Who is Gojko Adzic (@gojkoadzic)?

Gojko Adzic is the next in my serie of “who is?” As requested earlier by Lisa Crispin. Gojko wrote a few wonderful books about specification-by-example. Gojko took a 2 months holiday last summer. Even if he is considered a big upcomming name in the community. Only for that he is already my hero. Yes Slack is important.

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

When I was 23, I became editor-in-chief for PC World for Serbia, which suddenly gave me an editorial staff of 20 people to run and they were all older than me, mostly 10 years or more. This had a profound influence on me in terms of understanding team psychology, communication problems and systems thinking.

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

This was never an option for me. I got a C64 when I was 6 and never wanted to do anything else than programming.

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

I have too many interests, ideas and things I’d like to do and the day only has 24 hours. My biggest challenge is coordinating and prioritising things with so few time. I guess this is a good thing because it makes me continuously evaluate whether I’m doing the most important things.

What drives you ?

I’m hyperactive and get bored quickly. Continuously learning new things and working with different teams feeds my hunger for change. I guess that drives me. Money is a good short term driver as well, but it cannot work even mid-term if I get bored. That’s why full-time employment never worked out nicely for me.

What is your biggest achievement?

I don’t think I’ve achieved this yet

What is the last book you have read?

I’m currently reading Streetlights and Shadows: Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision Making (Gary Klein) and Beautiful Visualisation (edited by Julie Steele and Noah Iliinsky)

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

Being from Serbia, the question I get asked all the time is “Is it very cold there?”. The answer is “Nope, you’re thinking of Siberia“.

Who should be the next person to answer these questions?

Dan North
Update: if you liked this, please buy the “Who is agile” book. It contains similar answers from other agilists. And Gojko’s answer to the question: What are the insights that guide your behavior?