Occasionally, I’m asked why should you use an Agile Coach. I’ve read a book or taken a CSM course. It seems pretty easy. So why would I want to hire a coach? With a single team you can bootstrap without too much trouble. Even then a good coach will still help you navigate the adoption […]
Notes from a Tool User
Learning Best Approaches for your Brain Slide Deck
As regular readers of this blog will know I’ve given a talk based on readings in Neuroscience, called “Learning Best Approaches for Your Brain” – several times this year (Agile 2009 and Agile Ottawa). After several requests I’m posting the slide deck (pdf) here – but I’m afraid that it will really only be useful […]
Agile 2009 Post Roundup
Last year I did the Agile 2008 Post Roundup, so I thought it might be fun to do this again this year. As usual, InfoQ has a number of items, including presentations and now MP3 downloads. Retrospectives A Personal Retrospective on the Agile 2009 Conference – Johanna Rothman’s notes on running and surviving the conference. […]
Agile 2009 Roundup
I’ve been home for a few days and have some time to digest what I learned. More of sessions were interactive this year, so I have fewer notes and can write fewer articles than last year (Agile 2008 Post Roundup). The Good: I found only one bad session. I saw a lot of old friends […]
Giving and Taking Design Criticism – with Rebecca Wirfs-Brock
I recently had the opportunity to attend a webinar “Giving and Taking Design Criticism” with Rebecca Wirfs-Brock. The session teaser was: “Have you ever engaged in a design review where people didn’t play fair? Do you have trouble giving design advice that sticks? An effective software developer or designer needs to be skilled at giving, […]
Planning a Change in Career? Laid Off?
A few good friends have been recently laid off, and I’ve been left thinking what to do after that happens. First up—I don’t have any jobs in my back pocket, and I don’t know anyone hiring right this second. My thoughts are more general than that. Even if you haven’t been laid off, I would […]
Reviewing the Review Process for Agile 2009
Sorry, I’ve been more than a bit busy lately. Working as an independent coach is very rewarding and time consuming. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reviewing sessions for the Manifesting Agility Stage at Agile2009: “This Stage is all about tools and techniques for rapidly developing a deep understanding of the empirical Agile […]
Time to Go
Friday will be my last day at IBM, and on Monday I will become an Agile Coach/Trainer for hire, via my own little company: Agile Pain Relief Consulting. I’ve had nearly an eight-year run with a great bunch of people. First at Databeacon and our NET Rich Client (tip of the hat to Robi, Dave, […]