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My AgileDC 2011 Session
AgileDC has come and gone but not without sharing memories with old friends and new. It was great to meet Rory McCorkle of PMI, Howard Sublett of Big Visible, and countless others. Peter Saddington (of AgileScout) and I even had a chance to hang out, go out for steaks, and have a few drinks.
I have to say, AgileDC was a great event. It was sold out and I scrambled to get tickets for my PMI-ACP learners. There is something very cool about conferences. Everyone there has something in common. Foolishly, I thought I had to pick between the PMI Congress and the AgileDC event. Jesse Fewell proved that it can be done. Since we haven't had a chance to meet up face-to-face since the PMI NAC 2010, it was great to catch up a little. As long as the PMI Congress 2012 is not scheduled on the same day as AgileDC next year, I plan to be there. Now I just need to get my session ready to submit to PMI!
I want to thank everyone who attended my session, When PMI Introduced the Elephant in the Room. I'll save details about my session for another blog post. Special thank you to Tonianne DeMaria Barry , co-author of Personal Kanban for attending my session. Strange how you can "know" so many people from Twitter and never meet them in person. I guess I just need to get out more.
My session was well received (no fruits or vegetables were thrown) and I received some really positive feedback. The common note was "Wanted to hear more about the PMI-ACP".
I even convinced Richard Chang of Excella to wear a muscle suit! In appreciation to him putting him self out there and being an Agile Leader, I won't publish the photos of him. What happened at AgileDC will stay at AgileDC.
Speaking at AgileDC 2011
I'm happy to announce that I will be speaking at AgileDC 2011. My session, When PMI Introduced the Elephant in the Room, will be part of the Enterprise Agile track.
Last October I entered the Gaylord National with a little trepidation. The PMI North American Congress was taking place and I found out that several people I admire in the Agile space were going to be attending and speaking. Leading up to the major PMI event, I was hearing a lot of chatter about these "heretics" who were going to be presenting. In Washington DC, the PMP was king and few in the Federal space wanted to hear anything about adaptive planning, continuous elaboration, or focusing on delivering value to the customer. Project Managers were expected to predict the future, define process and then make damn sure you followed it, regardless if anything ever got delivered. So, I was very much surprised as I walked through the Gaylord and noticed poster after poster, display after display. "Are you Agile?"
Every Agile session I attended, PMI Vice President of Information Technology, Frank Schettini introduced the speaker and told the audience that he leads the team that is responsible for delivering value to PMI’s members, volunteer leaders, certification holders and staff through innovative and reliable technology solutions. He said that he was a strong supporter of the Agile Community and so was PMI.
Though the audience at one of the first Agile sessions was almost hostile towards the presenters, by the time Michele Sliger gave the final session on the final day of the conference, there was buzz in the halls of the Gaylord about how "this Agile thing" had taken the conference by storm.
Agile was about to cross the chasm and PMI was going to make sure we made it to the other side.
But first, introductions were in order.
I will talk about the current state of Agile and how I see the landscape changing, with the introduction of the new PMI Agile certification. I will compare and contrast the PMI-ACPsm to the PMP® as well make some predictions for things to come.
Now, don't come to just hear me talk! This year, the keynote speakers will be Agile luminaries Ken Schwaber and Sanjiv Augustine. It should a great conference. If you're interested in 15% discount, please contact me directly.
And so the Party Begins
I'm sitting backstage, enjoying the show. Ty Kiisel and Raechel Logan are onstage and doing an awesome job. The Keynote today, at the conference, is actually going to be the Talking Work podcast. There's a live band, several hundred people in the audience, and the stage looks like the set of The Tonight Show. I'm sitting backstage, sipping my water and listening to Donna Fitzgerald speak. I wonder to myself, what is Ty going to want to talk about? Before I answer my own question, I notice one of the people backstage approaching me, as he mouths something into his radio. He smiles at me and says, "They're about ready for you, Derek. If you would please, got ahead and get into position." I remember from the rehearsal the night before that I was to go stand on an X and wait for the lights to come on. ...and so the party begins.
The entire WorkOut 2011: TalkingWork Keynote lasted about 1 hour and 26 minutes. I modified the embedded YouTube link so that it would advance to just before I came on. But, I would really recommend you go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing. Donna had some excellent talking points. I don't want to say what anyone talked about. It's so much better letting them speak for themselves, via the video. Ty and Raechel were amazing hosts and AtTask blew me away by the level of quality this event had.
So, sit back and enjoy the show. And could someone please tell me where the hell that green feather went!? (Don't worry, you'll find out) Since this post was written, the Keynote video has been changed to "private". It looks like each of the interviews will have their own video on YouTube.
