Pete Behrens

Founder and Leadership Coach, Agile Leadership Journey

How Servant Leadership is Failing Leaders

9:00 am

Abstract

Trust is a challenge – hard to gain, easy to lose. How do we gain trust?

●  By letting go, empowering, and supporting;

●  By being there, walking side-by-side, and getting our hands dirty;

●  By being authentic, real, and honest;

●  By being bold, taking a stand, and standing up for one’s values.

Notice that trust requires an intriguing balance of stepping back and forward at the same time.

True Servant Leadership requires the same – courage to step back “I lead by serving” and the courage to step forward “I serve by leading”.

Yet most leaders misunderstand and misapply servant leadership using only half of the framework.

This talk explores these misunderstandings and helps leaders to better balance their leadership presence.

Bio

Pete Behrens is a Leadership Coach and Founder of the Agile Leadership Journey, a community devoted to improving leaders and their organizations. As an engineer by profession, Pete now guides leaders to be more focused, responsive, and resilient to change.

Check out the new (Re)Learning Leadership podcast where Pete and expert guides explore leadership challenges and discuss paths for new awareness and growth.

As a systemic coach and leader himself, Pete led the development of the Certified Enterprise Coaching (CEC) and Certified Agile Leadership (CAL) programs for the Scrum Alliance. Furthermore, he served on their Board of Directors from 2016-2018.

M. Scott Ford

Co-Founder and Chief Code Whisperer (CTO), Corgibytes, LLC

Communication is Just as Important as Code

9:30 am

Abstract

The idea of a lone developer coding in their basement without social interaction is a thing of the past. These days, technical solutions are often developed by cross-functional teams whose participants have a range of technical experience. Now, more than ever, good communication skills are an essential part of being a software developer.

In this talk, Scott will share immediately actionable communication principles that will help you get buy-in for your ideas, reduce conflict and tension, increase productivity, be liked and respected. If you’re looking to take your career to the next level, this is one talk you won’t want to miss.

“Communication is just as Important as Code” is one of our core values at Corgibytes, a software dev shop exclusively focused on modernizing existing software applications.

At Corgibytes, we eliminate the binary belief that people are “technical” or “non-technical.” Everyone is expected to be both. Folks who come from a computer science background participate in sales calls and help with blog posts, and everyone, no matter their role, is expected to learn how to code.

To preserve a culture of autonomy, motivate our members to do their best work, and enable fluid communication, we have thought extensively about optimizing the balance between asynchronous communication, routine synchronous communication, and even developed our own framework to reduce context switching that allows people the most scheduling flexibility.

Bio

M. Scott Ford is the Co-Founder & CEO of Corgibytes, where he has quietly led a software maintenance revolution for the past decade. Where most people find nothing but frustration, shame, and bugs in legacy code, Scott has centered his work around his genuine love of software modernization and helping others use joy, empathy, and technical excellence to make their systems more stable, scalable, and secure. Scott’s ideas have been featured in books such as The Innovation Delusion and as a guest lecturer at Harvard University. Scott is the author of three courses on LinkedIn Learning: Dealing With Legacy Code And Technical Debt, Code Quality, and Clean Coding Practices. He is the host of the podcast Legacy Code Rocks and enjoys helping other menders find a sense of belonging in a world dominated by makers.

J.B. Rainsberger

Consultant, JBrains.ca

The Architect’s Dilemma: Unlocking the Awesome Power of Refactoring

10:00 am

Abstract

Evolutionary design has the power to drastically improve the moment-to-moment work of programmers. Employers want features sooner, which we can do better if we over-invest less in up-front design, waste less time yelling about design decisions in meetings, and reduce individual knowledge bottlenecks. “Traditional” architects or other technical leaders often find themselves in a dilemma: relinquishing control and delegating design decisions opens up the possibility of delivering features sooner, but it also carries significant risks to both external and internal quality. This leads to a class Responsibility Virus struggle, whose resolutions create so much chaos that it’s generally preferable to remain locked in the struggle without a resolution! This impasse puts technical leaders in the difficult position of lobbying against practicing evolutionary design in order to protect the project.

