In Agile we like to talk about growth and learning. Having gathered a lot of experience with Agile over the last 15 years, I’d like to reflect on what I’ve learned and how my thinking has changed accordingly. Having started as a fundamentalist true believer, knowing no compromise, I then moved through various phases such as Apprentice, Coach, Dr. Frankenstein, Cynic and Pragmatist. The journey wasn’t without its ups and downs, and now only in hindsight can I make sense of the progression.
My hope in illustrating this, is to show that we can have different perspectives about agile over time and each is equally valid at that time. For instance, you don’t have to stay stuck in the cynical phase, there is a way out. But that cynical phase may be a vital part of your journey! It also helps you to see why other agilists may see things differently to you, depending on where they are on their own journey.
Robert has been knocking around in IT for over 25 years in various roles from developer to project manager and everything in between. His initial experience with agile on a team level were very positive. For the last 10 years though, he has been knee-deep in messy real-life “agile transformations”. That’s long enough to be called an agile coach and turn your hair grey! Despite this, Robert has never written a book, never been an international keynote speaker and won’t be starting a podcast anytime soon. He is however guilty of writing the odd blog post and drawing a comic strip or two about his experiences.
The Agile Tour Vienna is an on-site conference run by the agile
community in Austria.
