agile

It’s that time again, when we put high expectations and great hopes on display, usually a step or two above the accomplishments (good or bad) of the previous year. Like many humans, I catch myself in a pensive spirit in late December, and this session is no different from times past… except I’m a year older.

With that, I shall inspect my resolutions and proclamations from twelve months ago. Please be mindful that 20/20 vision and rose-colored glasses are both in full effect competing for dominance here.

I ended 2015 on a high note having transitioned off a 4-month consulting engagement and onto a terrific role at an outstanding company. I’d also fulfilled my kickstarter obligation by creating three decks of cards and delivering them to my generous backers. And, surprise! My abstract on pair-coaching was accepted to the Scrum Gathering in Orlando, while meanwhile our Coaching Retreat in San Diego was shaping up nicely. Yes indeed, 2016 was being teed up to be a great one.

And it was, to a large degree, pretty great indeed. Sure, there was still all that crap we can gripe about: celebrity passings (Harambe), topsy turvy elections, climate scares, Mariah on NYRE, terrorism & #noestimates debates… and of course, losing Jean. But amidst all the mess in our shared dream, we also witnessed some pretty cool stories. The Cubs, afterall, won the World Series. (Being from Cleveland, that was actually pretty miserable – but hey, it made everyone else & Bill Murray happy – so on balance I’m feeling okay; especially considering that the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the finals, while LeBron and the Cavs delivered a miraCLE to the city.)

Other good stuff happened, too, didn’t it? Like the Tesla Model 3 unveiling?

Regardless, I had a pretty good year (World Series, notwithstanding). I got out another twelve episodes of the Agile Coffee podcast, although we’ve been silent since the summer. #circumstances, I suppose. Another personal bright spot was finishing the newest card deck: the Agile Coach’s Toolkit. I just this week sent off an order to be printed. It’s not another #leancoffee set . So 2015.

My volunteering took off. We had at least ten scheduled meetups here in Irvine, plus I made it to a handful of Paul’s Agile SoCal shindigs. We all pitched in to make Agile Open SoCal something to talk about, right on the heels of Don and Esther’s Coaching Beyond the Team workshop. The aforementioned Scrum Coaching Retreat in San Diego was a good time, and I got to speak at both the Orlando Scrum Gathering and at Agile2016 in Atlanta. #humbled.

It certainly could be claimed that the feather in my cap (ah-hmm) came in being selected to co-chair 2017’s Scrum Gathering in San Diego. This allowed Kim Brainard and I to visit Munich in October for their outstanding gathering. Ahh, good times.

As for my own personal development, I accrued a few hours of classroom sessions outside of these volunteer events. In April I took in Sharon Bowman’s delightful Training From the Back of the Room course, including the teaching certification. Additionally, I’m happy to have joined 29 others for five days with the crew from ACI for the Agile Coach Bootcamp this past November. Again, da chicken!

I think the biggest event from 2016 for me was that my daughter learned to ride her bike. Not only this, but she’s taken to it so well, riding nearly everyday in the alley behind our apartment. May we share many rides in 2017.

So, in tying up this rather dull, navel-gazing post, here are a few goals I have for the new year:

• get the new deck working with the online piece to generate something of value
• return to a decent cadence for the podcasts (and BHAG: launch a new one!!)
• pursue greatness on the job and in my community
• go for a few nice bike rides

All the best to you and yours in 2017.