Who is Israel Antezana (@israelantezana) ?

Israel is again one of these people my friend Xavier told me about.
What I find interesting about Israel is that he is active in the agile community and he is a professor at the university. Yes you can find agile people in very suprising places…

 

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

Having grown up in a family of software developers and after finishing high school I wanted to continue with a college degree in software development. My first semester at college I failed some subjects which was devastating for a kid that was never used to failing at school before and who was used to being one of the best students of class. I remember that as a kid I was frustrated and embarrassed and that I seriously thought about changing to another career. Probably changing career would have taken me to a different path in life, a path away from software development. Fortunately I decided to continue and it didn’t take me so long to find the rhythm of college to enjoy and discover the big passion I feel until today for software development.

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

Not easy to know but probably teaching. That is something I also like a lot and probably if I had not been in IT, I would be teaching.

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

Listening without interrupting. I am still working to improve this aspect of myself, because when working with people, coaching or teaching, you need to listen more than talk.

What drives you ?

Love for family and passion for technology

What is your biggest achievement?

I think I have had some good achievements in my life but having nice kids and family is one of the biggest.

What is the last book you have read?

Definitely it’s not going to be the last one :-), but I recently read Open Space Technology A User’s guide by Harrison Owen.

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

What has your passion for IT driven you to do that you hadn’t thought to do before?

I like to build and grow communities. I worked as a founding member of the organization team of the the Latin American agile conference (Agiles2008).  I still help on the organization of this conference.
I also started the agile community in my country Bolivia and more recently I organized courses and events for the first Agile Open Bolivia that took place in 2012.

Whom do you think I should ask next?

June 2012

Cochabamba, Bolivia

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