

Pro-creating. I have the most beautiful daughter in the world. Thanks to a willing participant in my wife, I did that which far exceeds my greatest successes in business. The second biggest achievement is getting married. But that, my friends, is a story for another time.

What is the last book you have read?

Hard to say. I currently read multiple books at any given time.
Currently I’m reading:
David J. Anderson’s book on Kanban - I’m reading this for the 3rd time because it helps to be reminded of small facets of kanban to help a client I’m working with right now.
C. Stephen Evans Philosophy of Religion – A great book that was published in 1982. My second go at this one.
Daniel Pink’s Drive - Want to take a run on the wild side and take a peek into what motivates us? Totally worth the read. My second time reading this.
Alexander Osterwalder’s Business Model Generation – Fantastic book on how to build a business
Jack Welch’s Winning – Listened to the audio version of this book. Never do that! Jack is a terrible narrator. Read the book instead.

What question do you think I should also ask and what is the answer?
“What fruit do I resemble and why?“

I would like to think of myself as a coconut. K-thx-bye.

Who should be the next person to answer these questions?

Who is Lyssa Adkins

one comment | Posted on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 | Read more articles about 'Agile, Who is ?'

Lyssa career is a nice example that people can recover from Command & Control.  (Paraphrasing her words, read her book coaching agile teams  if you want to now more about it.) I first met her through one of her articles about conflicts. We exchanged some e-mails. I was too late to be a reviewer of her book. It did not matter, I read it multiple times after that. I still owe her a text for her website.

Everytime I see her, she (like a lot of people in our community) is smiling.   And she proposes as the next person someone with the same name as on of my kids. How touthful of her…

This WhoIS  has less funny links  as what I used to do. I spend my WE doing a coachRetreat and working on the book version of WhoIS. On top of that today my godfather died, so I did no take time to be funny.

The Who Is book will contain an extra answer from everyone, so subscribe, once I have 50 subscribers I will publish the first version. (And as I am using LeanPub, you will be able to download the new versions as they appear.)

 

What is something people usually don’t know about you but has influenced you in who you are?
I am a singer and learning to sing in a chorus is an exercise in shining and blending. Back and forth, letting your voice shine while blending with the others, weaving in and out with the other voices in the choir. Singing in a choir also takes tremendous attention and hard work – it’s not for the feint of heart! My choral experiences have taught me discipline and they have solidified my already strong blue-collar work ethic (that I learned from my parents). Most of all, singing in a choir had taught me about exquisite moments of pure joy, when the harmonies come together just perfectly, when the emotion gets conveyed and everyone in the performance hall can feel it. Bliss!

If you would not have been in IT, what would have become of you?
I wanted to be a marine biologist but may parents strongly discouraged me because they thought I wouldn’t find a good job after all of that education and training. what really sealed my fate, though, was chemistry and really, anything mathematical. I just could not figure that out (still can’t). So, my days as a biologist were numbered. Although my undergraduate degree is in Management Information Systems, I never really had my heart set on building IT systems. I was always more interested in the business-end of the systems and drove people crazy by asking “why?” all the time. They fixed that, though. Even in my earliest jobs after college, I was constantly assigned as the project manager – because I was loud and could organize things (especially people). So, I got buried for the next 15 years in project management process and paperwork and didn’t have time to ask “why?” anymore. Six years ago, agile restored the ability to ask questions that matter and I am forever in debt to agile for that.

What is your biggest challenge and why is it a good thing for you?
My biggest challenge is that, sometimes, I trade being kind for being right. I can be really scathing and too-blunt sometimes, and I can cut people down with just a slantwise glance. I work to improve this all the time. I even have a coaching structure to help me – it’s a big art-glass heart necklace and I wear it to remind myself to bring my heart and kindness along for the ride. I’m still going to be forthright because I believe that often serves people the best. It’s just forthright-ness with more kindness.