I have a quote by Seth Godin that has recently become my mantra. He wrote
Go, give a speech. Go, start a blog. Go, ship that thing that you’ve been hiding. Begin, begin, begin and then improve. Being a novice is way overrated.
Thank you again to Ty and Raechel for inviting me out to Utah, to enjoy your event and share in the wonderful conversations.
What I've heard Ty say rings true.
It doesn't matter what we do. It doesn't matter what industry we're in or even what our role is. We all share one thing in common. And that is we all work.
Veni Vidi Loquor
Julius Caesar, in recognition of his overwhelming victory against Pharnaces II of Pontus, sent a simple, but powerful message back to Rome and the Senate: "VENI VIDI VICI", I came, I saw, I conquered. My message back to Washington DC and my Project Management colleagues: "VENI VIDI LOQUOR", I came, I saw, I spoke.
It's now been a solid week since I left for home from the AtTask Work Management Summit (WorkOut2011), in Salt Lake City. I was asked to come out to Utah and be a speaking guest of the conference. I basically ran two themes: [1] Balanced project management through the use of Agile concepts [2] Project Management Zombies.
I had the opportunity to participate on a panel the first day I was there and then was part of the keynote the next. The keynote was by far the highlight of my trip, sharing the stage with Ty Kiisel and Raechel Logan (The hosts of TalkingWork), Donna Fitzgerald (Research Director at Gartner), and Scott Johnson (Founder and CEO of AtTask).
WorkOut 2011 was nothing short of spectacular. From the exceptional venue (The Grand American Hotel), to the passionate and approachable people, to the forward thinking product design, I am in awe of what AtTask delivered.
Because I spoke completely unscripted, I'll have to wait until the YouTube videos comes out (I've been told by the Firm Snapp Conner PR, my panel talk and the Keynote will be out soon) to see exactly what I said. Fortunately, a few people in the audience quoted me in their tweets.
"One of our failings in this day and age is we forget we're working with people."
"Inspire more people from the bottom up, empower them to become leaders"
"Remember you're not managing resources - you're managing people"
"Don't judge zombies [on a project] they don't know what they're doing"
Thank you, everyone, for the memories! I look forward to seeing you all again.
Photo: Bryant Livingston
The Day of The Keynote
This morning I had the honor of sharing the keynote stage with Ty Kiisel and Raechel Logan (The hosts of TalkingWork), Donna Fitzgerald (Research Director at Gartner), and Scott Johnson (Founder and CEO of AtTask). From the picture, you can see the size of the crowd that would fill the room a short time later.
This was an amazing experience. It's one thing to present a topic in a conference session. It is a very unique experience to just have a good time in front of an audience of up to 500.
I really enjoyed talking to people throughout the day, answering questions about agile implementations and having them ask my advice to their challenges.
Though I'll keep this post short, I will be back to my normal posts, upon my return to the East Coast. This experience has given me the carity I needed to know I am going in the right direction.
2011 Resolutions WIP
Last night I submitted my speaking proposal for the Great Lakes Software Excellence 2011 conference. The title of my talk is Breaking the Law of Bureaucracy.
A little back-story: One of my "Epic" stories (Resolutions) for 2011 was: As an agile proponent, I want to articulate the values, principles, and methods of the agile community to the traditional project management community, so there will be more mainstream adoption of agile.
What's my acceptance criteria for this Epic? I must appear (speak) at no less than 4 conferences. I must write at least 1 article to appear in a trade publication. I must publish my book (Zombie Project Management).
As you would expect, I broke the epic down to multiple (actionable) stories and prioritized them. The GLSEC is number 2 of my 4 conferences.
Below is the abstract I submitted as part of my proposal.
Abstract - Breaking the Law of Bureaucracy
The law of bureaucracy exists in all organizations. The larger the organization, the stronger the law. Examples of this law, in a business organization, would be those who work and sacrifice to bring value to the customer, versus those who work to protect policy, process, and procedures (regardless of use or value). The Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions.
Top-down organizations are suffering from the worst case of egoism: When each person acts to create the greatest good for himself or herself. When the organization and its employees make decisions merely to achieve individual goals (at the expense of others), they lose sight of the original organizational vision or goals. The law of bureaucracy can be broken, through team empowerment and altruism: From this perspective, one may be called on to act in the interests of others, even when it runs contrary to his or her own self-interests.
This talk will introduce ten characteristics of servant-leadership, to help those who currently manage others, to break the law of bureaucracy.
