Since the pandemic, it seems like I’ve had more and more to reflect on each year. 2022 is one of the most pivotal moments in 25 years of my career, so, I thought I’d take time to introspect beyond this year and reflect on what agile has thought me over the year. Not sure if this will help all y’all; but I’m hoping in 2023, that I learn more about sharing, vulnerability and transparency.

I am an experienced Agile Coach and Software Engineer with a passion for helping organizations and teams embrace Agile principles and practices. Over the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to work with a diverse range of companies, from small start-ups to global corporations.

Pretty sure these are good things for anyone; but I’ll look forward to feedback. For now, I only have a few followers, so, we don’t have to worry much about oversharing and I’m pretty sure I can keep up with the comments …. thanks Mom, I can always count on your support and feedback), and I guess that’s one of my first lessons from looking back — build a trusted group of advisors and be grateful for them. So, thanks for family and friends. If you’ve found this blog in early 2023, then you’re one of those. THANK-YOU for your support.

Here’s some additional things I’ve learned over the years:

1. At the start of my career, I learned important lessons in adaptability and continuous improvement: “As an developer at Digital Sweatshop, I learned the hard way that being flexible and continuously improving is crucial for success. When we launched Fansrule.com, w had high hopes of disrupting the ticketing industry like Ticketmaster. However, on go-live, the site crashed and we learned a valuable lesson about the importance of being agile and continuously improving our processes. As a coach, I now emphasize the importance of adapting to change and constantly seeking ways to improve to my teams.”

2. Collaboration and transparency: “As an agile coach, I have seen firsthand the power of teamwork and open communication. At Toyota, I helped establish Obeya Rooms, a visual management tool that fostered collaboration and transparency among team members. This helped us to decrease the time it took to launch new initiatives from three days to just three hours, resulting in significant cost savings. I always encourage my teams to work together and communicate openly in order to achieve success.”

3. Emphasis on individuals and interactions: “As an agile coach, I have seen the power of focusing on individuals and their interactions. At IBM, I played a role in the rollout of the Rational Unified Process (RUP) at Toyota, Honda, and Boeing. This process emphasized the importance of individuals and their interactions in the development process. By fostering strong relationships and encouraging collaboration, we were able to deliver high-quality software and improve project outcomes. As a coach, I always emphasize the importance of individuals and their interactions in achieving success.”

4. Focus on delivering working software: “As an agile coach, I have learned the value of delivering working software frequently. At ADP, we implemented agile methods which helped us to deliver working software more frequently, resulting in a 50% decrease in the cost of testing and increased speed to value. I always encourage my teams to focus on delivering working software in order to achieve the most value for stakeholders.”

5. Sustainability and maintaining a healthy work-life balance: “As an agile coach, I have seen the importance of sustainability and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. At Deloitte & Touche, we used agile methods to streamline our processes and increase efficiency, allowing us to achieve more with less effort. This helped us to achieve a sustainable pace of work and maintain a healthy work-life balance. As a coach, I always encourage my teams to prioritize sustainability and work-life balance in order to maintain long-term success.”

6. Measuring progress through empirical data: “As an agile coach, I have learned the value of using empirical data to measure progress and make informed decisions. At PG&E, we used OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to set clear goals and track progress through data-driven metrics. This helped us to make informed decisions and achieve our objectives. As a coach, I always encourage my teams to use empirical data to measure progress and make informed decisions.”

7. One of my proudest accomplishments was my time at Toyota North America, where I served as a Lean-Agile Coach and Consultant. I helped project managers learn Agile methodologies, established and led program business rhythms, and facilitated the increase of speed to market for teams. My efforts resulted in a decrease in project startup costs, a decrease in lean waste, an increase in predictability, and an increase in employee engagement. I learned about the Native agility in companies — I mean, how lucky was I to learn about learn from Toyota. Thank-you for all the mentors and support I had for 3-years there! Culture matters, and we don’t need to change what already is agile from the start.

8. I have also worked as a Consulting Software Engineer and Architect at Deloitte & Touche, where I worked on a web-based mortgage loan processing system, and as a Software Engineer at Sony Electronics, where I managed and planned the full life cycle and designed an intranet and extranet framework. I learned about leadership and confidence in these roles; but my style of leadership has evolved … and that’s yet more to blog about later.

9. Prior to these roles, I served as an Agile Coach and Manager at Nationwide, where I successfully negotiated a cost savings of 30% on a $2 million contract and catalyzed the transformation of 4 projects and 500 people to the use of agile methods. I learned Value-driven prioritization: “As an agile coach, I have learned the importance of prioritizing based on value. At Nationwide, I helped implement Scrum, which emphasized prioritizing work based on value to the customer. This helped us to increase speed to value and deliver higher quality products to our customers. I always encourage my teams to prioritize based on value in order to maximize their impact and deliver the most value to stakeholders.”I also had the opportunity to pioneer early DevOps methods with automated deployment and test automation. I learned to be an early adoptor of process and tecnologies. Although, I’m pretty sure this has been something native to my 5 year-old-self. This is going to matter so much more in 2023!

Looking back on my career, I am grateful for the many lessons I have learned and the diverse range of experiences I have had. Each company and project has taught me valuable lessons about the importance of trust and collaboration, the power of continuous improvement, and the value of embracing change. I am excited to bring these lessons to my work as an Agile Coach and continue helping organizations and teams thrive in the Agile world.

Looking forward to learning more in 2023. I’m sure it’ll continue the trend of more disruption than ever before. I’m confident my trusted advisors will help; but I suspect we’ll all be in for a heck of a year — I’m looking at you ChatGPT, the climate, and global changes! We’ll all need some adaptive tricks to deal with this stuff!

Best of luck to all y’all in 2023 … and if you find any value in this blog, let me know, I’m always looking for ways to grow and improve. and I guess that’s the final lesson: seek constant feedback.