I gravitated toward processes early in my career. After getting my professional feet wet with some coding, project management, and QA, I moved to a process manager role. At the time, our organisation used waterfall processes to deliver software to our clients, and it was thus my job to figure out how to do it right. I’ve always loved games, and to me, projects can be seen as games. There are certain rules, many constraints, and it’s an exciting challenge to try to find the best strategies to play the game successfully. Getting paid for figuring out how to do projects and software right was really something awesome. I never thought I’d make games my career.

We did waterfall well. We used short increments, usually one month long, and iterated our plans with the customer as they also learnt more about what they really want. We were a liked and successful partner to our customers. But late in 2005, when I read Extreme Programming Explained, I realized how to really make software right. And I found my true passion that has carried me to this day, to this place, and will take me forward for the rest of my professional life.

After studying Agile for a while, I started coaching our teams to use Scrum in real project work. Over time, we found what worked and what didn’t. Our knowledge and skills in Agile became a business differentiator and our success driver in the market. Simultaneously, I found that I really loved helping others succeed with Agile. I worked to get the Certified Scrum Trainer accreditation and got it in November 2008. I started running certification courses along with my other duties and ultimately, went independent in 2010 to focus solely in training and coaching.

Now, more than 10 years later, I’m joining the BERTEIG team to leverage my knowledge and trainings skills in a company that wants the same thing as I do – make our clients and course participants successful. Being at BERTEIG gives me what I’ve missed for a decade – peers that further challenge me and who I can challenge with my knowledge. Together we can learn faster and refine our trainings and coaching better than we could do alone.

Over these years, I’ve gained experience in working with many teams in many organizations, and I’ve worked in genuinely Agile organization to further improve its Agility. I’ve gained a deep appreciation for the impact Agile can have both at a team level and at organizational level as a leadership approach. I have seen the human impact and I’ve seen the business impact. I’ve become an avid advocate of true teams and allowing people to take ownership of their work to the benefit of both the person and the business. I believe Agile is the today and the future.

Certifications and Accreditations

Certified Scrum Trainer, Scrum Alliance, since Nov 2008

Management 3.0 Licensed Facilitator, since 2013

Experience Summary

Over 20 years in software development

Over 16 years of Agile

Certified Scrum Trainer since 2008

Successful independent trainer for 11+ years