So what can we do?

Many programmers get stuck when they try to learn evolutionary design, particularly the refactoring part of it. It never seems to get easier, it never seems to go faster, and so it always seems safer to rip things apart and write them again. If these programmers refined their refactoring skills, they’d be able to produce better results, work with less stress, and earn the trust of the technical leaders and architects. This could resolve the architect’s dilemma in a beneficial way and unleash the group’s untapped capacity to deliver features while protecting the internal quality of the code. Everyone would seem to win. So… how do we make that happen? This talk presents one plan that just might work.

Bio

J. B. Rainsberger (@jbrains, https://www.jbrains.ca) works as a trainer and mentor to software development professionals. He travels the world (most years) sharing what he’s learned about programming, managing his workload, interacting with people, and designing his lifestyle. He spends much of his professional time helping programmers do better work with less stress, but he also consults with, mentors, coaches, and provides training to companies. He helps clients cut through the confusion about lightweight approaches (such as “Agile”) to their essence so that they can realize the benefits that the modern Agile movement has been trying so hard to offer. He offers self-study training at http://online-training.jbrains.ca, provides mentoring through https://experience.jbrains.ca, and offers coaching to a handful of individuals per year in whatever they need to perform better. He lives in Atlantic Canada with his wife, Sarah, who both miss traveling to Europe.

Aruna Chandrasekharan

Principal, Boston Consulting Group

Amplify Your Servant Leader Skills with the Responsibility Process 

10:30 am

Abstract

One of the most compelling definitions of “Responsibility” is the ownership of one’s response to a given situation that implies empowerment, freedom, and choice.

As humans, we go through a series of emotions when confronted with a challenging situation but may not realize how those emotions can paralyze or disempower us. True servant leadership needs us to convert these challenges to opportunities to “serve” our team/division/organization.

This session explores Christopher Avery’s Responsibility Model, global leaders who have leveraged this model unconsciously perhaps, scenario-specific challenges for managers, product owners, scrum masters, individuals, and teams that can be converted to opportunities to get on the path of true Servant Leadership.

Bio

Aruna Chandrasekharan is a Principal at Boston Consulting Group. She has been a change agent for the last 15 years and has come to appreciate the impact of leadership on change. She has experience in multiple industries and has contributed to the Agile body of knowledge within each of her clients. She is a co-organizer of Women in Agile – DFW chapter and also actively speaks at conferences and local meetups.

Stuart Mann

Agile Coach, Standard Bank

Agile Leaders – Got Your Back or Holding You Back?

11:00 am

Abstract

The role of the leader changes 180 degrees in the agile organization: Leaders exist to support the “athletes” in the organization, the role of the agile leader is to create the structure and environment to help their athletes realize their potential.

This presentation combines practical experience leading the agile transformation at Africa’s largest bank with simple analogies from the world of marathon running to explain the role of the agile leader, the importance of trust, and what happens when leaders fail their athletes.

The presentation includes three quick leadership “tests” and concludes with a powerful illustration of what servant leadership truly is – and isn’t.

Outcomes:

• Understanding the role and purpose of the agile leader
• Simple techniques for leaders to assess where they are in applying the agile mindset
• Simple techniques to get leaders to apply the agile mindset.

Bio

Stuart Mann is a reformed waterfall guy who is now a passionate Agile Coach. He is a father (two girls), husband (one wife), and trainee feminist. In his spare time, Stuart is a compulsive marathon runner having run over 240 marathons and ultra-marathons. He is a prolific writer with a popular blog (http://runningmann.co.za/), a monthly column in South Africa’s largest running publication (Modern Athlete), and a regular contributor of athletics articles to News24.com. Stuart’s lifetime ambition is to secure a beer sponsor.

Stuart is a frequent presenter at local and international conferences where he typically provides a different perspective on traditional topics. If you’d like to connect with Stuart you can do so on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartmann76/) or Twitter (work profile [@](https://twitter.com/StuartDMann) & running profile [@runningmann100](https://twitter.com/runningmann100).