What drives you ?
What drives me is the absolute waste of human potential I see around me everyday. I keep thinking, “if we could recapture and inspire even just 10% of that wasted potential, there is nothing on this planet we couldn’t do.” This is why I’m so passionate about agile coaching. Agile coaches are in the perfect spot to either uphold the broken systems that waste our human potential or liberate people from those same systems. I’m for the latter. I work hard to give agile coaches the skills they need to liberate!

What is your biggest achievement?
“Waking up” enough to see that my dear friend was also my life partner. I credit agile with this, too. When I stopped being a project manager and (nicely) bossing everyone around, I learned that it’s essential to slow down and get genuinely interested in people. So many discoveries awaited me when I started to really *see* people! And, it allowed me to really see him, the man who was right by my side already. We’ll be married 6 years this next April and I am thankful every day that agile helped me wake up.

What is the last book you have read?
OK…I have to admit it. Summer is trash novel time. I just finished the entire Black Dagger Brotherhood series, including the “Insider’s Guide.” That’s how hooked I got. The novels are about a group of warrior vampires and their mates. I have a new bookshelf in my room because my husband was getting tired of the stacks of books on the floor. It’s full of all the books I have in progress. The shelves are overflowing.

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

What’s next for me is to continue to pay attention and sense what the agile coaching community needs most next. And, then work with whomever I need to so that we can provide that thing – whatever it is. The important part is sensing what’s really trying to happen rather than simply having my own path and foisting my ideas on the community. This is a wonderfully creative and illuminating place to work from. And, it’s the source of creativity that allows me to join my whole life together – work, family, play, learning – all of it.

Who do you think I should ask next?
Bent Myllerup

Who Is Dennis Stevens

2 comments | Posted on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 | Read more articles about 'Agile, BookList, Who is ?'

This weeks Who Is is Dennis Stevens. Dennis was proposed by Don Gray. I personally don’t know anything about Dennis (which makes it exiting to have him in Who Is).
On his websits I find a few intriguing things about Dennis, one he combines PMI & agile and he did Lean Value Stream mappings in 1994. They year I started to work…

This is what Don said about him:  I like Dennis approach to introducing managers to both the benefits of improving their work systems and the practical approach of continuous improvement.

Announcement: the Who is Series will be turned into a book, pre-register at Leanpub

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

I played the violin in high school. I was a four time all-state violin player and a National Scholastic Orchestra Award Winner as a senior. I was also the student conductor of the high school orchestra for two years. Then I was a music major at Florida State University where I learned more about conducting and performing. Although I wasn’t talented enough to be successful in a performance career, my experiences had two huge influences on me. First, I learned to balance individual preparation with the teamwork of performing as part of an ensemble. Second, I learned that every role in a production has a high level of craft to it. What looks easy from the outside is very challenging to perform at a high level. I carry the lessons I learned with me into my coaching and consulting interactions.

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

I would have been a high school teacher and baseball coach. I love baseball and I find creating a passion for performance and teaching solid fundamentals a successful and rewarding strategy.

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

I am actually an introvert. This leads me to be very prepared when I get in front of a group of people to teach and interact from a coaching standpoint. It also allows me to step back and observe the interactions of the people around me because I don’t need to be in the center of it.

What drives you ?

Learning how to improve the situations and challenges I see around me.  From Business Analysis, Project Management, Product Development, Testing, and Organizational Leadership I try to understand why non-productive behavior makes sense and try to find better ways to do the work and ways to communicate the better ways. People shouldn’t have to live and work under unreasonable circumstances when healthier and more productive ways are within reach.

What is your biggest achievement?

Raising my children.

What is the last book you have read?

Gerald Weinberg‘s Perfect Software and Gojko Adzic’s Specification by Example. Probably written 30 years apart, both contain an awful lot of pragmatic and useful information regarding testing software.

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

Where will you be in 10 years? I will be working in organization’s trying to understand why they operate the way they do and hopefully leading efforts to improve performance. I will also be coaching young kids in basketball or baseball.

Who do you think I should ask next?

Shane Hastie