Like the image? Find it at Pictofigo
Agile DC 2010
On a cool day in October, the Agile Tour came to DC to talk Agile essentials, Agile in enterprise, and Agile in government. In the days leading up to the event, the Twitter buzz showed the event was running out of tickets. By the time the event started, it was at capacity for the venue.
This was the first Agile Tour DC. This one day conference aimed to serve agile practitioners in the DC area through 3 tracks.
- Agile Essentials – Get the skills you need to get started.
- Enterprise and Government Agility – See how it works in the large and hear from a Panel of practitioners working in government.
- Open Talks Track – Create the conference you want in this Open Space (like) track. If you didn't see a talk on one of the other two tracks, you cold propose a topic or attend one of the 4 concurrent Open Talks.
Before we got started, Bob Payne, one of the organizers of the event, spoke a little about the event and where some of the money was going. AgileDC is a not-for-profit conference organized by Agile Philanthropy. See more below
Compared to the last conference I attended, the PMI Global Congress (<= $1,600), this event had a lot of bang for the buck. Agile DC 2010 was less than $100! Now, I'm not going to do a lot of comparing of the PMI Global Congress to this event. OK, yes I am. I think PMI missed an opportunity to do some real good in the world. How is it PMI can charge up to $1,600 and not champion some cause(s) that could really benefit from a few dollars? Here are some side-by-side comparisons.
| PMI Global Congress | Agile Tour DC | |
| Venue | Gaylord Hotel and Resort | Fannie Mae Conference Center |
| Transportation | Non-Metro Accessible | Metro Accessible |
| Duration | 3 days | 1 day |
| Price | $1,125 - $1,600 | $75 - $90 |
| Food | Average | Above Average |
| Session Quality | Excellent | Excellent |
- Overall, both the PMI Global Congress (Agile sessions) and the Agile Tour DC had excellent presenters. After that, I think Agile Tour DC was the winner.
- The Agile event was Metro accessible. In contrast, it took me 2.5 hours to drive to the PMI event. I then had to pay $20 for parking, compared to $5 at a Metro garage.
- When it comes to the duration of the event, I'm looking for the Goldilocks and the three bears of conferences. 1 day is too short; 3 days is too long; 2 days would be just right.
- Cost. Did I mention this event was less than $100!?
- The food was good. Seriously, it was pretty darned good! One little tidbit, the coffee at the PMI event was below-average to average. The coffee at the Agile event was average to above-average.
The day was kicked off with a keynote by Sanjiv Augustine, an industry-leading agile and lean expert. We then took a 15 minute break before splitting off to our separate tracks. I have to say, you know it's a good conference when you're conflicted which session to attend.
I then sat to hear Agile & Government by Paul Boos. Good stuff.
Next, I sat for Agile in the Enterprise and NFP (Not For Profit), presented by Tiffany Lentz and Jeff Wishnie of Thoughtworks.
I think the best part of my experience came next, from the panel discussion about Agile in Government.
Members of the panel included: Don Johnson - providing thought leadership in the acquisition of Information Technology across the Department of Defense. Josh Hendler - serves as the Director of Technology at the Democratic National Committee. Richard Cheng - managing consultant at Excella Consulting, providing consulting services to commercial and Federal clients in the Washington, DC area. Paul Boos - serves as the software maintenance lead for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP).
It was a very engaging panel discussion and they all brought some very unique perspectives to the conference.
I then saw Sanjiv Augustine present Agile Portfolio Management. I think the best part of Sanjiv's presentation was that it offered something for everyone. You didn't need to be a seasoned Agilist to enjoy it. If you ever get a chance to see Sanjiv present, do it.
The last session I attended, Emerging IT Acquisition Processes Within DoD, was by Don Johnson from the Department of Defense. I would like to say Wow! To see what is happening over at DoD is nothing short of remarkable. The one question I get asked by people in the Federal Government is does Agile work in the Federal space. Don proves that it can and that is does.
That's about it. It was a great event. I look forward to the next.
If you get a chance, clear your calendars for October 14, 2011. That's the tentative date for the next Agile DC Conference.
AgileDC is a not-for-profit conference organized by Agile Philanthropy. Agile Philanthropy’s mission is to assist not-for-profits through fund raising and volunteerism. For more information visit AgilePhilanthropy.org or contact Bob Payne 202-903-6854.
Conference not-for-profit beneficiaries:
Mano a Mano International provides critical healthcare and infrastructure development in Bolivia.
Haiti Partners provides education and educational support in Haiti. Since the recent earthquake they have been serving their communities with earthquake relief and humanitarian services.
FreshFarm Markets helps create farmers markets in the DC area and provides matching funds allowing WIC and Food Stamp recipients to buy nutritious local food. Their work sustains local agriculture, schools and local families.