William “Red” Davidson

Freelance Agile Coach

Building Mission Control

11:30 am

Abstract

In the early 1960s, America was racing the Soviet Union to the moon. Christopher Kraft was charged with building NASA’s Mission Control in Houston which would eventually shepherd all Apollo missions. How did he do it? We will explore Kraft’s leadership style and tactics… which centered on Trust… not of his controller’s (whose average age was 28) trust in him, but of his absolute trust in them and identify the lessons that still apply today.

Bio

William Davidson, known to many as Red, is a freelance Agile Coach from Plano, Texas. He’s coached at large enterprises including CA Technologies, Frontier Communications, Citigroup, Toyota, and Chase. He’s been writing software for Money since 1983 (whoa, that’s a long time). He’s held many positions (Development Manager, Project/Program Manager, Scrum Master, and PMO Lead), received awards (Business Development Quality Aware for Excellence), written papers & articles, and presented at more than 100 conferences and user group meetings. As an Agile Coach, Red helps teams and their organizations achieve the benefits of Agile Software delivery.

 Raj Wall

Lean Sensei, Metanalogy LLC

iCan I Trust You?

1:00 pm

Abstract

The key to a learning organization that intrinsically continuously improves is that everyone expects to get better. That is, they are dissatisfied with how things are now – and they know they can do something about it. This requires a two-way bond of trust between leaders and workers, where even when things are going ok they all expect they can do better. How do we build a culture where people feel comfortable with not just raising issues but even stopping work in order to address them? What about when things are going badly, and everyone is stressed? Can people still speak up? How are “complainers” dealt with in your organization?

Bio

Dr. Wall works with business executives and IT teams to produce solutions that span people, processes, and technology. He has over thirty years of industry experience working with teams from a variety of industries and has consulted with companies ranging in size from Fortune 50 to small startups. Dr. Wall‘s focus is the creation of business value. He has experience with a wide range of process, project management, software development, business analysis, and mentoring methodologies. These include Lean Transformation, Agile development, Lean/Kanban development, Extreme Programming, statistical quality control, and continuous improvement/Kaizen.

Tim Dickey

Agile Enthusiast

Sorry, I Cannot Hear You Over My Awesomeness – How Being a Hero Erodes Team Trust

1:30 pm

Abstract

Does your team have ‘trust issues’? Heroes, anti-heroes, and invisible people are three, common team member types that may set a team up for more ‘learning’ than it is prepared to accept. Tim will share how to leverage heroes while enabling team success.

Bio

Tim Dickey enlisted in the United States Navy after high school graduation. He served on both active and reserve duty for nearly 25 years until his retirement in 2016 where he learned servant-leadership in the crucible.

Tim worked for Carnival Cruise Lines, Verizon, and IBM. He graduated from Florida State College Jacksonville earning an Associate Degree in Art and an Associate Degree in Science (Computer and Information Systems). He graduated from Excelsior College earning a Bachelors Degree in Science (Computer and Information Systems) and a Masters’ Degree in Arts (Global Strategies).

Jen Blatz

Lead UX Researcher and Designer, Rocket Mortgage and UX Research & Strategy Group

UX and Agile Collide! How User Experience Design Fit in with the Agile World

2:00 pm

Abstract

When the Agile Manifesto was written, user experience (UX) was not a part of that world. What do we do with these folks? How do they fit into our sprints? How do we work with them? This talk will introduce agilists to the principles and aspects of UX that they always want to know but were afraid to ask.

Bio

Jen Blatz is a Lead User Experience Designer and Researcher with expertise that lends itself to any industry. Jen’s path to UX started in journalism and graphic design where she learned the importance of aesthetics, organization, and catering content for the consumer. She has worked in a number of fields including finance, mortgage, cloud storage, security, and pet health.

Jen loves being active in the UX community to learn and grow while helping others do the same. She is the co-founder and president of the UX Research and Strategy group, a 501c3 organization, with an international presence with thousands of members and followers. She is the organizer of WIAD (World Information Architecture Day) Dallas, TX, and speaker for several local meetup groups and international conferences like UX Australia, Convey UX, IAC (Information Architecture Conference), UX New Zealand, UX Research and Insights Summit, and more.

Joshua Fryer

Principle Coach, Foundations First Coaching

First Rapport, Then Trust

2:30 pm

Abstract

Building trust is a complex, delicate, and time-intensive endeavor. While it is a worthy investment, the reality is that time isn’t usually on our side. So how can we start building a foundation of trust from our first impression? Simple answer: it’s rapport.

You may know what rapport means, but do you know how to build it? Once you’ve built it, do you know how to use it?

Learning Outcomes:

• Explain the difference between Trust and Rapport
• Describe and recognize two rapport-building techniques
• Discuss how to use rapport to influence others

Bio

True agility is achieved only when people embrace the principles and values and apply them to their context to achieve desired outcomes. That is why Josh is energized by helping people realize their potential. Whether it requires training, mentoring, facilitation, or coaching Josh loves to roll up his sleeves and work with people to strengthen their own foundation.

President of Foundations First Coaching, LLC, and the founder of Agile San Antonio, Josh believes in the Agile Community and invests back into it. He has worked hard to practice what he preaches and spends much of his time studying and learning about various aspects of agility. He is on the journey to become a Certified Team Coach (CTC) and receive a certification from the International Coaching Federation (ICF-ACC). He has also become a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and strives to transform his own talents into strengths.

Learner | Futuristic | Connectedness | Individualization | Belief

When he’s not wrangling people, sharpies, and stickies you can find him at the Agile San Antonio user group, volunteering with his church, or spending time with his wife and four little ones on their farm.

Austin Chadwick

Mob Hunter and Agile/Technical Coach, Hunter Industries and The Mob Mentality Show

Developing Deep Team Trust with Mob Programming

3:00 pm

Abstract

Imagine trying to develop trust only by talking to someone a few minutes a day/week. Now imagine the parallel universe of Mob Programming where servants leaders/coaches work directly with their teams daily. Misunderstandings fade away. Empathy and trust grow rapidly. Join us to not only see it described but also to see mobbing demonstrated live with a real software team.

Bio

Austin Chadwick is a Mob Programmer at Hunter Industries and is a passionate agilist and craftsman with experience in several roles (e.g. coach, developer, tester, scrum master, business analyst).

Matthew Philip

Organizational Refactorer and Fitness Coach, Accenture

The Eight Stances of the Transformational Leader

3:30 pm

Abstract

Patterned after the popular “Eight Stances of a Scrum Master,” this session introduces the eight stances – “mental or emotional positions adopted with respect to something” – of leaders at all levels who want to enable high-performing people, teams, and organizations.

Bio

As a human-centered change agent, delivery leader, and coach, Matthew helps organizations become continually fit for purpose via agile methods and engaging work environments.

Derek Lane

Founder, Unlimited Agility and Creator of the 20-Day Agility Challenge

Master of Ceremonies

Sessions

• 8:45 am Welcome & Conference Updates
• 4:00 pm Closing & Replay Info
• 4:15 pm Facilitate Speaker’s Roundtable

Bio

After years of fumbling around with fire and smoke, Derek has in recent years found his calling as a BBQ Life Coach and a practitioner of all things BBQ. In a completely unrelated but parallel universe, Derek has also been known to successfully ply both the art and science of BBQ to the Lean/Agile Mindset, Software Craftsmanship and introducing Organizational Culture Change in ways scientists are just now beginning to contemplate the full impact of. Coincidence? We think not!

Striving to find efficient, productive, and fun ways to build successful products and highly functioning teams has taken Derek on a journey as a mentor, coach, consultant, strategist, visionary, architect, developer, trainer, and methodologist, all while striving to harness the best technologies available for the job at hand. He is also a contributor to various books, projects, and conferences as an author, presenter, committer, technical reviewer, and organizer. Feel free to share your experiences with Derek about BBQ, Software Craftsmanship, BBQ, Lean/Agile, Virtual Reality, BBQ, your favorite technology, or BBQ. Oh, or perhaps even BBQ!